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The Sacred Cow of
Inflation
No one has ever died from inflation directly, yet
it constitutes a serious threat to our existence. By “inflation” I mean a
policy of increasing the money supply, the root cause of the booms that
inevitably go bust. Using this traditional idea of inflation--which, it should
be mentioned, is regarded as
contrived by most economists today--in what sense can it be considered so
dangerous?
Especially when a simple perusal of the facts
suggests otherwise.
Who Does the Fed
Serve?
Conscripting kids and rushing them through boot camp, then
packing them sardine-style into ships for the voyage overseas, then trucking
them to rat-infested trenches, then hauling them out when they’re dead, maimed,
diseased, or finished killing -- all of that and much more requires funding that
only a central bank, with its surreptitious form of theft, can provide without
political repercussions.
Bernanke and the
Holy Grail
For at least the last three centuries, economists have had ample
evidence that fiat money -- another name for the paper government orders us to
use in exchange for real goods and services -- has a short lifespan. It
exists because it’s easy to create, and when money is easy to create, it gets
created -- for the benefit of some at the expense of the rest of us.
What's Wrong With
the Markets?
"The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the
United States
, provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable monetary and
financial system.” ~ Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System
WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS
STRENGTH”
~ 1984
quote hidden in Apple’s February keyboard update
Like an interminable soap opera, pundits continue
to bring forth scenarios of impending economic disaster. Financial Times
columnist
Martin Wolf, for instance, discusses in detail Professor Nouriel Roubini’s
Twelve Steps to
Financial Disaster, of how we have reached unsustainable levels of debt, and
that bankruptcies, defaults, a collapse of stock prices, and “a drying-up of
liquidity” are heading straight at us. Wolf adds that the Bernanke Fed, finally
waking to the dangers, has lowered interest rates by two percentage points this
year, as “insurance against a financial meltdown.” Because we’re a debtor
nation, the government “must keep the trust of foreigners. Should it fail to do
so the inflationary solution becomes probable. This is quite enough to explain
why gold costs $920 an ounce [as of Feb. 19].”
Gold, Ron Paul and
Prosperity
...gold has served as the principal medium of exchange throughout
history because its value does not depend on a government fulfilling its
promises.
The Root of
Financial Panics
"Money had been removed from the people and placed in the care of politicians.
And political money didn't require the expense and labor of mining ore. It
required only ink and the will to print. Thereafter, there would be no such
thing as a scarcity of money."
Building the Freidman Myth
"Let the man's record speak for itself. His rhetoric about
freedom and the wonderful blessings of the free market notwithstanding, Milton
Friedman pushed hard for policies and programs that cost us dearly in lost
freedom. If he really did succeed 'in stopping the advance toward
ever-increasing government control,' as Ebeling asserts, why is the state so
much more intrusive and belligerent today than it was yesterday, or ten years
ago, or thirty years ago? Nothing has stood in the way of Leviathan's growth.
Friedman's state-sponsored 'freedom' has failed."
Whistleblower's Attack on the Fed
"When [Bernanke] says 'thanks to you, we won’t do it again,' he means he’ll
follow Friedman’s general advice and try to destroy the dollar at a low and
steady rate (which he calls 'inflation targeting'), but if the dollar should
threaten to recover in value, he’ll bring in the helicopters and dump money in
the laps of preferred investors. The dollar will thus continue on its course to
oblivion, but most people won’t notice because it could take years to
accomplish, and very importantly, it might postpone an economic collapse."
Have Fiat Money, Will Inflate
If liberty is defined as freedom from force, then
the answer is clear: Only the Austrians advocate a coercion-free society. With
its call for controlled inflation, the Chicago school gives government an
important role and thereby invites abuse.
What Is the Fed's 'Noble Cause'?
A central bank like the Fed 'is not a natural product of banking development,'
British economist Vera Smith wrote in the 1930s. It works only with the aid of
government favors that grant it a monopoly on the issue of what we’re forced to
accept as money. Perhaps an economist with the courage of a Cindy Sheehan will
confront the Fed chairman and demand to know for what noble purpose we are
burdened with a government-created banking cartel that imposes a hidden tax on
us in the form of a chronically depreciating currency.
Grilling the Maestro: Ron Paul Questions Alan Greenspan
"Why, then, would anyone want to inflate the supply
of money and thereby lower its price? For the same reason a counterfeiter
would: the new money will let him buy things at current prices, without
requiring him to earn it first."
The Greenspan Greenback
In an effort to silence forever those pesky
cranks who call themselves monetary libertarians, Federal Reserve Board Chairman
Alan Greenspan has announced a new do-it-yourself dollar.
Greenspan and
Banker Alchemy
Counting on most note holders not to demand their
gold at the same time is another way of saying the banks are hoping they don’t
get caught. Because no one can loan something they don’t have, fractional
reserve banking is a gigantic fraud.
Inflation, the
Insidious WMD
While the Fed carries on these operations week
after week, everyone in the economy is forced to live with the destructive
effects of its inflationary policies – a depreciating dollar (now worth about a
nickel since the Fed took charge), tinsel booms followed by painful recessions,
time spent trying to protect our wealth from Fed plunder, additional pretexts
for government intervention in the economy, more money for government wars, more
corruption, more political pork (such as the $40 million upcoming inauguration),
and a rising cost of living. We also have to live with a chorus of commentators
telling us the Fed’s our friend and protector and the economic outlook is
by-golly rosy
Season's Greetings
from the Fed
Most people view the Fed as our tireless public servant promoting
a stable economy and fighting the curse of inflation. The truth is the exact
opposite. The Fed is solely responsible for inflation and has caused economic
havoc since its inception.
A
Strong Dose of DiLorenzo
In his book, DiLorenzo sometimes points out how a "strong
dose of capitalism" helped a particular economic problem. I contend that a
"strong dose of DiLorenzo" is what we need to set our thinking straight.
A Time to Kill,
The federal government gets revenue
by borrowing, taxing, or inflating. Of the two coercive methods, taxation is
fairly visible and thus somewhat under our control. But inflation, for most
people, is steeped in mystery
It Has Happened
Here
When England under their
George III tried to muscle the American colonies into servitude we threw off our
overseas masters and attempted to institute a government with enough checks on
its power that we would always be able to say, 'It can’t happen here.'
Yet, it has. We now have the debt-ridden, corrupt, wasteful, elitist,
special-interest-driven empire that we repudiated in 1776.
The Fed's Grasping
Invisible Hand
As a 'stealth tax,' inflation
requires no legislation to impose, no agency to collect, and diverts
responsibility for damages onto politicians’ favorite whipping boys. It
gives government the ability to buy almost anything for nothing, while creating
endless problems that serve as a pretext for intervention.
Myths of the Money
Machine
Of course, war and its
attendant loss of life, liberty, and wealth are only a few of the many blessings
the Fed makes possible. The Fed exists to inflate the money supply, that
is, to increase the amount of money in circulation. Imagine what you could
do if you could legally print your own money and force others to accept it.
The government has. That’s why it created the Fed.
The Story of the
Fed Is a Story of a Crime
The bottom line is that
Congress and the banking cartel have entered into a partnership in which the
cartel has the privilege of collecting interest on money which it creates out of
nothing . . . . Congress, on the other hand, has access to unlimited funding
without having to tell the voters their taxes are being raised through the
process of inflation.
One Madness
Engenders the Next
Since Greenspan took over the Fed in 1987,
the monetary base has tripled, while GDP has gone up only 50 percent. The
new money has no resources behind it, but it looks like the real thing and is
accepted as such. In other words, it’s counterfeit, of value only to early
users of the money who transfer wealth to their possession in exchange for
nothing.
State Cons
As cons go, withholding ranks
as one of the greatest, but it’s not in the same league with central banking.
Withholding can’t hide from the fact that it’s a form of plunder. Not so with
central banking. It has the reputation of being the backbone of our economy, the
engine of our prosperity.
Prosperity vs. the Fed
It's not "the economy,
stupid"; the economy would run fine by itself. The problem is the government's
meddling in it with the central bank. "Full" recovery may be attained when
business starts taking out capital loans. Permanent recovery will only come when
we return monetary control to the market and abolish the Federal Reserve.
Alan
Greenspan, Come Home
Stand by your article, Mr.
Greenspan, and stand up for gold.
Hannity Picks on a
Real Fighter
Verny Kuglin
represents the brightest hope we’ve had in a long time to 'awaken liberty from
its long slumber.' Hannity accuses her of doing something 'sneaky' and
'cute.' How 'sneaky' is it to pour over ponderous and confusing tax codes
and research court cases for years, then decide to step out alone and risk
losing everything, including the next 30 years of your life, by not paying
income taxes? I call that uncommon valor of the highest order. The
only sneak in this issue is the government, and it’s anything but cute.
Driving a Stake through the Heart of the Income Tax
Paraphrasing Ayn
Rand, we don't embrace collectivism because of bad economics, we embrace bad
economics because of collectivism. As long as people believe in the
almighty state, we'll have not only taxes, but hell to pay.
How to Pull the
Plug on Big Government
The Administration expects war protesters, but imagine how they'd react if a
million people marched on Washington to demand an end to the Fed and a return to
the gold standard.
Ending the Income Tax
It's time for you to tell the
big spenders in your state you're mad as hell and you're not going to take it
any longer.
The Federal Reserve: Big Government's Silent Partner
The Fed, as the engine of
inflation, bankrolls government wrong-doing. Its creation marked the first step
in the destruction of sound money — a gold standard.
Whatever
Happened to Sound Money?
Imagine a
thief so skilled he can take your money without it ever leaving your hands. If
this sounds impossible, you underestimate the power of central planners.
Free
Trade: the Enemy of Special Interests
Free trade is the enemy of special interests that run to the government for
protection. These groups throttle us with harmful legislation because of largely
unchallenged propaganda.
Encarta Capitalism: Why Bill Gates Needs Help
No doubt the Encarta
article would receive high marks from Mr. Gates' antitrust tormentor, Judge
Thomas Penfield Jackson. But if the founder of the Redmond giant wants to
present capitalism without the standard falsehoods and omissions, he should
consider hiring someone who understands the subject.
Titanic's
Tale of Wealth
Stripped of its
sensational aspects, Titanic is a morality play about the evils of wealth
in the wrong hands. Perhaps someday James Cameron will turn his genius into
portraying money as a force that enhances personal happiness, instead of the
nemesis of anyone owning more than a dime.
The Virtue of Profit - We Won't Survive Without It
Most people want more laws enacted to keep
businesses from influencing politics. What we need, though, is to repeal laws
-- keep anyone from securing special favors from our elected officials.
Screenwriting Sanctuary