I guess it doesn't really matter what is used for currency. But it sure would be nice to have a medium of exchange that was not so subject to manipulation by authorized privateers (a privateer is a government-sanctioned pirate) like the Federal Reserve.

One thing I will grant the European Central Bank — they are charged with preserving the value of the Euro, i.e. controlling inflation. Our own Federal Reserve is charged with promoting economic growth as well as managing inflation. Sometimes these goals seem to be at war with each other. But inflation is a regressive tax on everyone who tries to save money, from the least to the greatest. In that way, they have the power to tax, which is taxation without representation.

The biggest joke on the Federal Reserve is that they are trying like the devil (and I do not mean this metaphorically) to create inflation. That would mean people would start spending whatever they had (on houses, cars, pet rocks, lobster dinners) in fear that prices will go up next month. Seemingly incapable of understanding the Main Street and Joe Six Pack economy, they're failing miserably. I think the Fed understands the Wall Street banking economy of pushing around debt and insurance policies on debt (credit default swaps), collecting lots of commissions as they push it all around in a kind of debt circle jerk. It's clear where the sympathies of Treasury and the Fed lie.

(BTW Ann, I think you've mischaracterized the reason for abandoning the gold standard. While US citizens could not exchange their dollars for gold, foreigners could, and with the true value of the dollar — with respect to gold — dropping because of printing dollars, other countries were increasingly engaging in a form of arbitrage, denuding Fort Knox by cashing in their US funny money. Nowadays, there is no recourse to massive money printing except to buy tangibles or a stronger currency. )

I guess it doesn't really matter what is used for currency. But it sure would be nice to have a medium of exchange that was not so subject to manipulation by authorized privateers (a privateer is a government-sanctioned pirate) like the Federal Reserve.

One thing I will grant the European Central Bank — they are charged with preserving the value of the Euro, i.e. controlling inflation. Our own Federal Reserve is charged with promoting economic growth as well as managing inflation. Sometimes these goals seem to be at war with each other. But inflation is a regressive tax on everyone who tries to save money, from the least to the greatest. In that way, they have the power to tax, which is taxation without representation.

The biggest joke on the Federal Reserve is that they are trying like the devil (and I do not mean this metaphorically) to create inflation. That would mean people would start spending whatever they had (on houses, cars, pet rocks, lobster dinners) in fear that prices will go up next month. Seemingly incapable of understanding the Main Street and Joe Six Pack economy, they're failing miserably. I think the Fed understands the Wall Street banking economy of pushing around debt and insurance policies on debt (credit default swaps), collecting lots of commissions as they push it all around in a kind of debt circle jerk. It's clear where the sympathies of Treasury and the Fed lie.

(BTW Ann, I think you've mischaracterized the reason for abandoning the gold standard. While US citizens could not exchange their dollars for gold, foreigners could, and with the true value of the dollar — with respect to gold — dropping because of printing dollars, other countries were increasingly engaging in a form of arbitrage, denuding Fort Knox by cashing in their US funny money. Nowadays, there is no recourse to massive money printing except to buy tangibles or a stronger currency. )

I guess it doesn't really matter what is used for currency. But it sure would be nice to have a medium of exchange that was not so subject to manipulation by authorized privateers (a privateer is a government-sanctioned pirate) like the Federal Reserve.

One thing I will grant the European Central Bank — they are charged with preserving the value of the Euro, i.e. controlling inflation. Our own Federal Reserve is charged with promoting economic growth as well as managing inflation. Sometimes these goals seem to be at war with each other. But inflation is a regressive tax on everyone who tries to save money, from the least to the greatest. In that way, they have the power to tax, which is taxation without representation.

The biggest joke on the Federal Reserve is that they are trying like the devil (and I do not mean this metaphorically) to create inflation. That would mean people would start spending whatever they had (on houses, cars, pet rocks, lobster dinners) in fear that prices will go up next month. Seemingly incapable of understanding the Main Street and Joe Six Pack economy, they're failing miserably. I think the Fed understands the Wall Street banking economy of pushing around debt and insurance policies on debt (credit default swaps), collecting lots of commissions as they push it all around in a kind of debt circle jerk. It's clear where the sympathies of Treasury and the Fed lie.

(BTW Ann, I think you've mischaracterized the reason for abandoning the gold standard. While US citizens could not exchange their dollars for gold, foreigners could, and with the true value of the dollar — with respect to gold — dropping because of printing dollars, other countries were increasingly engaging in a form of arbitrage, denuding Fort Knox by cashing in their US funny money. Nowadays, there is no recourse to massive money printing except to buy tangibles or a stronger currency. )