Politics

Brent in Az said:

How many of the candidates have talking points, about paying off the national debt?

Anyone?

Bueller....Bueller....?

They sure want a boatload of money for the so called free shit,that they are pimping themselves out for the welfare state.

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The debt cannot be paid off without destroying USD.

When a loan is originated, it "creates" money in the amount of the loan.

When a loan is settled, it "destroys" the money created by the loan.

The USD is debt "money." But it isn't really money, it's currency; the difference between money and currency isn't trivial. The fact that currency can be inflated to near infinity, many would say, is a bug. It isn't a bug, it's a feature, and that feature is why governments love circulating currency.

sgt_zim said:

View attachment 291557

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You got the decimal point in the wrong place. It should be .o98 or maybe .0098.

Newboomer said:

You got the decimal point in the wrong place. It should be .o98 or maybe .0098.

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hmmm...I'd say even a single milray would be too much for that bird cage liner.

If the book contains Hillaries Wisdom, it is going to be a very short read.

sgt_zim said:

The debt cannot be paid off without destroying USD.

When a loan is originated, it "creates" money in the amount of the loan.

When a loan is settled, it "destroys" the money created by the loan.

The USD is debt "money." But it isn't really money, it's currency; the difference between money and currency isn't trivial. The fact that currency can be inflated to near infinity, many would say, is a bug. It isn't a bug, it's a feature, and that feature is why governments love circulating currency.

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That's the kind of debt I want when I buy another truck. I won't worry about paying it back.

Budgets?......PFfftttttt.!

Fortunately, I have enough wood stocked up for five winters and won't need to burn greenbacks to keep warm.

Flame away, but thank God we have the Federal Reserve. Otherwise, they actually could just print the money, to pay for their wealth transfer programs.

wesheltonj said:

Flame away, but thank God we have the Federal Reserve. Otherwise, they actually could just print the money, to pay for their wealth transfer programs.

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Adjusting the quantity of currency should be a simple matter of making that quantity equal to the GDP, adjusted by velocity. It gets involved because a lot of large transactions contribute to the velocity but do not involve currency. this could be done by a computer, but I agree given proper guidance the Fed can do an adequate job of maintaining the correct level of currency- now if those fiscal types could just butt-out.

CAUTION: MEME STORM APPROACHING.

wesheltonj said:

Flame away, but thank God we have the Federal Reserve. Otherwise, they actually could just print the money, to pay for their wealth transfer programs.

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If we were on honest money and there was no federal reserve, a hyperinflation would be impossible.

Like I said earlier, the fact that currency can be inflated is a feature, not a bug. It benefits those in the government who get first crack at spending the inflated supply, it benefits the central bankers, and it benefits the cronies of them both. For those of us who earn wages (salaried or hourly), it harms us.

There has never been a fiat currency in the history of the world which hasn't been debauched to zero value at some point. The USD will be no different.

It is wondered why few save anymore. There is no benefit in it. If there were, people would save. If you put $1 in the bank at the age of 20, in 50 years, at a "modest" inflation rate of 3%, it will have the purchasing power of a quarter. Supposing you worked an hour to earn that dollar...in fifty years, it would be as if you worked that hour, but were only paid for 15 minutes. That's theft by any definition.

Relative to silver, certainly more volatile than gold, minimum wage at $7.xx is lower today than it was in 1964 when the minimum wage was about $1.25 A dollar twenty-five in junk silver costs about $15 in green backs now. Inflation of our currency over the last century has created a massive asset bubble. It will pop, as they always do.

Thomas Jefferson said:

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

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Using gold or silver as a currency is no different than using anything else that is a commodity and in limited supply. As I noted, if the amount of currency is in line with a countries GDP there will be no inflation/deflation due to an excess of supply or demand for the currency. The problem is not with the system, the problem is with the manipulation of the system.

I really hate posting Memes in this thread, but I'm gonna do it anyway .

Ray B said:

Using gold or silver as a currency is no different than using anything else that is a commodity and in limited supply. As I noted, if the amount of currency is in line with a countries GDP there will be no inflation/deflation due to an excess of supply or demand for the currency. The problem is not with the system, the problem is with the manipulation of the system.

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Correction: gold and silver are money. Paper is currency.

They are unquestionably different on one count, the most important count: money is a store of value, and paper is not. Money cannot be manipulated, currency can and is intended to be so that governments may engage in what would otherwise be considered reckless spending, which gives them power.

"If the amount of currency is in line..."

Exactly who should be entrusted with that sort of power? The current crop of politicians? Pick any crop of politicians. The people running the printing presses at the central banks? Friedman made a lot of good points, but on this one, he's in the same company as the Keynesians. He was a strong advocate for free markets, except for a free market in banking. I find that a bit incongruous.

Why are all monopolies bad, except a monopoly on the issuance of currency and credit?

sgt_zim said:

Correction: gold and silver are money.

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WRONG - Gold and Silver are commodities, just like oil, tobacco and beads.

Ray B said:

WRONG - Gold and Silver are commodities, just like oil, tobacco and beads.

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I’ll take “Beads for 5 trillion” Alex

I don't have a dog in the money argument but you could say gold and silver are a store of value whereas money only has value at a given time and under a certain circumstance. Aside that, can I go in to a store in the U.S. and buy something with a $50 gold coin? I'm assuming the seller is ignorant to the real value of the coin.