Money...

[Keith Farmer]

For decades our government, as well as most every other economy, has been using a monetary system without a commodity based reserve...like gold for example. The money we use is known as fiat money and is literally "created" out of thin air. While I am not an economist I am a business owner, tax payer, and concerned citizen of/for our republic. The "crisis" we are seeing world wide is, according to what I understand from studying Mises, an inevitable fact of government interventionism causing the boom-and-bust economies we are experiencing...and will continue to experience (unless a change is made) until the economy is severely damaged or destroyed. Mises noted in The Theory of Money and Credit (published in 1912):

It would be a mistake to assume that the modern organization of exchange is bound to continue to exist. It carries within itself the germ of its own destruction; the development of the fiduciary medium must necessarily lead to its breakdown.

Further, Mises noted in Human Action:

There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandoment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.

In that light I would suggest that anyone interested in this topic watch the video (part one is linked...part two is also on youtube) and read the information in the links below...the information may help explain how we got to where we are:

Tom Woods: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lRpJ1GLm5Q

Thorsten Polleit: http://www.mises.org/story/3386


The Mises Intsitue link:

http://www.mises.org/

[badbullgator]

Keith
I agree. The stimulus package is geared to restore (if it even “works” in the first place) our economy to the same old debt heavy, rely on credit economy that got us to where we are now in the first place. A prime example other than the stimulus is the new effort to “go after” credit card companies for their “predatory” lending practices. The goal being to make easy credit available again and start the same old cycle over again.

[Uncle Bill]

Recently got this email from a friend:

So what have we learned in 2 millenia?

"The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands be curtailed lest Rome becomes bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

--- Cicero ---- 55 BC

Evidently nothing!


What was that old phrase about those unfamilier with history?

UB

[road kill]

Recently got this email from a friend:

So what have we learned in 2 millenia?

"The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands be curtailed lest Rome becomes bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

--- Cicero ---- 55 BC

Evidently nothing!


What was that old phrase about those unfamilier with history?

UB

I beleive if there is history they don't like....they just change it!!

[YardleyLabs]

I beleive if there is history they don't like....they just change it!!

I assume that you are referring to the fact that this, like a large percentage of favorite historical quotes routinely cited on conservative blogs, is actually a fabrication. As best anyone can figure out, this was written in the 1960's and promptly entered into the Congressional Record by a conservative representative. It does not appear anywhere in the known writings of Cicero in addition to the fact that there was no such things as "public assistance" in ancient Rome.

[road kill]

I assume that you are referring to the fact that this, like a large percentage of favorite historical quotes routinely cited on conservative blogs, is actually a fabrication. As best anyone can figure out, this was written in the 1960's and promptly entered into the Congressional Record by a conservative representative. It does not appear anywhere in the known writings of Cicero in addition to the fact that there was no such things as "public assistance" in ancient Rome.

Many "sayings" cannot be traced to a viable origin.
That does not diminish their accuracy and relevance.

Just saying!!

[YardleyLabs]

Many "sayings" cannot be traced to a viable origin.
That does not diminish their accuracy and relevance.

Just saying!!

I would agree in principle, but found irony in your own comment about those who rewrite history rather than learning from it in connection with a prime example of the conservative penchant for rewriting history to create an appearance of historical justification for conservative opinions. It goes along with name calling exercises (pinhead, socialist, and dumbocrat come to mind) as a tactic to manipulate emotions without having to go through the effort of actually justifying positions based on analysis of facts. Left wing extremists do the same thing and I find it equally objectionable.

[zeus3925]

I assume that you are referring to the fact that this, like a large percentage of favorite historical quotes routinely cited on conservative blogs, is actually a fabrication. As best anyone can figure out, this was written in the 1960's and promptly entered into the Congressional Record by a conservative representative. It does not appear anywhere in the known writings of Cicero in addition to the fact that there was no such things as "public assistance" in ancient Rome.

Yardley is correct on this post. Rome did not have a "public assistance" program. It did not tax its citizens, but raised revenues by pillage and selling captives as slaves. It also charged a tribute to its conquered lands. Soldiers were granted land in its conquests as a way of supporting its veterans. If you wanted in the cavalry, you had to buy your own horse. It did have a lot of civic unrest due to its working class being replaced by slaves. It ended up subsidizing grain. The circuses were largely paid for by wealthy citizens.