Paul Krugman was writing a bit last week about the enduring appeal of economically harmful hard money policies and whether there was some way you could tie to this to the class interests of the super-wealthy. I'm skeptical, largely because as you move into the further reaches of crankery you find plenty of hard-right monetary views that clearly make no sense.
For example, the new issue of The Weekly Standard has a piece urging the GOP to "Go Bold With Gold" as in the gold standard.
This idea pops up in right-of-center circles constantly, but it's a pure figment of ideological thinking totally devoid of upside to anyone at all. Here are 7 reasons it's a bad idea:
1) A gold standard wouldn't stabilize inflation
Fredgraph
There is essentially one-to-one overlap between gold standard enthusiasts and people worried about inflation. But there is no reason to think that pegging the dollar to the price of gold would systematically stabilize prices.
As an example, above you will find the price of a barrel of oil measured in troy ounces of gold. You can see that gold does not have some magical property that causes this to be stable. Gold is just another commodity and using it as your currency offers no guarantee of protection against rising prices, especially of the kind of rising prices of staple commodities that most bother people.
2) A gold standard wouldn't stabilize exchange rates
One property of the classical gold standard that people are sometimes nostalgic for is that it prevented exchange rate fluctuations. But that's not because the United States dollar was backed by gold, it's becauseall major currencies had their value pegged to gold. It's the common pegging that's doing the work there, not the gold.
The argument that it would be better to ditch floating exchange rates and return to a system of fixed exchange rates would be interesting to make. But it has nothing to do with gold, and would constitute a massive regulatory intervention — not a step toward freer markets.
3) There's no inflation problem to cure
I whipped inflation with fiat money
The Standard spends considerable time dwelling on the fact that a return to gold was part of the original supply-side agenda of the late 1970s and early 1980s. But it doesn't consider the question of why it fell off the agenda. But the answer is pretty clear. In the 1970s, the collapse of the Bretton-Woods exchange rate regime was followed by a big burst of inflation. That led to a surge in thinking of ideas about how to curb that inflation. When Paul Volcker proved in 1980-82 that he was perfectly capable of ending inflation in the context of a fiat money system, people lost interest in novel inflation-fighting measures.
Then when Volcker's interest rate cuts led to a massive economic boom in 1984 and a landslide re-election for Ronald Reagan, most conservatives sensibly realized that there's a lot to love about countercyclical monetary policy. These days the inflation rate is very low — in the 1-2 percent range — so there's no inflation problem for gold to fix.
4) There's nothing stopping you from writing gold contracts
Goldbugs sometimes profess to believe that the official inflation statistics are somehow rigged. But one of the pleasures of living in a free society is that you don't have to follow official statistics. Businesses could pay their workers in gold or gold-linked instruments. They could demand payment in the same. Workers could try to demand gold-denominated salaries. In practice, nobody does this. In part nobody does it because it would be a hassle. But people put up with lots of hassles for the sake of money — that's the whole premise of working for a living.
If it were actually the case that the Federal Reserve was systematically debasing the dollar in a way that could be easily avoided by pegging its value to gold, you would see people attempting to exploit this in their economic interactions. The fact that nobody is doing this is sending us a powerful message about the suitability of the Fiat Dollar as a currency.
5) Gold recessions could last for years
Great_slump_revisited
The recession associated with the 2007-2008 financial crisis lasted a long and painful 18 months. The recession that started in October 1873 during the heyday of the classical gold standard lasted a shocking 65 months. It was followed by a 38 month recession from March of 1882 to May of 1885. The Great Depression lasted 43 months, and only ended when the United States quit the gold standard and allowed itself to reflate the economy.
The Federal Reserve is a far-from-perfect manager of the economy, but it does a lot better than that.
6) The gold standard wouldn't eliminate political money
These guys ditched gold, and their successors could too
One of the alleged virtues of the gold standard is that it would eliminate the discretion of politicians and their appointees over the value of money. This would only be true, however, if the United States adopted a gold standard that was somehow irrevocable. A mere law fixing the price of dollars in terms of gold would be subject to repeal and controversy just like any other law.
In the past, sticking with gold required the country to endure long grinding recessions that lasted for years on end. 19th Century politicians were willing to put up with that because they were genuinely uncertain of the consequences of various proposals to issue fiat money or silver-backed currency. Today, however, we know that fiat money works fine. So whatever concern you have about political manipulation of the money supply would not be addressed by shifting to gold — future leaders could always shift back.
7) Gold-backed money reduces the supply of gold
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Sunday, January 22, 2017
Goldbugs sometimes profess to believe that the official inflation statistics are somehow rigged. But one of the pleasures of living in a free society is that you don't have to follow official statistics. Businesses could pay their workers in gold or gold-linked instruments. They could demand payment in the same. Workers could try to demand gold-denominated salaries. In practice, nobody does this. In part nobody does it because it would be a hassle. But people put up with lots of hassles for the sake of money — that's the whole premise of working for a living. If it were actually the case that the Federal Reserve was systematically debasing the dollar in a way that could be easily avoided by pegging its value to gold, you would see people attempting to exploit this in their economic interactions. The fact that nobody is doing this is sending us a powerful message about the suitability of the Fiat Dollar as a currency. 5) Gold recessions could last for years A gold standard wouldn't stabilize exchange rates One property of the classical gold standard that people are sometimes nostalgic for is that it prevented exchange rate fluctuations. But that's not because the United States dollar was backed by gold, it's becauseall major currencies had their value pegged to gold. It's the common pegging that's doing the work there, not the gold. The argument that it would be better to ditch floating exchange rates and return to a system of fixed exchange rates would be interesting to make. But it has nothing to do with gold, and would constitute a massive regulatory intervention — not a step toward freer markets. 3) There's no inflation problem to cure I whipped inflation with fiat money
Saturday, January 21, 2017
DONALD TRUMP MIGHT DRAIN THE CABAL SWAMP, MILITARY EXERCISES SPOT WE ARE AT A CROSSROADS WITH BEIJING , AND YOU MUST KNOW THIS IS ISLAND IS IN THE OFFSHORE REALMS IN THE OCEAN WHERE THERE IS NO INTERNATIONAL LAW, UNTIL i GUESS NOW, IT WASN'T FOR ME TO DIRECT, PERHAPS TRUMP IS GOING TO EXPEL THE CABAL, IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO KNOW WHAT GOES ON, BUT I CAN ONLY TELL YOU ONLY THIS , MY FRIENDS WE MAKE THE WORLDS DUMBEST BILLIONARE INSIDER TRADER AWARD ceremonies every year , held in switzerland , to mock to supposed islands, that now we see proof do exist,,
U.S. SPY PLANE RECORDS CHINA'S ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS, CHINA THREATENS RESPONSE
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Trump Appoints RFK Jr. To Be Head of Federal Vaccine Commission
Trump Appoints RFK Jr. To Be Head of Federal Vaccine Commission
President-elect Donald Trump has undoubtedly ruffled feathers in staffing his administration, but the choice of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — known for his skepticism on the safety of vaccines — to chair a commission tasked with studying the efficacy of and issues concerning vaccinations, will undoubtedly raise eyebrows from both sides of the issue.
Kennedy, according to USA Today, will chair the presidential commission “to make sure we have scientific integrity in the vaccine process for efficacy and safety effects,” the environmental activist and politician told reporters after meeting with Trump on Tuesday.
Kennedy noted the incoming president requested the meeting, as he “has some doubts about the current vaccine policies and he has questions about it. His opinion doesn’t matter, but the science does matter and we ought to be reading the science and we ought to be debating the science.”
While advocates of the heavy vaccination schedule might find the choice of Kennedy — who has been castigated as an anti-vaxxer — quite startling, he insisted Trump remains “very pro-vaccine, as am I,” and only seeks to ensure “they’re as safe as they can possibly be.”
Corporate media hastily attacked the appointment of a skeptic to such an important commission; however, Kennedy insisted in the press conference public health and safety remains the topic of concern.
“President-elect Trump has some doubts about the current vaccine policies and he has questions about it,” Kennedy said, as reported by NBC News. “He says his opinion doesn’t matter … but the science does matter, and we ought to be reading the science and we ought to be debating the science.”
Vaccination has frequently been a topic of bitter public dispute over the last few years, as parents of autistic children have pegged the ingredient thimerosal — which, in part, contains notoriously toxic mercury — as the culprit for the affliction.
President-elect Trump has, himself, spoken out about blindly supporting a medical practice without thorough and long-term investigation, as he stated in 2015 during a Republican primary debate,
“I am totally in favor of vaccines. But I want smaller doses over a longer period of time. Same exact amount, but you take this little beautiful baby, and you pump–I mean, it looks just like it’s meant for a horse, not for a child, and we’ve had so many instances, people that work for me. … [in which] a child, a beautiful child went to have the vaccine, and came back and a week later had a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.”
Countless anecdotal cases of the onset of autism coincidentally following a certain round of vaccinations have left a growing population of parents excoriating the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for failing to diligently investigate effects of contents of certain vaccines.
For its part, the CDC scoffs at such comparisons and has painted the anti-vaxx movement — and anyone daring to question vaccination — under the broad brush of hysterics.
“Research does not show any link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder,” the CDC’s website advises — and the conglomerate agency has ostensibly ‘debunked’ the autism link numerous times.
A vocal movement of parents whose children’s autism abruptly took hold after immunization, however, find grave fault with the CDC’s failure to at least address their concerns.
Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization for individuals with autism, which aligns with the CDC, told NBC News in a statement, “Over the last two decades, extensive research has asked whether there is any link between childhood vaccinations and autism. The results of this research are clear: Vaccines do not cause autism.”
Kennedy stated about vaccines at a documentary screening on the subject in 2015,“They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone. This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country.”
Coming under intense backlash for the capricious use of that term, Kennedy later apologized, stating,
“I employed the term during an impromptu speech as I struggled to find an expression to convey the catastrophic tragedy of autism which has now destroyed the lives of over 20 million children and shattered their families.”
Indeed, with the growing pandemic of autism — and the increased number of immunizations deemed necessary through childhood — it would seem the appointment of someone who finds safety and study relevant would be crucial to the interest of public health.
Kennedy is not, as the mainstream portrays, an unabashed anti-vaxxer — rather, he would like further study to prove or disprove either side in the issue.
After all, as the new chair of the presidential commission to study vaccines, Kennedy said in 2015, “They can put anything they want in that vaccine and they have no accountability for it.”
Perhaps more imperative than sounding alarms over skepticism, it would behoove the public to give Kennedy’s commission a chance to either prove vaccinations safe and viable — or deleterious to the children they’re supposed to immunize from disease.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
LiveLeak.com - Vanilla Spilla in NEW SONG "Puppet Government!"
LiveLeak.com - Vanilla Spilla in NEW SONG "Puppet Government!"
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=871_1483778232 vanilla Spilla taking shot at the dodd frank law, central banking, th e federal reserve, and the rothschild dynasty. What I want to talk about is how we are all slaves to the global banking cartel and their private banking system. The central banks such as the federal reserve. This is where governments borrow money from. The money is created out of thin air (which is fraud. If you or me were to just print our own money we would be arrest for counterfeiting) Private banks loan money to governments with compounded interest that can never be re-payed. It is extortion and it is bankrupting every country in which the money system is used. (which is nearly every country on the planet) The scam is called "fractional banking" and it is straight up "usury" Google both these terms & research their meanings. Money is supposed to actually be backed up before it is loaned out. This isn't the case. Money created today is backed by nothing of value what soever. They simply create it out of thin air. (which is fraud) The world is trillions of dollars in debt to certain family's who own the private banks which in include the Rothschild dynasty who owns the majority of the wealth of this planet. (google it) The banks have infiltrated the governments of the world colvertly, bankrupting them in the process. It is the biggest scam to ever take place on this earth and you probably had no idea it even existed. You don't learn about where money comes from in school. It is this way for a reason. They don't want you to know where money comes from or it's orgins. Everybody should be pissed off that thier government borrows money of private banks instead of creating it for itself debt free, as it is clearly stated that we are permitted to do in our constitution. Billions of dollars get wasted every year paying back this pointless debt to the private banks instead of going towards things like infrastructure, health care, education, foreign aid to help third world countries, ending poverty in our own countries etc etc. We would have enough money to pay for free healthcare, free education and much more. Our countries could flourish. We could even cure global hunger with the money wasted after as well. That much money gets wasted.. It could be used to help people prosper, instead of lining the pockets of the a few rich elite scumbags. You and your government are being extorted by a fraudulent financial system and most don't even know about it. It's time to wake up. The government is supposed to work for the best interests of the people, not the private corporations! Our fraudulent money system is the biggest crime of the century and people need to wake up to this. We need to create our money ourselves and abolish the fractional banking system, as well as the perpetual debt that we owe to the private banks. Google "Iceland kicks out banks" while your at it. Iceland kicked the private banks out of their country and reclaimed the economy debt free. We need to follow this example.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=871_1483778232 vanilla Spilla taking shot at the dodd frank law, central banking, th e federal reserve, and the rothschild dynasty. What I want to talk about is how we are all slaves to the global banking cartel and their private banking system. The central banks such as the federal reserve. This is where governments borrow money from. The money is created out of thin air (which is fraud. If you or me were to just print our own money we would be arrest for counterfeiting) Private banks loan money to governments with compounded interest that can never be re-payed. It is extortion and it is bankrupting every country in which the money system is used. (which is nearly every country on the planet) The scam is called "fractional banking" and it is straight up "usury" Google both these terms & research their meanings. Money is supposed to actually be backed up before it is loaned out. This isn't the case. Money created today is backed by nothing of value what soever. They simply create it out of thin air. (which is fraud) The world is trillions of dollars in debt to certain family's who own the private banks which in include the Rothschild dynasty who owns the majority of the wealth of this planet. (google it) The banks have infiltrated the governments of the world colvertly, bankrupting them in the process. It is the biggest scam to ever take place on this earth and you probably had no idea it even existed. You don't learn about where money comes from in school. It is this way for a reason. They don't want you to know where money comes from or it's orgins. Everybody should be pissed off that thier government borrows money of private banks instead of creating it for itself debt free, as it is clearly stated that we are permitted to do in our constitution. Billions of dollars get wasted every year paying back this pointless debt to the private banks instead of going towards things like infrastructure, health care, education, foreign aid to help third world countries, ending poverty in our own countries etc etc. We would have enough money to pay for free healthcare, free education and much more. Our countries could flourish. We could even cure global hunger with the money wasted after as well. That much money gets wasted.. It could be used to help people prosper, instead of lining the pockets of the a few rich elite scumbags. You and your government are being extorted by a fraudulent financial system and most don't even know about it. It's time to wake up. The government is supposed to work for the best interests of the people, not the private corporations! Our fraudulent money system is the biggest crime of the century and people need to wake up to this. We need to create our money ourselves and abolish the fractional banking system, as well as the perpetual debt that we owe to the private banks. Google "Iceland kicks out banks" while your at it. Iceland kicked the private banks out of their country and reclaimed the economy debt free. We need to follow this example.
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