patrick.net

Honest Abe says

The path America is on RIGHT NOW, in the name of good, is a familiar one. The unspeakable horrors of Nazism, Stalinism, Maoism and others were simply the end result of a long evolution of ideas like Liberalism, Socialism, Communism, Fascism, leading to the consolidation of power in a CENTRAL GOVERNMENT in the name of “social justice”. Tens of millions of deaths were the result of powerful central government’s engaged in social justice.

Other than memorizing some trite phrases it is obvious you have no clue about history of any kind.

Which of the "trite phrases", as you call them, is wrong?

Haven't read responses till now, but to clear this up so no one looking at these messages gets bad information...

tatupu70 says

If you do that–it’s your own fault. Investing your savings in a bank is almost always a losing proposition.

It is impracticable for the average American not to use banking for most of his day-to-day financial transactions. Furthermore, it is ridiculous that a person should be forced to take any financial risk in terms of investing in stock, bonds, or other assets simply to RETAIN the value of his money rather than to grow it. Money should automatically store value without loss. That's part of the definition of money.

Real incomes always decline during a recession and rise again as the economy grows.

Your statements are empirically false. Real incomes have frequently over the past two generations failed to climb at all during economic booms while falling during recessions. Simply Google "real income of Americans over time adjusted for inflation." Furthermore, inflation has the immediate effect of lowering the purchasing power of your income. You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.

You need a lesson in cause and effect.

This is like saying, "insert counterargument here." You haven't actually said anything, so the only reply I can give to you is, never try to out logic a person who does logic 70 hours a week for a living. It's like trying to outrun a professional racer.

Oh, wait a sec. If Thomas Jefferson said it, then it must be true….

In addition to explaining exactly how inflation works to undermine economic prosperity, I have quoted the founding fathers to show to you that these facts have been well-known for a long time. However, if you really want to compare your reputation to Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin, I'll give more credence to the fathers of our country.

Who would more people trust as a source of wisdom: the author of Poor Richard's Almanac or tatupu70?

Dan8267 says

That’s part of the definition of money.

Nope. Nice try though.

Dan8267 says

Your statements are empirically false. Real incomes have frequently over the past two generations failed to climb at all during economic booms while falling during recessions. Simply Google “real income of Americans over time adjusted for inflation.” Furthermore, inflation has the immediate effect of lowering the purchasing power of your income. You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.

OK--I wasn't being literal that real incomes rise every year during a boom and fall every year during a recession. My apologies-I thought that was obvious. The point was that it's not unusual for real incomes to fall during very bad economic times and it has very little to do with a fiat currency.

Dan8267 says

You haven’t actually said anything, so the only reply I can give to you is, never try to out logic a person who does logic 70 hours a week for a living. It’s like trying to outrun a professional racer.

Well, I don't think 70 hours is enough. You imply that the reason for the success of the colonies was the "honest" currency without any supporting evidence.

Dan8267 says

However, if you really want to compare your reputation to Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin, I’ll give more credence to the fathers of our country.

Nope--Jefferson and Franklin clearly have better reputations. My point is that even the Founding Fathers were not infallable. Every word uttered by Jefferson wasn't gospel.

I realize this is "about.com" but similar sentiments can be found elsewhere:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/fallromeeconomic/a/econoffall.htm

Sounds like we are headed in the same direction, perhaps? For those of you who don't want to click the link:

"Nero and other emperors debased the currency in order to supply a demand for more coins. By debasing the currency is meant that instead of a coin having its own intrinsic value+, it was now only representative of the silver or gold it had once contained. By the time of Claudius II Gothicus (268-270 A.D.) the amount of silver in a supposedly (100%) silver denarius was only .02%.
This led to or was severe inflation, depending on how you define inflation."

.....

"Rome's wealth was originally in land, but this gave way to wealth through taxation.

The Cato Institute (a modern free-market think tank) says that emperors deliberately overtaxed the senatorial (or ruling) class in order to render it powerless. To do this, the emperors needed a powerful set of enforcers -- the imperial guard.

Once the wealthy and powerful were no longer either rich or powerful, the poor had to pay the bills of the state. These bills included the payment of the imperial guard and the military troops at the empire's borders."

....

"Since the military and the imperial guard were absolutely essential, taxpayers had to be compelled to produce their pay. Workers had to be tied to their land.

To escape the burden of tax, some small landowners sold themselves into slavery, since slaves didn't have to pay tax and freedom from taxes was more desirable than personal liberty."

Good point. I think we'll soon see small landowners selling themselves into slavery in the US. Maybe 2015?

Nomograph says

Money is issued by the government as tender. Are you actually suggesting that you think it is the job of the government to store your wealth for you?

(HINT: It isn’t)

Sorry pal, but your cries for a nanny-state to shelter you from the perils of a free market will go unanswered.

Nomograph, you ignorant slut. No, I am not suggesting that government should protect people from risks in free market investments. I have no idea how you pulled that out of your @$$ from my comments. Nor am I suggesting that we should have a nanny-state. I am not even suggesting that government should be the controller of money -- and in our country, it isn't, the fed is.

What I have stated is that money should retain value as that is one of its four functions. As Peter Schiff states in his book Crash Proof, the purpose of money is
1. A medium for the exchange of goods and services.
2. A unit of accounting.
3. A method of deferred payment.
4. A store of value.

When money fails in any of these purposes, the economy suffers. Before the federal reserve was created, the U.S. dollar held its value. After the fed was created, we got the Great Depression.

The only people who are pro-inflation are debtors and the big bankers.

Dan8267 says

Before the federal reserve was created, the U.S. dollar held its value. After the fed was created, we got the Great Depression.

Still haven't figured out the whole cause/effect thing yet, have you?

tatupu70 says

Dan8267 says

Before the federal reserve was created, the U.S. dollar held its value. After the fed was created, we got the Great Depression.

Still haven’t figured out the whole cause/effect thing yet, have you?

Insert argument here.

Dan8267 says

> Wow–thanks professor. Now it takes $1 to buy a candy bar instead of $.30. But the average income is $30K instead of $10K. So what?

OK, smart-ass. Here's the point. Say you put 20% of your income in a savings account that offers 2% interest, but inflation is running at 5%. You are actually paying a 3% annual fee to the bank for storing your money. You pay a 5% tax if you keep your money in cash. That's damn significant to anyone who has savings including retirement plans. Factor in the fact that you will keep adding to your savings, and the amount of real wealth you lose each year grows every year. That's the point.

Furthermore, the real median income of U.S. households has decline over the past ten years. This may be masked by inflation, but its effects are not.

Inflation also makes it more difficult to meaningfully compare the change in value of assets over long periods of times. This is especially true since the Federal Reserve stopped reportin...

Back in the day, we had people on this forum who understood what causes inflation, and we also had idiots who argued nonsense about how inflation was good for the economy. Generally speaking the people who think inflation is good are the same people who today support the Nancy Pelosi and Hunter Biden lifestyle and politics. In other words they like corruption, bullying people to take vaxxes and spend money for wars in foreign lands so that some of that money can be laundered and return to Nancy, Clintons and Bidens to continue living high on the hog while the average and below average person fall further and further behind. Inflation is just one of many tools the globalists use to maintain and enhance their control.

Dan8267 says

Nomograph says

Money is issued by the government as tender. Are you actually suggesting that you think it is the job of the government to store your wealth for you?

(HINT: It isn’t)

Sorry pal, but your cries for a nanny-state to shelter you from the perils of a free market will go unanswered.

Nomograph, you ignorant slut. No, I am not suggesting that government should protect people from risks in free market investments. I have no idea how you pulled that out of your @$$ from my comments. Nor am I suggesting that we should have a nanny-state. I am not even suggesting that government should be the controller of money -- and in our country, it isn't, the fed is.

What I have stated is that money should retain value as that is one of its four functions. As Peter Schiff states in his book Crash Proof, the purpose of money is

1. A medium for the exchange of goods and services.

Dan8267 says

2. A unit of accounting.

3. A method of deferred payment.

4. A store of value.

When money fails in any of these purposes, the economy suffers. Before the federal reserve was created, the U.S. dollar held its value. After the fed was created, we got the Great Depression.

The only people who are pro-inflation are debtors and the big bankers.

Well said Dan!

nope says

How many apples can I buy with 70 grains of silver? How many cars?

1 troy ounce is 480 grains. 70 grains is about the amount of silver ins 2 silver dimes, which is worth about $3.35 right now.

Back in the old days, the federal government standardized silver units into dimes, quarters, and halves, which contained 0.72 ozt per $1 face value. e.g.: 0.72 troy ounces of silver in 10 dimes. So, no need to deal with grains of silver, as everything was clearly laid out, labeled, and standardized. Strangely, a silver dollar had 0.77 ozt of silver; weird.

PeopleUnited says

Ever heard of a monetary reset? I suggest one is coming soon to a "democracy" near you.

Any year now. This system can't hold up for more than a couple more centuries.

Personally, I never thought the Fed could bamboozle us for this long.

What is to prevent people from trading with each other in silver or gold?

Patrick says

What is to prevent people from trading with each other in silver or gold?

A man named Bernard von NotHaus created gold, silver, and copper coins which he called "Liberty dollars". He was sued by the Federal Government as a terrorist for doing this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_von_NotHaus

Privately, nothing. Publicly, all business's must accept federal debt notes. And bad money will always drive out good. Why should I use real money when I can pay you in worthless paper, and you HAVE to accept it?

Businesses do not actually have to accept federal debt notes except for debts.

If you don't have a debt to them yet, they could demand gold, or Rubles, or whatever before they agree to do business with you. At least that's my understanding.

richwicks says

A man named Bernard von NotHaus created gold, silver, and copper coins which he called "Liberty dollars". He was sued by the Federal Government as a terrorist for doing this.

I think his problem was that he used the word "dollar":

Federal prosecutors successfully argued that von NotHaus was, in fact, trying to pass off the silver coins as U.S. currency. Coming in denominations of 5, 10, 20, and 50, the Liberty Dollars also featured a dollar sign, the word "dollar" and the motto "Trust in God," similar to the "In God We Trust" that appears on U.S. coins.:[13]

If you just had the weight in grams and no mention of anything that's on a dollar, it might be legal.

NuttBoxer says

Privately, nothing. Publicly, all business's must accept federal debt notes.

No they don't. Some places literally refuse to take cash.

Patrick says

What is to prevent people from trading with each other in silver or gold?

laws

We can trade with each other in gold and silver, as long as the person that has what you want, wants what you have.

There's some freakiness in the precious metal markets. The price of silver (official paper price of silver) is less than half of what it was in 1980. Gold and silver are currently used as money but there is a middleman (your local gold/silver shop or website) that gets a cut when buying or selling.

Gold and silver are kind of like bitcoin, but you have to actually hold it.

This is one dollar:



You could spend a couple of them for a candy bar.

richwicks says

NuttBoxer says

Privately, nothing. Publicly, all business's must accept federal debt notes.

No they don't. Some places literally refuse to take cash.

True, but I do not know how that can have that policy. There have even been court cases where a business was forced to take payments in pennies.

Some interesting reading on the subject:

https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm

Notice how they specifically mention currency and coin together, then separately mention federal reserve notes. For anyone who's ever argued Federal Reserve notes are real money, even the Federal Reserve disagrees with you.
They also mention public charges, which would indicate Fed notes are not just for paying debt.

Can a business refuse fiat currency? In theory yes, but in practice, well, I'd wager you wouldn't want to the repercussions of practice if it became popular unless you like rigged courts, and lots of time alone in a cell. You see if refusal of all forms of Federal Reserve notes became popular(paper, coin, check, credit card, etc), the system would collapse. And the collapse would be so quick, and the changes it effected so damaging to their agenda, that there's no way they'd ever let it happen if they can stop it.

You think refusing to pay taxes is bad, try refusing all forms of Federal Reserve payments and see how long before IRS agents show up at your door.

Onvacation says

There's some freakiness in the precious metal markets. The price of silver (official paper price of silver) is less than half of what it was in 1980.

You're comparing the price of silver now to the peak when two brothers attempted to corner the market. I've said this before, the highly manipulated paper value is only useful in times of stability. If you can buy silver for spot today, it's isn't silver, or it's not the ounces they're telling you.

Onvacation says

Gold and silver are currently used as money but there is a middleman (your local gold/silver shop or website) that gets a cut when buying or selling.

There's also been a widely successful attempt to label gold and silver as investments rather than money, which means taxes. Tennessee recently passed a law voiding that tax, but they're the exception.

Onvacation says

This is one dollar:

It's not. A dollar is actually a weight first, designating a coin with a certain weight of silver. The ones made after the 50's I believe no longer have the required silver, and so become just another form of fiat currency.

A peso was also a weight of silver before it was debased into nothingness.

Inherited from Old Spanish peso, from Vulgar Latin *pēsum, from Latin pēnsum, from pendō (“to weigh”).

The British pound was a pound of silver as well.

https://thepickaxe.substack.com/p/uae-follows-saudi-lead-uae-officially

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has shifted from using the US dollar to local currencies in its oil trades.

•This move aligns with the broader de-dollarization efforts of the BRICS economic alliance, which the UAE recently joined.

•The UAE’s decision could significantly impact the dominance of the US dollar in the global oil market.

I started reading this thread and found a post that I made way back in 2010. In my not so humble opinion, I believe it was spot on regarding the future, which we are now living in:

"The financiers I'm referring to are those that expect the U.S. dollar to maintain its value due to fiscal responsibility by the federal government. We are spending at an incredible pace and the big money players of the world know it. We have only four basic options available to pay down our debt: 1) dramatically cut government spending and balance the budget, 2) dramatically raise taxes, 3) continue to borrow enormous sums from foreign sources (currently $3 + Billion per day), 4) monetize our debt via the printing press. I would argue that #1 & #2 will not happen due to the political suicide it would require by our self serving politicians. #3 is more palpable politically because most voters cannot comprehend that their government is basically broke and forced to borrow in order to function. #4 is the most likely scenario because it is the most acceptable to voters that do not have the capacity to understand inflationary economics, i.e. debasing of the currency. When Nixon closed the gold window in 1971, the government literally held its breath, not knowing how the world would react. We have abused our currency since that time and, although we are currently experiencing deflation in some sectors and inflation in others (along with high unemployment, i.e. stagflation), the day is absolutely coming when the excessive amounts of fiat money will finally push inflation into at least the double digits. When the big money players begin to unload their U.S. dollars, we will be forced to raise interest rates in order to attract investments in the dollar. With the economy already weakened while enjoying historically low interest rates, what do you think will happen when interest rates are forced higher?"

Back to the original thread "What is a Dollar?"

A Dollar, as of 5/14/2010 was 1/1237 of one Troy ounce of Gold.

NOTE: as of today, 11/29/2023, the dollar is 1/2044 of one Troy ounce of Gold.

RayAmerica says

Back to the original thread "What is a Dollar?"

A Dollar, as of 5/14/2010 was 1/1237 of one Troy ounce of Gold.

NOTE: as of today, 11/29/2023, the dollar is 1/2044 of one Troy ounce of Gold.

So it’s going pretty well then :) for the globalists.

Patrick says

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has shifted from using the US dollar to local currencies in its oil trades.

And just like that Nicki Haley started looking for a reason to invade UAE.

There is some good news about a weak dollar: It will help us manufacture for export again.

AmericanKulak says

There is some good news about a weak dollar: It will help us manufacture for export again.

no it won’t, unless you want to live on $10 a day

AmericanKulak says

There is some good news about a weak dollar: It will help us manufacture for export again.

And a million new workers crossing the southern border to run the factory!

Honest Abe says

Show me where a sound dollar and capitalism causes anywhere near the pain, suffering, tragedy, misery and number of deaths that a fiat currency and a powerful socialistic central government has caused.

I believe the "need" for social justice comes when the income/wealth inequality gap becomes too large.

Inflation hurts the poorest people most, and favors the wealthy. It is a stealth tax on the working class. It promotes inequality and is an injustice to retirees with savings in cash.

Patrick says

from pendō (“to weigh”).

Intereasting. "pendo" like "pendulum" the swinging clock weight, and "pendular" like the weighed down sagging breasts.

I love etymologies.

I look them up all the time on https://en.wiktionary.org/ which is blessedly non-woke so far.

This belongs here

Patrick says