In relation to a Brookings symposium on inequality and monetary policy which took place today, Ben Bernanke wrote a piece on his blog about why the Fed’s policies, while not completely innocent of favoring the haves and disfavoring the have-nots, did not in fact contribute to the widening wealth gap.
Last Friday came the unpleasant news that Ross Ulbricht, the 31-year-old former operator of the Silk Road site, has been sentenced by a federal court to life in prison without parole. This follows his conviction in February for typically dubious (nowhere in the Constitution) federal crimes including conspiracy, money laundering, and the circular “engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.”
The Future of Liberalism
All earlier civilizations perished, or at least reached a state of stagnation, long before they had attained the level of material development that modern European civilization has succeeded in achieving. Nations were destroyed by wars with foreign enemies as well as by internecine strife. Anarchy forced a retrogression in the division of labor; cities, commerce, and industry declined; and, with the decay of their economic foundations, intellectual and moral refinements had to give way to ignorance and brutality.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), once the conductor of a global dollar exchange standard based partially on gold convertibility, has mutated into the official platform for the 2 percent inflation standard launched surreptitiously by the Greenspan Fed in July 1996. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) then approved a position paper by Professor Yellen that price stability should mean 2 percent inflation forever. Europe joined the standard in 1998, and Japan became the newest member in January 2013.
From Power Trading Radio: “Merlin and John welcome back Joe Salerno for a look at the war on cash. Not your typical currency war that the Central banks play, but an actual push to get rid of the use of cash. Why would this be happening, and what are the opportunities in alternative currencies?”
In this podcast, Ron Paul talks to Lew Rockwell about the War on Cash, the Trans Pacific Partnership, ISIS, and endless war.
I. Money: Its Importance and Origins
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF MONEY
Today, money supply figures pervade the financial press. Every Friday, investors breathlessly watch for the latest money figures, and Wall street often reacts at the opening on the following Monday. If the money supply has gone up sharply, interest rates may or may not move upward. The press is filled with ominous forecasts of Federal Reserve actions, or of regulations of banks and other financial institutions.
The Mystery of Banking
Governments, at least modern western governments, have always hated cash. Cash is private, and cash transactions are hard to tax. As Joe Salerno explains, the US fedgov’s relentless War on Cash has been ongoing.
Now one of the primary weapons in that War, the misnamed Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, has targeted a prominent retired politician.
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel points out that people are making riskier investments. If that is the case, we should remember that it is by design. One outcome of negative and zero-percent interest rate policy is to push yield-starved investors into riskier territory. It’s already “mission accomplished” according to Speigel:
Snapchat has a monster valuation and relatively small revenue.
