What should back currency? - Page 5 - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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What should be used to back currency

Fiat
27
52%
Gold
10
19%
Silver
No votes
0%
Gold and Silver
2
4%
Barter System
2
4%
Other Commodity
3
6%
Other
8
15%
User avatar
By Demosthenes
#13184999
Other: The barter system!

What? :?:

Oh C'mon... :(

Alright fine! Honisoit where are you???

I guess failing that, since the barter system will be laughed off the map, I'll surprisingly and simply agree with Huntster. For many of the same reasons, though most likely toward somewhat different ends.

I'm not going into some long debate with you pseudo-economists (Don't get me wrong I respect some of you), I'm just going to say that IMO the gold standard is slightly harder to manipulate.

Meh...beyond that, it's all made up anyway so it's all fairly pointless to me.
User avatar
By Gletkin
#13185077
Huntster wrote:After intense pressure from Senator Alphonse D'Amato and the U.S. Government in unprecedented support of the World Jewish Congress

:eh: Wut?
It's because of Jews that Switzerland switched to fiat currency?
By Monorprise
#13185691
I would like to know that the value of my wealth is not artificially changed, by someone with a printing press. That is why I don't like flat currency, it gives too much power to the government to rob people of their wealth with out their even knowing.
User avatar
By Figlio di Moros
#13185698
First off, it's "fiat". not "flat"; second, the value of your wealth won't dissappear if the monetary base is inflated by no more than 4%, or if you keep your money in a savings account.
By Kman
#13185709
A gold standard would result in exponential deflation, and the collapse of capitalism. Inflation is necessary for the capitalist mode of production to remain feasible and optimal, and I do not understand criticisms of the existence of inflation.


The only thing a gold standard would do would be to prevent the US government from printing money en masse because they would need an equivalent amount of gold to back it, which you cant get since their is a limited supply of it world wide.

The US was on the gold stand up until the 1970's and in the years it was on the gold standard it had massive economic growth, so I dont really buy your claim that it would ''cause the collapse of capitalism''.

With a fiat currency the government can take as much wealth from the people as they want, nothing is stopping them and they are doing it right now, the 25% increase in the money supply that the fed has caused since 2006 will eventually cause each dollar to be worth 25% less.

A dollar that falls in value has the same effects as increasing taxes, it causes you as a consumer, to lose purchasing power.
Last edited by Kman on 04 Oct 2009 01:33, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By Gletkin
#13186100
Huntster wrote:It's because of the United States government using Jews as a tool.

So, what...the financial damages the WJC sought were so extreme it severely depleted Switzerland's gold supply or something?

Huntster wrote:You don't think Washington liked a stronger currency out there, do you?

It seems to vary from case-to-case. Sometimes Washington wants a weaker currency, sometimes stronger.
By Huntster
#13186735
Huntster wrote:
It's because of the United States government using Jews as a tool.

So, what...the financial damages the WJC sought were so extreme it severely depleted Switzerland's gold supply or something?


Source:

The Swiss franc has historically been considered a safe haven currency with virtually zero inflation and a legal requirement that a minimum of 40% be backed by gold reserves.[4] However, this link to gold, which dates from the 1920s, was terminated on 1 May 2000 following a referendum regarding the Nazi gold affair with Swiss banks and an amendment to the Swiss Constitution. By March 2005, following a gold selling program, the Swiss National Bank held 1,290 tonnes of gold in reserves which equated to 20% of its assets.


It was a full court press by the Democratic Party and the U.S. government on the Swiss franc and the Swiss banking system. In addition to desiring to weaken the Swiss franc, the U.S. government wanted Swiss banking secrecy to go away. Simultaneously, here in the states, "structuring" laws and other measures to control cash were being implemented.

Huntster wrote:
You don't think Washington liked a stronger currency out there, do you?

It seems to vary from case-to-case. Sometimes Washington wants a weaker currency, sometimes stronger.


But never a currency that is always stronger.
User avatar
By hannigaholic
#13187572
Fiat

Ever dollar should be equivalent to 1/20,000th of a Multipla :lol:
User avatar
By Figlio di Moros
#13187994
hannigaholic wrote:Fiat

Ever dollar should be equivalent to 1/20,000th of a Multipla :lol:


What? You're insane, even if our dollar was worth a whole Multipla it'd still be worthless!
By Zerogouki
#13188948
"Fiat" is a French word meaning "fail"

Well, not really, but you get the point. Hyperinflation has happened too many times for fiat to be a safe bet, not just in Germany, the Congo, and Yugoslavia, but even in the United States under the Articles of Confederation. Also, even moderate inflation produces weird and undesirable effects over long periods of time. I just don't think that a government as corrupt as that of the USA should be allowed to print unlimited amounts of monopoly money.

Anyway, I voted for gold. Its value has remained relatively stable over long periods of time, unlike silver, which dropped in value from 1/15th the price of gold to 1/50th the price of gold during the 19th century. It's very easy to handle and transport in any quantity, and is chemically ultra-stable with an indefinite shelf-life, as opposed to stuff like grain or oil. It's tangible, unlike energy, so you can actually make currency out of it instead of just currency backed by it (which carries its own risks - what if the government decides to stop redeeming these "commodity certificates"?).

And best of all... it's SHINY!
User avatar
By Figlio di Moros
#13189028
Zerogouki wrote:"Fiat" is a French word meaning "fail"


Common, man, their cars aren't that bad...


And best of all... it's SHINY!


That about sums up your entire argument; base-inflation presents no risks if kept at a stable, low rate, would help keep the value of the dollar stable over long periods of time, and new dollars can be put towards increasing capital production. The more important question is maintaining a strong, competitive economy, and your sole solution is to act like a turtle; instead of addressing the malbehavior of our economy policy, you prepose to duck into our shell.
By Zerogouki
#13189042
base-inflation presents no risks if kept at a stable, low rate,


You mean it presents less risk. And I don't trust my government to keep it at a stable, low rate indefinitely.

would help keep the value of the dollar stable over long periods of time,


Losing 95% of its value over merely 40 years is NOT "stable over long periods of time"

The more important question is maintaining a strong, competitive economy, and your sole solution is to act like a turtle; instead of addressing the malbehavior of our economy policy, you prepose to duck into our shell.


You obviously know nothing about my economic policy. I support major economic reforms, starting with a total moratorium on all bailouts, subsidies, and other forms of corporate welfare, and the abolition of the Fed.
User avatar
By Figlio di Moros
#13189079
Zero, you're a run-of-the-mill minarchist; your reforms can be summed up by "ZOMG, teh guvurnmint is fucken teh economy!!!" That's called tuckin' tail and avoiding the situation; you can keep burying your head in the sand, but I'd rather my government to take steps to get us out of the situation instead of rolling the die and praying you don't get snake-eyes.
By Kman
#13189098
Zero, you're a run-of-the-mill minarchist; your reforms can be summed up by "ZOMG, teh guvurnmint is fucken teh economy!!!" That's called tuckin' tail and avoiding the situation; you can keep burying your head in the sand, but I'd rather my government to take steps to get us out of the situation instead of rolling the die and praying you don't get snake-eyes.


So you think the government taking loans costing trillions of dollars will somehow save the economy? it will only make the economic crash that is coming within the next few years that much worse.

If your in debt and cant pay your bills, then the solution is not to go out and get more debt. This is basic common sense but the tards in Washington dont understand this.
User avatar
By Dr House
#13189122
Kman wrote:So you think the government taking loans costing trillions of dollars will somehow save the economy? it will only make the economic crash that is coming within the next few years that much worse.

If your in debt and cant pay your bills, then the solution is not to go out and get more debt. This is basic common sense but the tards in Washington dont understand this.

I love it when libertards attack strawmen. Why must a person either be a status quo-arian or a minarchist?
By Kman
#13189143
Why must a person either be a status quo-arian or a minarchist?


What I said is not related to being a libertarian, I said what I said because I believe in the free market and I understand that in free markets you need a recession once in a while to purge the badly run companies from the system.

When governments start propping up shit companies with retard bosses then you make the whole capitalist system more ineffective in the long term, because all these shit companies that made horrible business decisions they will keep the vibrant and well run smaller companies out of the market.
User avatar
By Figlio di Moros
#13189259
Well, then, please tell me where I supported "government taking loans costing trillions of dollars"? We're discussing fiat versus gold, and, simply put, fiat works better as long as the policy behind it isn't written by fucktards.
By Kman
#13189265
as long as the policy behind it isn't written by fucktards.


Ben Bernanke and Obama are both clueless, so the US is screwed :(. That is what makes gold a better standard for money because it makes it much harder for bad leaders to ruin the economy.

I find economics interesting and I have researched about it and read about it every day, one of the little gold nuggets of fun information I found is the speeches Ben Bernanke gave in 2007 where he proclaimed the prices on the housing market would continue to rise and that the economic fundamentals were ''sound''. :lol:
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