ForbesOp/Ed|1/23/2012 @ 4:33PM
Gingrich, The Gold Standard, And The Florida Primary Charles Kadlec, Contributor
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There is no meaningful way to save for your retirement, for your children’s education, or for the future if you don’t know what the dollar will be worth when you will need to spend it. That makes us insecure and more dependent on government. Sound money — a dollar that can buy the same amount 10, 20 or 30 years from now — increases our ability to take care of ourselves, our families and to be far less dependent on government. That goes to the heart of our ability to live in liberty.
The gold standard also reinforces the constitutional limits on the power of the federal government. When the dollar is linked to gold, the Federal Reserve cannot finance federal government deficits by printing excessive amounts of money. If it were to try to do so, holders of dollars could over-rule the Fed by turning in the extra dollars for gold, forcing the Fed to reverse its policies. Except in times of war, the Federal budget deficits were tiny. From 1947 to 1967, they averaged just 0.1% a year. In today’s economy, that would be the equivalent of $15 billion.
Finally, making the dollar as good as gold, and restoring gold to the center of the international monetary system, will give the Unites States an enormous boost in soft power. According to a recent study by the Bank of England, when compared to even the flawed, post World War II gold standard, the paper dollar standard has been a disaster whose true dimensions have been disguised by the time over which it has been inflicted on people all over the world. Since 1971, real per capital growth rates have been cut by 1 percentage point a year, even as world inflation increased 1.5 percentage points to average 4.8% per year. Meanwhile, the frequency and severity of economic downturns have increased, as have the number of banking crises.
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As far as I know, Gingrich doesn’t support a Gold Standard; only Ron Paul wants to start the process. And, it would have to be a process. A complete process of unwinding the “Era of Big Government”.
There’s a TV commercial on about the old couple at the bank being congratulated about their retirement. The teller is counting out blank pieces of paper. How true is that? In my mind, very.
Social Security was sold to “We, The Sheeple” as “insurance”. Unlike real “insurance”, the politicians and bureaucrats took the “contributions” and spent them on the welfare / warfare state. And, put IOUs in the “lockbox”. What a joke! A fraud. At least Ponzi didn’t force people to participate. If MetLife did what the Gooferment did, all the executives would be jail. The politicians and bureaucrats collect a big Gooferment pension for <synonym for the act of procreation in real time> us.
And, Social Security was never supposed to be taxable. And, inflation adjusted. Until the Gooferment decided that energy and food shouldn’t count towards inflation. Right!
And, good luck saving on your own for your retirement. The FED, to hold down the Gooferment’s borrowing costs, has by diktat keeps interest rates at zero. Or pretty close to it.
401Ks and IRA were introduced to induce savings for retirement and take pressure off Social Security. Since “it was never intended to entirely fund a person’s retirement”. That would surprise “We, The Sheeple” circa 1935.
But then a lot would surprise them!
So, perhaps, youngsters might be better off saving for their retirement in gold or silver bullion coins.
Remember that in ancient Rome two gold coins would buy a fine man’s outfit. Pretty much the same today.
Remember that in 1964, three silver dimes would but a gallon of gas. I can PERSONALLY attest to that. And, they cleaned your window, gave you a free class, and trading stamps. Today, those three silver dimes would be worth about SIX DOLLARS; enough for almost TWO gallons of gas.
So, what has changed?
The dollar!
So returning to that old couple at the bank with a lifetime of paper savings. They’ve been defrauded by society. Hard to imagine, but visualize if they’d put those savings into gold bullion coins that they kept in a kitchen pot. Each week, instead of “saving” with paper, they put some gold or silver away in that pot. Hard to imagine that they would nt be better off.
Finally, returning to Gingrich, I agree he could ignite a fire of reality. But, that’s not going to happen. Because at the end of the road, these guys are all suits who want to control people.
Vote Ron Paul. A return to sanity begines with a single step.
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