ECONOMICS: “End The Fed” and bring back prosperity

Sunday, October 27, 2024

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/10/lew-rockwell/why-equality-is-bad-2/ lewrockwell.com

No Compromise With the Fed! – LewRockwell

By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

*** begin quote ***

Some people argue like this: Although the Fed as it now exists is very bad, a nation needs a central bank to regulate its money supply, and the Fed is better than nothing. That being so, we should try to urge the Fed to adopt a non-expansionary monetary policy. In this view, calls to “End the Fed” are mistaken. I’m sure most of my readers already know what I’m about to say, but, just to be clear, that view is disastrously wrong. We do not need a central bank, and to argue in the way indicated is to betray the great Murray Rothbard and the great Dr. Ron Paul, whose slogan “End the Fed” has galvanized so many of us.

*** and ***

The transitional demands, then, must be framed while

  •     always holding up the ultimate goal of liberty as the desired end of the transitional process; and
  •     never taking steps, or using means, which explicitly or implicitly contradict that goal.”

Let’s do every we can to end the Fed now! On this, there can be no compromise.

*** end quote ***

Imagine a world with no Central Banks!  Unimaginable?  Think of the USA before 1913, and you can imagine that.  Where “inflation” was negative.  Real money  —  commodity money  —  circulated freely.   Foreign coins, like the Spanish real, were used along side of gold and silver coins.  Prices were always coming down.  Want to save your old age, put some coins in a jar on the mantle like my paternal grandmother did  — right under her rifle over the mantle.

The best argument against the FED or any central bank that “prints” money is that it allows the Gooferment to inflate the currency to pay for wars.

#ENDTHEFED

We don’t need it and it’s evil.

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MONEY: Will the Gooferment admit that they are “counterfeiting”?

Sunday, January 21, 2024

https://www.kiteandkeymedia.com/videos/should-the-us-mint-stop-making-pennies/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email

Making Change: Do We Need Pennies?
When making money involves losing money
January 2024

*** begin quote ***

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

  •     It costs around three cents to produce a single penny.
  •     The United States lost over $93 million producing pennies in 2022 alone.
  •     Eliminating the penny likely wouldn’t raise costs for American consumers.

*** end quote ***

I doubt the Gooferment will ever stop making pennies because then they would have to admit that they have been stealing the people’s wealth.  Silently and surreptitiously.  At least when you are robbed by a mugger, you know it. 

Penny candy, a nickel cigar, and dime a gallon gas are bright neon signs that the Gooferment mafia has robbed you.

Wake up rube and see the road map.

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: How about the sneakiness of the Gooferment with our “money”

Friday, November 10, 2023

FROM NEXTDOOR

Ronald P. Society Hill • 2 Nov • 

*** begin quote ***

The sneakiness of manufacturers! 

One has to be so aware of how manufacturers dupe their customers. 

We have been a big fan of Chock Full O’Nuts Coffee for many years. Always liked to wait for when the coffee went on sale for $1.99 per can. The new sale price at ShopRite reducing it from $5.69 a can is now $2.99. We put the coffee in a canister instead of using it out of the can. Suddenly the canister did not get filled. Apparently the amount of coffee that is now in the can is 10.3 ounces instead of 13 ounces! So now the sales price went up 50% and the quantity of coffee went down over 20%. 

I have found that manufacturers slip in a new reduced package size when they put the item on sale and customers don’t pay attention to the quantity. 

This is not unique to this company but seems to be practiced widely. It is always buyer beware.

*** end quote ***

Let’s not ignore the Gooferment’s role in all of this.

It has inflated the number of dollars in circulation by several trillion.  

Don’t you think that has some role in all this?

See my blog rants about penny candy, nickel cigars, and dime comics!

Shrinkflation is the manufactures’ response to a dollar devaluation.

“Dollar stores” are proliferating because that’s what people can afford.  

I can’t imagine shopping for food in a dollar store, but I think we are going to see more of this.  Not less.

Time to vote the clowns out and just resist.

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MONEY: “Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero.” -Voltaire, 1694-1778

Thursday, March 16, 2023

FROM AN EMAIL FROM BITCOIN.COM

*** begin quote ***

Unlike dollars, there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin

“Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero.” -Voltaire, 1694-1778

The history of fiat money (ie. money issued by government decree) shows that governments consistently increase supply far beyond demand. This invariably leads to devaluation of the currency over time, something that we experience as inflation. Looking at some examples:

    The U.S. dollar has lost 96% of its value since 1913

    The euro has lost 40% of its value since 1997

    The pound has lost 99.602% of its value since 1751

“It’s going to be very hard to unseat bitcoin as a store of value, because it’s got a 14-year brand, and there’s a finite supply.”  — Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller

*** end quote ***

I have put some spare change into ₿ and bullion on the off chance that the USA goes into a hyperinflation.  Based on the spending by Congress and the “printing” by the FED  — The Federal Reserve Bank is a misnomer. IT ain’t “federal”. It reserves nothing. And, it ain’t a “bank”. It is a private cartel of the elite banks run for their benefit and that of the entrenched politicians.  — I think more and more that this is a distinct probability.  Look at Turkey, Venezuela, Nigeria, and many other countries.  That’s what a runaway inflation looks like.

YMMV FWIW FAIWWYPFI 

“Bullets, beans, bandaids, bullion, booze in a safe retreat”  — Unknown

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MONEY: The coming default by the US FED / Treasury?

Saturday, November 12, 2022

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/are-you-ready-coming-us-government-default

Are You Ready For The Coming US Government Default?
by Tyler Durden
Monday, Nov 07, 2022 – 07:20 AM

Authored by MN Gordon via EconomicPrism.com,

*** begin quote ***

The vast herd of investors are a deluded crowd. Following the Federal Reserve’s much anticipated 75 basis point rate hike on Wednesday the major stock market indexes jumped upward.

Optimistic investors keyed in on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement and, in particular, the remark that the Fed, “will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation and economic and financial developments.”

*** and ***

In other words, this bear market may not bottom out until well into 2025. What’s more, the entire dollar based financial system will likely blow up sometime beforehand.

*** and ***

But many won’t recognize heavy handed monetary policy as reasons for their disappointment. The erosion of purchasing power can be subtle over long periods. Moreover, the effects of currency debasement policies extend to all corners of the economy.

*** end quote ***

Depends upon how you define default. What happens when no one wants to buy US Treasuries?

It’s going to be ugly. As the interest rate goes up, more of the Federal budget should go to interest on the debt. If they don’t cut, then more dollar printing.

A vicious cycle.

Sigh!

But what will be the form of it? Us tin foil hats are trying to guess will they just: “print”, “default on the bonds (i.e., tough <synonym for excrement> you suckers)”, or something involving a FED version of mandatory bitcoin (i.e., cash is recalled just like gold was)?

And, then what will the sheeple do?

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VOCABULARY: Federal Reserve and Debt — interest versus usury?

Thursday, October 6, 2022

https://www.unz.com/mhudson/the-federal-reserve-and-debt/

The Federal Reserve and Debt
Michael Hudson • September 17, 2022 

*** begin quote ***

Well, the question is, why do people go into debt? And there are two kinds of credit. And this goes all the way back to the church theologians in the 14th century. Ancient societies didn’t have any different word for interest and usury. All that was developed to overcome the church’s banning of interest for a 1,000 years, certainly among the clergy. And then the European takeoff began. And after the Crusades it was obvious that some kind of credit was necessary to finance foreign trade. And some people benefited from credit, so the church said, all right, if you’re making a loan, the debtor gains from it, then it’s interest, then its mutual gain. And usury is when the borrower doesn’t really receive a gain but has to pay the interest out of income that they earned elsewhere.

*** end quote ***

Interesting distinction?

So what is our current scenario?  

Taxes are theft. And, they are usury to the extent we don’t benefit from them.

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ECONOMICS: FT Opinion ignores that there is no way to pay the debt that has been created

Friday, July 22, 2022

https://www.ft.com/content/db0a2535-7292-4c84-9015-0d9c4af67713?segmentId=b385c2ad-87ed-d8ff-aaec-0f8435cd42d9

Opinion The FT View
US recession is a smaller danger than long-term inflation
The Fed needs to hold its nerve on tightening further
The editorial board

*** begin quote ***

Investors have spent much of this week puzzling over what this all means — edging up predictions for the future path of interest rates and for the chances of recession. But there is good news in some of it — it is hard to read the markets’ responses as indicating that investors think this ultra-high inflation is now a permanent feature of American life. The Fed has credibility. But it still needs to tighten further to justify that faith.

*** end quote ***

I respectfully disagree.

The current 30T$+ national debt and the guesstimated 226T+ in unfunded liabilities that our posterity will have to deal with is inescapable.

The Russian “sanctions” over Ukraine have put the USA on a collision course to crush the U$D.  (The fact that it’s the cleanest dirty shirt in the laundry is little comfort.)

For decades, responsible people have been pointing out that empires fall when their currency is debased.  Why should the USA be any different?

We have kicked the can down the road and we can see the end of the road.

End the FED and return to sound money.

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ECONOMICS: There should NOT be any taxes on “Virtual Currencies”

Thursday, March 3, 2022

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/virtual-currencies

*** begin quote ***

Virtual Currencies
 
Virtual currency transactions are taxable by law just like transactions in any other property. Taxpayers transacting in virtual currency may have to report those transactions on their tax returns.

What is Virtual Currency?

Virtual currency is a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value. In some environments, it operates like “real” currency (i.e., the coin and paper money of the United States or of any other country that is designated as legal tender, circulates, and is customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchange in the country of issuance), but it does not have legal tender status in  the U.S. Cryptocurrency is a type of virtual currency that utilizes cryptography to validate and secure transactions that are digitally recorded on a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain.

Virtual currency that has an equivalent value in real currency, or that acts as a substitute for real currency, is referred to as “convertible” virtual currency. Bitcoin is one example of a convertible virtual currency. Bitcoin can be digitally traded between users and can be purchased for, or exchanged into, U.S. dollars, Euros, and other real or virtual currencies.

*** end quote **

Sounds like they are defining “money”!

We don’t tax when “dollars” (i.e., Federal Reserve Note fiat greenbacks) are converted to Euros or visa versa.  So why are we taxed on “Virtual Currencies”?  For that matter, why are we taxed when buying gold or silver?  Doesn’t the Constitution define a “dollar” as an amount of gold or silver?

Argh!

Guess the IRS is going have a hard time finding all the non-custodial crypto wallets!!!

#endthefed 

If they can keep drugs out their prisons, how will the keep crypto out of a free society?

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ECONOMICS: Inflation reduces real wages

Thursday, February 10, 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/05/fed-raise-interest-rates-shaft-american-workers-robert-reich

The FED is about to raise interest rates and shaft American workers – again
Robert Reich — Sun 6 Feb 2022 01.00 EST

  • Policymakers fear a labor shortage is pushing up wages and prices. Wrong. Real wages are down and workers are struggling

*** begin quote ***

Fed policymakers are poised to raise interest rates at their March meeting and then continue raising them, in order to slow the economy. They fear that a labor shortage is pushing up wages, which in turn are pushing up prices – and that this wage-price spiral could get out of control.

It’s a huge mistake. Higher interest rates will harm millions of workers who will be involuntarily drafted into the inflation fight by losing jobs or long-overdue pay raises. There’s no “labor shortage” pushing up wages. There’s a shortage of good jobs paying adequate wages to support working families. Raising interest rates will worsen this shortage.

There’s no “wage-price spiral” either, even though Fed chief Jerome Powell has expressed concern about wage hikes pushing up prices. To the contrary, workers’ real wages have dropped because of inflation. Even though overall wages have climbed, they’ve failed to keep up with price increases – making most workers worse off in terms of the purchasing power of their dollars.

*** end quote ***

It’s a fact of life the at the FED’s 2% inflation target is a joke.  The FED has debased the currency of 99% of its value with its “2% target”!  But over and above that, the inflation has been robbing poor people, working slobs, and senior citizens on fixed income.

So maybe a good liberal like Reich might be enlisted into the “End The Fed” movement.

IMHO we need to go back to “real money” aka gold and silver.

Under hard money, prices go down and real wages go up naturally.

—30—

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MONEY: The FED is “shrinking” the value of your money silently and secretly

Saturday, October 23, 2021

https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2021/10/15/yes-we-can-trust-the-fed-to-keep-devaluing-our-money/

Yes, We Can Trust the Fed. To Keep Devaluing Our Money
By: Stefan Gleason | Published on: Oct 15, 2021

*** begin quote ***

Former Fed chair Yellen wants us to trust current Fed chair Jerome Powell when he says inflation is “transitory” and merely the effect of supply disruptions.

She doesn’t want us to focus on the fact that the central bank is now buying well over 50 percent of all new Treasury debt. Nor does she want us to be concerned that the M2 money supply is growing at a 13 percent annual rate.

Sure, let’s trust the Fed.  What the Fed can absolutely be trusted to do is continue inflating.

But that means investors can’t trust fiat dollars to hold their value. Debt instruments denominated in U.S. currency will almost certainly return less than the inflation rate. Over time, bondholders risk an enormous loss of purchasing power even if the issue never results in formal defaults.

*** end quote ***

What is a “poor” “We, The Sheeple” to do?

“Poor” is used in the sense of not rich, but yet not poor enough to qualify for the Gooferment’s dole.

Well, if you’re in the bottom of that spectrum, save your nickels and stockpile your everyday needs whenever you see a bargain. I particularly like Shoprite’s “can can” sale where the Progresso soup, which is usually near $3 / can, for a dollar if you buy ten.  I was putting them under my bed and using them when I felt like soup.  Have to watch the expiration dates. But I usually write them on top with a big black sharpie.

For those who are the top of that spectrum, I recommend a monthly buying program of whatever you can afford in a 50/50 gold and silver mix.  It doesn’t take long before you can “amass” a decent portion of “hard money”.  This presumes that you have no “bad debt” (i.e., credit cards, non-zero interest car or other capital goods credits).  

You can, of course, do both. 

Be aware of “shrinkflation”!  That’s where the package size stays the same but the content is reduced. Unit costs are the key metric.

And, remember this when the politicians say “free”!

—30—

 

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