The
Rational Argumentator
The Fed's Money Monopoly
Last
week, in the name of protecting the little guy from Wall Street, the
House passed HR 4173 to increase the little guy’s false sense of
security in the financial system. This mammoth
piece of legislation would massively increase government regulation and
oversight in the banking industry under the misguided reasoning that
more government could have stopped faulty lending practices, when in
actuality it caused them. This bill would also greatly increase the
powers of the Federal Reserve, which too many in Congress still see as
savior rather than perpetrator in this mess.
One
silver lining is that the amendment to audit the Fed is still attached
to the bill, and if it survives the Senate, the Fed will no longer
operate in secrecy. If any version of HR 4173
becomes law, the Fed will be intervening and bailing out more rather
than less, as it will gain enormous new powers in addition to those it
already has. Whatever happens, the Fed and its
defenders have seen that people are becoming very wary of its methods
of operation, and many are downright angry at its very existence. Never again will the Fed be immune from the scrutiny of its critics. This is very positive.
Because of legal tender laws that force acceptance of the dollar, the Fed has absolute power over the currency. This absolute power is leading to the absolute corruption of our currency. The money supply has doubled in the last year or so, which is extremely dangerous. The
banks seem to be hoarding liquidity now, but once these dollars make
their way into the economy, hyperinflation and economic chaos will be a
real possibility.
Every time hyperinflation rips through an economy, the middle class gets completely wiped out. It is very alarming to watch the purchasing power of an entire life savings reduced to that of a few pennies. Those
savings represent years of real labor, real time, effort, and sacrifice
exchanged for corruptible pieces of paper that politicians and bankers
can destroy at whim.
Legal tender laws force the people to become subject to this risk for the benefit of the rulers. Artificial
demand for currency allows the authorities to create arbitrary amounts
of it to pay for wasteful projects, like frivolous wars and an
ever-expanding public sector. This saps the
private economy of jobs and purchasing power, yet the temptation proves
too great for politicians, time and time again. Our government is no different. Although
our dollar has taken nearly a century to lose 98% of its purchasing power,
the fact that we are all obliged to participate in this slow burn of
the economy on pain of imprisonment is anathema to the principles of
liberty.
I introduced the Free Competition in Currency Act last week to free the people from these governmental threats. HR 4248 would repeal legal tender laws, prohibit taxation on certain coins and bullion, and repeal certain laws related to coinage. The prospect of people turning away from the dollar towards alternate currencies should provide incentive for Congress to regain control of the dollar and halt its downward spiral. Restoring soundness to the dollar will remove the government's ability and incentive to inflate the currency and keep us from launching unconstitutional wars that burden our economy to excess. With a sound currency, everyone is better off, not just those who control the monetary system.
Congressman Ron
Paul of
To learn more about Congressman Ron Paul, visit his Congressional Home Page.
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Learn about Mr. Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here.Read Mr. Stolyarov's comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, here.