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When Private Money Becomes a Felony Offense
mrearlygold
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When Private Money Becomes a Felony Offense
The next chapter in the struggle over sound money may be the case of a newly minted felon named Bernard von NotHaus. Mr. von NotHaus was convicted this month of counterfeiting money by issuing silver coins called Liberty Dollars. His company's website says it's been taken down by court order, and absent a successful appeal he could spend years in jail.
Mr. von NotHaus was convicted under a section of the United States Code that makes it a crime to manufacture or pass "any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design." The law was enacted during the Civil War, soon after the Union began issuing the paper scrip known as greenbacks.
It is too soon to say what Mr. von NotHaus's grounds of appeal will be, but it is not too soon to say that his case will be one to watch at a time when so many believe our economic troubles are tied to the fact that the dollar has become a fiat currency, and when leaders world-wide are calling for a new reserve currency.
So alarming has been the collapse of the dollar that the legislatures in as many as a dozen American states are considering using their authority—under Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution
Continued Here
The next chapter in the struggle over sound money may be the case of a newly minted felon named Bernard von NotHaus. Mr. von NotHaus was convicted this month of counterfeiting money by issuing silver coins called Liberty Dollars. His company's website says it's been taken down by court order, and absent a successful appeal he could spend years in jail.
Mr. von NotHaus was convicted under a section of the United States Code that makes it a crime to manufacture or pass "any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design." The law was enacted during the Civil War, soon after the Union began issuing the paper scrip known as greenbacks.
It is too soon to say what Mr. von NotHaus's grounds of appeal will be, but it is not too soon to say that his case will be one to watch at a time when so many believe our economic troubles are tied to the fact that the dollar has become a fiat currency, and when leaders world-wide are calling for a new reserve currency.
So alarming has been the collapse of the dollar that the legislatures in as many as a dozen American states are considering using their authority—under Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution
Continued Here
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
So if a community issues unbacked paper repesenting dollars it's OK but if someone
makes them in precious metals he becomes a criminal based on a 150 year old law.
Now we know.
Of course having the do gooders at SPLC mad at you is the real crime here probably.
It's a shame the hate groups were NotHaus' biggest customers or he would have pro-
bably escaped notice. It appears to be guilt by association. He should have known
better than having a Germanic sounding name.
I fear this thread will turn political since we collectors are pretty passionate about mon-
ey and history and we know what the Constitution says.
by an ATS employee, stating how similar von NotHaus' silver rounds were to regular U.S.
money. Having seen images of the Liberty dollars and the paper money that were produced,
how could anyone above the level of a pure novice make this claim with a straight face?
I need to find the smacking your head emoticon.
<< <i>One thing I have not heard here is a discussion about the "expert testimony" provided
by an ATS employee, stating how similar von NotHaus' silver rounds were to regular U.S.
money. Having seen images of the Liberty dollars and the paper money that were produced,
how could anyone above the level of a pure novice make this claim with a straight face?
I need to find the smacking your head emoticon.
I hear Chuck-E-CHeese is trouble for their tokens now too
Many news storys leave the printing of the silver-backed paper notes out of the story!
Bernard stepped over 'the line' on this.
Any government must protect the integrity of its currency (paper and metallic) by preventing private manufacturers from producing it. Even if Mr. von NotHaus’ coins are a good faith effort to circulate a “sound currency” letting him do it will only encourage others to issue more private money which might not be as sound.
At any rate I’ll go out on the limb here, and tell you guys who think that putting gold or silver into coinage will stabilize the monetary system going against economic facts. Gresham’s states that bad money will drive good money out of circulation, and that’s what would happen to any coinage that tries to get its value from it’s metal content.
Let’s put it this way. A silver dime is now worth roughly 25 times its face value. You could try to use dimes was $2.50 silver pieces, but that would not last very long, and it would not stabilize the monetary system because there are not enough of them to make a difference in the money supply.
When I went to undergraduate school and took macro economics, coins were less than 1% of the money supply and paper money was no more than 15%. Over 80% of the money supply was bookkeeping entries banks and the like. Today I’m sure that the percentage bookkeeping entries as the money supply, now held has computer data, is even higher.
All the gold standard or a silver standard would do would limit the amount of money in circulation. That can be a good or a bad thing because the money supply needs to grow as the economy grows. If there is not enough money in circulation, that will choke a recovery or kill good economic times. Too little money in circulation started the Panic of 1893. Too much money in circulation causes inflation and if it get bad enough the collapse of the value of a nation's currency.
The solution is for the Federal Reserve to control the money supply responsibly, and as long as the Federal Government keeps running up the debt way it has over the past decades, and most especially the last two years, that’s not going to happen. Sadly we are in for some bad times, and there is not a lot private citizens can do about it, except punish the politicians who don’t get the message.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>This is a very thorny issue.
Any government must protect the integrity of its currency (paper and metallic) by preventing private manufacturers from producing it. Even if Mr. von NotHaus’ coins are a good faith effort to circulate a “sound currency” letting him do it will only encourage others to issue more private money which might not be as sound.
At any rate I’ll go out on the limb here, and tell you guys who think that putting gold or silver into coinage will stabilize the monetary system going against economic facts. Gresham’s states that bad money will drive good money out of circulation, and that’s what would happen to any coinage that tries to get its value from it’s metal content.
Let’s put it this way. A silver dime is now worth roughly 25 times its face value. You could try to use dies was $2.50 silver pieces, but that would not last very long, and it would not stabilize the monetary system because there are not enough of them to make a difference in the money supply.
When I went to undergraduate school and took macro economics, coins were less than 1% of the money supply and paper money was no more than 15%. Over 80% of the money supply was bookkeeping entries banks and the like. Today I’m sure that the percentage bookkeeping entries as the money supply, now held has computer data, is even higher.
All the gold standard or a silver standard would do would limit the amount of money in circulation. That can be a good or a bad thing because the money supply needs to grow as the economy grows. If there is not enough money in circulation, that will choke a recovery or kill good economic times. Too money in circulation started the Panic of 1893. Too much money in circulation causes inflation and if it get bad enough the collapse of the value of a nation's currency.
The solution is for the Federal Reserve to control the money supply responsibly, and as long as the Federal Government keeps running up the debt way it has over the past decades, and most especially the last two years, that’s not going to happen. Sadly we are in for some bad times, and there is not a lot private citizens can do about it, except punish the politicians who don’t get the message. >>
You make some very good points, but over the last two years, increased spending has kept us out of a depression and minimized the recession. While it's very important to minimize the debt, it's more important to ensure the roughly 92% of us who have jobs keep them (and continue to grow the economy and drive down unemployment). Most of the increased costs we're seeing now, have more to do with speculation in commodities (particularly oil), and less to do with inflation and fiat currency.
Speculation is temporary, printing fiat currency by trillions is more permanent.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>
<< <i>This is a very thorny issue.
Any government must protect the integrity of its currency (paper and metallic) by preventing private manufacturers from producing it. Even if Mr. von NotHaus’ coins are a good faith effort to circulate a “sound currency” letting him do it will only encourage others to issue more private money which might not be as sound.
At any rate I’ll go out on the limb here, and tell you guys who think that putting gold or silver into coinage will stabilize the monetary system going against economic facts. Gresham’s states that bad money will drive good money out of circulation, and that’s what would happen to any coinage that tries to get its value from it’s metal content.
Let’s put it this way. A silver dime is now worth roughly 25 times its face value. You could try to use dies was $2.50 silver pieces, but that would not last very long, and it would not stabilize the monetary system because there are not enough of them to make a difference in the money supply.
When I went to undergraduate school and took macro economics, coins were less than 1% of the money supply and paper money was no more than 15%. Over 80% of the money supply was bookkeeping entries banks and the like. Today I’m sure that the percentage bookkeeping entries as the money supply, now held has computer data, is even higher.
All the gold standard or a silver standard would do would limit the amount of money in circulation. That can be a good or a bad thing because the money supply needs to grow as the economy grows. If there is not enough money in circulation, that will choke a recovery or kill good economic times. Too money in circulation started the Panic of 1893. Too much money in circulation causes inflation and if it get bad enough the collapse of the value of a nation's currency.
The solution is for the Federal Reserve to control the money supply responsibly, and as long as the Federal Government keeps running up the debt way it has over the past decades, and most especially the last two years, that’s not going to happen. Sadly we are in for some bad times, and there is not a lot private citizens can do about it, except punish the politicians who don’t get the message. >>
You make some very good points, but over the last two years, increased spending has kept us out of a depression and minimized the recession. While it's very important to minimize the debt, it's more important to ensure the roughly 92% of us who have jobs keep them (and continue to grow the economy and drive down unemployment). Most of the increased costs we're seeing now, have more to do with speculation in commodities (particularly oil), and less to do with inflation and fiat currency. >>
This gets back to the arguments whether or not government spending really provides the stimulation that the economy needs to recover. One thing is for sure. If the private sector does not recover, the economy is not going to recover. So far the atmosphere generated by the Federal Government over the past couple of years has not been conducive to private sector growth. The threat of higher payroll taxes, and a general attitude that looks like contempt for small business will not improve the job market. Over 60% of all jobs are provided by small businesses.
If all the government does is tax money away from the private sector and spend it, you are at a net zero situation. Keynes’ multiplier effect theory was based upon the assumption that consumers saved some money while the government spends everything it takes in. That theory really does not hold any more because most consumers don’t save much of anything. In fact most people are in debt and can barely keep up or not keep up with their debt payments.
The only solutions to this morass are advancing technology and a positive government attitude toward the private sector. Until that comes about, we are going to stuck, and headed toward a replay of the stag-flation of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
<< <i>This is a very thorny issue.
Any government must protect the integrity of its currency (paper and metallic) by preventing private manufacturers from producing it. Even if Mr. von NotHaus’ coins are a good faith effort to circulate a “sound currency” letting him do it will only encourage others to issue more private money which might not be as sound.
At any rate I’ll go out on the limb here, and tell you guys who think that putting gold or silver into coinage will stabilize the monetary system going against economic facts. Gresham’s states that bad money will drive good money out of circulation, and that’s what would happen to any coinage that tries to get its value from it’s metal content.
Let’s put it this way. A silver dime is now worth roughly 25 times its face value. You could try to use dimes was $2.50 silver pieces, but that would not last very long, and it would not stabilize the monetary system because there are not enough of them to make a difference in the money supply.
When I went to undergraduate school and took macro economics, coins were less than 1% of the money supply and paper money was no more than 15%. Over 80% of the money supply was bookkeeping entries banks and the like. Today I’m sure that the percentage bookkeeping entries as the money supply, now held has computer data, is even higher.
All the gold standard or a silver standard would do would limit the amount of money in circulation. That can be a good or a bad thing because the money supply needs to grow as the economy grows. If there is not enough money in circulation, that will choke a recovery or kill good economic times. Too little money in circulation started the Panic of 1893. Too much money in circulation causes inflation and if it get bad enough the collapse of the value of a nation's currency.
The solution is for the Federal Reserve to control the money supply responsibly, and as long as the Federal Government keeps running up the debt way it has over the past decades, and most especially the last two years, that’s not going to happen. Sadly we are in for some bad times, and there is not a lot private citizens can do about it, except punish the politicians who don’t get the message. >>
I could be wrong, just shooting from the hip here: It would seem that the risk of too little money in circulation would be less now compared to in 1893 due to the fact you mentioned above...roughly 16%-20% of currency is physical, most of it is electronic. I prefer cash for transactions, but most people I know use bank cards or checks, which is probably the case for most people.
No they don't. They just eliminate food and energy from the "core inflation" statistics, ostensibly because prices are so volatile. Seems to me that a better solution would be to use moving averages for the food and energy components, but what do I know? Or maybe they already do that in another inflation measurement?
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>The government says that energy and food costs don't contribute to inflation.
No they don't. They just eliminate food and energy from the "core inflation" statistics, ostensibly because prices are so volatile. Seems to me that a better solution would be to use moving averages for the food and energy components, but what do I know? Or maybe they already do that in another inflation measurement? >>
I think that eliminating food and energy from the "core inflation" statistics is a way for the government to skirt the issue. Those who shop for those commodities know inflation is a lot worse that the government statistics show, and those items are soon going to fuel a round of general inflation that government statistics will not be able to hide.
Also, it seems a little carless for a man with seven million dollars in silver at risk that he was unaware of counterfeiting laws.
Was this a money making proposition for him?
And thinking that commodity prices rise because of speculators instead of reckless money creation is akin to thinking that parenthood is caused by human embryos.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>The government says that energy and food costs don't contribute to inflation. >>
This is not true, and when people add provable lies to a discussion, is it any surprise that
it is not possible to have a reasonable discussion?
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>
<< <i>The government says that energy and food costs don't contribute to inflation. >>
This is not true, and when people add provable lies to a discussion, is it any surprise that
it is not possible to have a reasonable discussion? >>
"Provable Lies..."
Please define and explain.
<< <i>No they don't. They just eliminate food and energy from the "core inflation" statistics, ostensibly because prices are so volatile. Seems to me that a better solution would be to use moving averages for the food and energy components, but what do I know? Or maybe they already do that in another inflation measurement? >>
That would make sense to me, but if I were in a position that what I had to pay to someone annually depended on a calculation that I had control over, it would be in my best interest to rig the calculation in my favor by weighting it less with food and energy prices and more with SDRAM, hard drives, and flat screen TVs.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Also some agencies are reporting that world food prices are hitting all time highs.
Yet the text of the actual act bans privately produced coins intended to pass as one cent and two cent pieces. The law was to ban Civil War tokens.
<< <i>"Provable Lies..."
Please define and explain. >>
The government definiton of the Consumer Price Index includes food and transportation (gasoline) costs. To say that
it does not is a provable lie.
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm#Question_7
What goods and services does the CPI cover?
The CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population (U or W) BLS has classified all expenditure items into more than 200 categories, arranged into eight major groups. Major groups and examples of categories in each are as follows:
FOOD AND BEVERAGES (breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, full service meals, snacks)
HOUSING (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture)
APPAREL (men's shirts and sweaters, women's dresses, jewelry)
TRANSPORTATION (new vehicles, airline fares, gasoline, motor vehicle insurance)
MEDICAL CARE (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians' services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services)
RECREATION (televisions, toys, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions);
EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories);
OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES (tobacco and smoking products, haircuts and other personal services, funeral expenses).
<< <i>It's been repeated so often that we accept it as truth..."The Coinage Act of April 22, 1864 made all privately produced coinage illegal."
Yet the text of the actual act bans privately produced coins intended to pass as one cent and two cent pieces. The law was to ban Civil War tokens. >>
Illegal under 18 USC 491 which makes no distinction about denominations:
UNITED STATES CODE: TITLE 18,491. TOKENS OR PAPER USED AS MONEY
(a) Whoever, being 18 years of age or over, not lawfully authorized, makes, issues, or passes any coin, card, token, or device in metal, or its compounds, intended to be used as money,
or whoever, being 18 years of age or over, with intent to defraud, makes, utters, inserts, or uses any card, token, slug, disk, device, paper, or other thing similar in size and shape to any of the lawful coins or other currency of the United States or any coin or other currency not legal tender in the United States, to procure anything of value, or the use or enjoyment of any property or service from any automatic merchandise vending machine, postage-stamp machine, turnstile, fare box, coinbox telephone, parking meter or other lawful receptacle, depository, or contrivance designed to receive or to be operated by lawful coins or other currency of the United States,
shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Shadowstats primer on CPI
Here, Frank. Learn something, and then go ahead and believe what you want to believe.
In the early 1990s, press reports began surfacing as to how the CPI really was significantly overstating inflation. If only the CPI inflation rate could be reduced, it was argued, then entitlements, such as social security, would not increase as much each year, and that would help to bring the budget deficit under control. Behind this movement were financial luminaries Michael Boskin, then chief economist to the first Bush Administration, and Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Although the ensuing political furor killed consideration of Congressionally mandated changes in the CPI, the BLS quietly stepped forward and began changing the system, anyway, early in the Clinton Administration.
Up until the Boskin/Greenspan agendum surfaced, the CPI was measured using the costs of a fixed basket of goods, a fairly simple and straightforward concept. The identical basket of goods would be priced at prevailing market costs for each period, and the period-to-period change in the cost of that market basket represented the rate of inflation in terms of maintaining a constant standard of living.
The Boskin/Greenspan argument was that when steak got too expensive, the consumer would substitute hamburger for the steak, and that the inflation measure should reflect the costs tied to buying hamburger versus steak, instead of steak versus steak. Of course, replacing hamburger for steak in the calculations would reduce the inflation rate, but it represented the rate of inflation in terms of maintaining a declining standard of living. Cost of living was being replaced by the cost of survival. The old system told you how much you had to increase your income in order to keep buying steak. The new system promised you hamburger, and then dog food, perhaps, after that.
The Boskin/Greenspan concept violated the intent and common usage of the inflation index. The CPI was considered sacrosanct within the Department of Labor, given the number of contractual relationships that were anchored to it. The CPI was one number that never was to be revised, given its widespread usage.
Shortly after Clinton took control of the White House, however, attitudes changed. The BLS initially did not institute a new CPI measurement using a variable-basket of goods that allowed substitution of hamburger for steak, but rather tried to approximate the effect by changing the weighting of goods in the CPI fixed basket. Over a period of several years, straight arithmetic weighting of the CPI components was shifted to a geometric weighting. The Boskin/Greenspan benefit of a geometric weighting was that it automatically gave a lower weighting to CPI components that were rising in price, and a higher weighting to those items dropping in price.
Once the system had been shifted fully to geometric weighting, the net effect was to reduce reported CPI on an annual, or year-over-year basis, by 2.7% from what it would have been based on the traditional weighting methodology. The results have been dramatic. The compounding effect since the early-1990s has reduced annual cost of living adjustments in social security by more than a third.
The BLS publishes estimates of the effects of major methodological changes over time on the reported inflation rate (see the "Reporting Focus" section of the October 2005 Shadow Government Statistics newsletter -- available to the public in the Archives of www.shadowstats.com). Changes estimated by the BLS show roughly a 4% understatement in current annual CPI inflation versus what would have been reported using the original methodology. Adding the roughly 3% lost to geometric weighting -- most of which not included in the BLS estimates -- takes the current total CPI understatement to roughly 7%.
There now are three major CPI measures published by the BLS, CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) and the Chained CPI-U (C-CPI-U). The CPI-U is the popularly followed inflation measure reported in the financial media. It was introduced in 1978 as a more-broadly-based version of the then existing CPI, which was renamed CPI-W. The CPI-W is used in calculating Social Security benefits. These two series tend to move together and are based on frequent price sampling, which is supposed to yield something close to an average monthly price measure by component.
The C-CPI-U was introduced during the second Bush Administration as an alternate CPI measure. Unlike the theoretical approximation of geometric weighting to a variable, substitution-prone market basket, the C-CPI-U is a direct measure of the substitution effect. The difference in reporting is that August 2006 year-to-year inflation rates for the CPI-U and the C-CPI-U were 3.8% and 3.4%, respectively. Hence current inflation still has a 0.4% notch to be taken out of it through methodological manipulation. The C-CPI-U would not have been introduced unless there were plans to replace the current series, eventually.
Traditional inflation rates can be estimated by adding 7.0% to the CPI-U annual growth rate (3.8% +7.0% = 10.8% as of August 2006) or by adding 7.4% to the C-CPI-U rate (3.4% + 7.4% = 10.8% as of August 2006). Graphs of alternate CPI measures can be found as follows. The CPI adjusted solely for the impact of the shift to geometric weighting is shown in the graph on the home page of www.shadowstats.com. The CPI adjusted for both the geometric weighting and earlier methodological changes is shown on the Alternate Data page, which is available as a tab at the top of the home page.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>Walter J. "John" Williams was born in 1949. He received an A.B. in Economics, cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1971, and was awarded a M.B.A. from Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School of Business Administration in 1972, where he was named an Edward Tuck Scholar. During his career as a consulting economist, John has worked with individuals as well as Fortune 500 companies. >>
The Associate of Business (AB) degree provides the equivalent of the first two years of a Bachelor's degree in business. Then he gets an MBA to run his family's chainsaw business.
John Williams debunked
I really feel sorry for people that make their financial decisions based on what they read from financial quacks.
Even Fox Business channel called him a grassy knoll consipracy nut.
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=812473
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
You might note the comments after the "debunking" quote you provided. Opinion seems to be running in the opposite direction from your defense of the BLS methodologies and conclusions. I'm trying to save you from yourself, Frank.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>
I hear Chuck-E-CHeese is trouble for their tokens now too
Well, sure. Now that the drop in the dollar makes copper look like a precious metal.
Copper is worth more than silver was in 1935.
There is plenty of debate on the validity of excluding non-optional expenses from the Core CPI.
<< <i>I know one thing. I sure am paying more at the gas station and the super market, and it looks like more than 2% annual inflation or whatever bogus number the government is reporting. This is also "hidden inflation" with stuff like a box of cereal that had 16 ounces in it last month that now has 12 ounces in the same size box.
Also some agencies are reporting that world food prices are hitting all time highs. >>
They add chemicals to fish and pork that turns it into a sponge. More than half the weight can be
water and sodium tripolyphosphate. Now it's showing up in chicken. Ketchup and mustard separate
out water now and gets you bread soggy.
But at least the CEO's are still making their bonuses and this is all that counts.
As of April 2009, the specific number was 154,731,000 in the civilian workforce. There are also approximately 1,500,000 in the military workforce.
FYI, the current population of the US is 306,531,009, meaning that more than half of the US is working
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_total_number_of_people_in_US_workforce#ixzz1ImQQjsZQ
92% is rather optimistic. Out of the total...nothing is mentioned about underemployed, people who have passive income and said adious to finding a job, illegals and others who work on the down low. My guess it's 30-50 million people that might fit that bill. That's 10-15% of the total population. Actually that might even be a low number...1 in 7-------1 in 10.
The notion that these current price increases in food and energy are attributable to speculation leaves me speechless. We are coming into the 'perfect storm' for real price hikes in this country and speculation is but a small part of that equation. IF you believe that speculation in oil/gas and commodities is the culprit...."have you bought insurance lately?". BTW, commodity increases are at the bottom of the ladder when you are forecasting price increases. Wait til these new commodity prices ripple through the manufacturing chain.
regards
Remember this. The unemployed represent a waste of human resources. That's something an economy cannot endure over the long term. Some far high government spending has not solved the problem because (1) it has been directed toward political not economic objectives and (2) some economists have doubts about its effectiveness for reasons I covered earlier.
<< <i>Here in the Tampa, Florida area, the unemployment rate has held at around 12% with limited positive movement. Add to that the folks who have given up looking for jobs or those who are under employed and the numbers are higher.
Remember this. The unemployed represent a waste of human resources. That's something an economy cannot endure over the long term. Some far high government spending has not solved the problem because (1) it has been directed toward political not economic objectives and (2) some economists have doubts about its effectiveness for reasons I covered earlier. >>
talking about made-up numbers the unemployment statistics are a complete lie.
Lafayette Grading Set
"A car is a tool that takes you from one place to another. Everything beyond that is a payment for other people's perception of you."
I don't know what you "covered earlier", but I do know that high government spending means less money for me and less money for my clients. Which means that I'm less likely to hire anyone, of course.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>Good thing the coinage act doesn't apply to paper. I'd hate to see a mouse on trial.
When you exchange your federal reserve notes for disney dollars and bring some home with you, the disney dollars are completely worthless. When you exchange your federal reserve notes for the Liberty dollar you receive something of tangible value that has a value anywhere in the world .
When are the feds going to run in and arrest the people running Disney to save us all from buying these disney dollars only to find them wortless outside of disney?
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
Mr. von Nothaus rather voluntarily stepped into a minefield with his actions, well intentioned as they might have been. Those who are not employed know through experience that finding a job is harder now than it has been in the recent past. We that go to the supermarket or the gas station, or pay water-electric-gas bill are aware, empirically, that basic prices for needs have gone up more thanwould seem to be reflected in a low core inflation rate.
At the same time, there is some offset from overall utility of what we do buy. Cars get better and more reliable. Electronics prices go down, along with increased quality, features and reliability. Basic clothing costs are down. Worker productivity goes up.
At the end of the day, economic analysis is complex. I fully expect that the government numbers published are going to paint the rosiest possible picture, as well as somewhat cynically used to manage government outflows. Our only defense is to hedge our finances through diversification and with a substantial weighting in precious metals. Even better, an appropriate stockpile of food and household goods would be in order. We should stand ready to help ourselves, our loved ones and our extended family - whether church, synagog, friends or neighbors. Expect the best, but plan for, well, not the best.
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
<< <i>At the same time, there is some offset from overall utility of what we do buy. Cars get better and more reliable. Electronics prices go down, along with increased quality, features and reliability. Basic clothing costs are down. Worker productivity goes up. >>
And what entity is responsible for almost all of this economic progress? It is the private sector, not the government. If anything the government gets in the way of innovation.
Freedom in the private sector allows the dreamers, the doers and innovators to produce goods and services to serve the public good. Government is encumbered by red tape, honest political disagreements and yes, dishonest politicians who do the bidding of those who have bought them.
People need to think twice before they advocate more government programs and regulations. Such interference prolonged The Great Depression of the 1930s and it is prolonging the great recession we are in today.
<< <i>
When are the feds going to run in and arrest the people running Disney to save us all from buying these disney dollars only to find them wortless outside of disney? >>
Mickey's money is worth a lot more than the dipsticks in Washington's. At least the Mouse makes a profit making money, cannot say the same for the government.
I knew it would happen.
are a few to ponder:
A round trip airline ticket from Colorado Springs to Cincinnati cost me $300 in 1980. Today
the same ticket is available for $250 to $350. That was 31 years ago.
A gallon of gas cost me 5 minutes of labor in 1971. Today it costs me 3 minutes of labor.
A gallon of milk and 2 boxes of cereal (store brand, on sale) are approximately the same
price today that they were in 1990, from Kroger's.
Maintenance on my car in 1985 was $480 for the year. (Yes, I am one of those people.)
Maintenance on my car in 2010 was $175. Same age car (4 year old Honda), same level
of mileage. The newer cars need less maintenance today.
Basic foods, like unprocessed vegetables and the like, are a bit more, especially if you buy
organic, but the price rise over the last 25 years is pretty small.
This is why the consumer price index needs to be a complicated instrument. Using my
hand-selected anecdotal data, I could make the case that there has been virtually no
inflation over the last several decades.
There is general agreement that the lack of interference at the beginning of the Depression gave
it the intensity it had. I have yet to see any researched articles or papers establishing that any
type of government interference has prolonged our current recession.
Just saying it doesn't make it so.
<< <i>
And what entity is responsible for almost all of this economic progress? It is the private sector, not the government. If anything the government gets in the way of innovation.
Freedom in the private sector allows the dreamers, the doers and innovators to produce goods and services to serve the public good. Government is encumbered by red tape, honest political disagreements and yes, dishonest politicians who do the bidding of those who have bought them.
People need to think twice before they advocate more government programs and regulations. Such interference prolonged The Great Depression of the 1930s and it is prolonging the great recession we are in today. >>
Sorry, Bill, but government stimulus saved the economy during the Great Depression, just as the Bush TARP and Obama Stimulus saved us from a worldwide second great depression. As soon as FDR took office, things got better.
By 1936, when the republicans attacked social security, had some of FDRs programs declared unconsitutional by the Supreme Court, and forced FDR to cut back on spending midway through the recovery, things nosedived again. The wealthy and their big media companies called FDR a communist, claiming he had more in common with Russia than America, that he ignored the constitution. The republicans were accused of trying to deliberately crash the economy to destroy the president.
Wait...this all sounds so familiar....
“Private money” does not exist because it is not agreed to by users and is not enforced by government authority.
Users or issuers of private tokens (for which there is a long and colorful history) may freely exchange tokens among themselves or others, just as they may barter and exchange any other commodity. However, the tokens cannot be represented as “money” because they do not pass the fundamental tests of what constitutes money.
Note also that makers of private tokens never sell their tokens for other tokens, but only for real money that can be used outside a narrow token-exchange system.
The jury listened to all the evidence and found the defendant guilty of criminal actions. Maybe some of the assets will be used to reimburse those who were defrauded by the guilty party.
"Ideology is not fact: it is a veil of self delusion." [Adam Smith "Theory of Moral Sentiments"]