‘Corporate Courts’ Have Taken from the Poor and Handed to the Rich – TTIP Will Turbo-Charge This Redistribution
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/01/19/corporate-courts-have-taken-poor-and-handed-rich-ttip-will-turbo-charge
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The term “hard money” usually refers to one of two things.[1] It can, first of all, be used for actual gold or silver coins, for example. Using this definition, one can say that a hard money policy is one in which the government recognizes currencywhich is based on an actual, fixed item which is considered valuable.
Hard money is also considered the opposite of fiat money, which is currency that takes its value from the government declaration or law which assigns the said value to it.[2] As such, this kind of money is not inherently valuable, but may be used in transactions as long as it is said to be legal tender. The use of fiat money is now more common than the use of hard money, especially on an international level. The US dollar, for instance, is an example of a fiat currency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_money_(policy)
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11-12-2015 4 Arguments Against Gold Standard by Cullen Roche
1) The Gold standard does not create "Sound Money" policy. One of the biggest myths about the Gold Standard is that it will create "sound money" policies that won't allow the government to debase the currency. History shows this is totally wrong. A gold standard does not restrict the government from devaluing the currency....
2) The Gold Standard is inherently deflationary. During the history of the U.S., there have been 11 major depressions and/or financial panics. With the exception of the Great Recession, all 10 of the other panics or depressions occurred under the metallic standard, thanks in large part to its inflexible design and inherently deflationary nature (the Panic of 1797, the Depression of 1807, the Depression of 1815, the Panic of 1837, the Panic of 1857, the Panic of 1873, the Panic of 1893, the Panic of 1907, the Depression of 1920 and the Great Depression). Although growth was much higher in the era of the metallic monetary system this growth was also extremely volatile and resulted in numerous long and destructive depressionary periods.¹
3) A gold standard is disastrous for foreign trade. Under a true gold standard, a country with an overvalued currency will experience a deflationary bias as they will be forced to settle cross-border transactions by losing gold to foreign countries. This process will continue for as long as it takes for the currency to fully rebalance, a process that can take years and even decades....
4) There's a reason why almost no mainstream economist supports a return to the gold standard - it is an economic disaster. It was too restrictive and too deflationary. Yes, the current system is far from perfect. It is inherently inflationary and controlled largely by an oligopoly of banks. But it is a market based system with an elastic money supply...
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3678846-why-no-one-should-support-the-gold-standard
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On 11-8-2012 Cullen Roche addressed 1) & 2): The other common retort is that gold standards are somehow synonymous with freedom because they reduce the government’s ability to manipulate the money supply. Okay, that’s true to some degree. But this also misses another important point about the gold standard. The quantity and value of gold in today’s world is largely determined by foreign governments and guys with shovels. In other words, its value and quantity is mostly determined by a small group of people incentivized to corrupt its value. We read endless stories these days about how Chinese and Indian central bankers are buying gold or digging it out of the ground. Is that “freedom” for the USA? Is it wise for the USA’s money supply to be essentially pegged to dictators or foreigners digging the earth up? Yes, we will put the US government in check, but why don’t we just let foreigners run the whole damn US economy while we’re at it since they’re going to be determining our money supply indirectly. http://www.pragcap.com/the-gold-standard-is-not-synonymous-with-freedom/
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On 11-5-2014 he again addressed 1) and 2): Under a strict gold standard, governments cannot print new money to finance expenditures, theoretically reducing the risk of high inflation caused by printing too much money. However, the government can still manipulate the purchasing power of a dollar under the gold standard by simply changing the amount of gold equal to $1. http://www.pragcap.com/understanding-the-gold-standard/
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Comments upon the merits of a gold standard: If one had an excellent tool such as a plumbline, is it not beneficial to use it? The standard of gold is a true value, like a true anchor that holds very well, because it is enduring, clear-cut, pretty hard to falsify. Such cannot be said of fiat money, which are promissory notes when unbacked by gold. Now which is intrinsically better: promises in hand or reality in hand? As for Mr. Roche's ideas about government or "market based system with an elastic money supply"--these are not essential to a standard of value economically. What is essential about a true standard of value economically is its clear logic, its enduring capacity. Reference to gold's value is reference to its clear logic and enduring capacity--because gold is identifiable and lasting and useful as a physical object. What governments do or what money supplies do or don't do are other questions. The standard of gold is not about a monopoly on gold. The standard of gold is simply that gold naturally, inherently is valuable. Pieces of paper with famous people's images stamped on them might look novel, but they lack greatly under high pressure. That is, they return to just being pieces of paper. -R, Ashland, Oregon.........................................................................................................................
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