tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post3047302233307593249..comments2024-03-28T06:00:18.802-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: The Exaggeration: Gold, Currencies, and Central Banksbionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-26866135019140783892014-03-19T11:33:42.819-07:002014-03-19T11:33:42.819-07:00Phil
The line between fiat and backed is a little ...Phil<br />The line between fiat and backed is a little blurry with the dollar.<br />Whether or not the gold belonging to the treasury (which most likely is not where it is said to be, and no longer even in the country) could be said to back FRNs is debatable. Also, treasury notes have circulated alongside FRNs, and were convertible on demand (for instance, as silver certificates). So, for several decades, calling the dollar fiat, or backed, would have been inaccurate.<br />taxesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-45530566386562694422014-03-19T07:21:39.099-07:002014-03-19T07:21:39.099-07:00Central banks have been responsible to manage a go...Central banks have been responsible to manage a gold-backed currency, as you point out. However, I keep concluding that the issue is the monopoly - possible only through government force.<br /><br />As to a gold-backed currency, this is only market-driven (not a monopoly) when any individual has the contractual and legal right to demand gold for his notes. In other words, even when a government dictates the "money" (via edict), as long as it is both gold-backed and open to exchange there is competition: physical gold competing with notes.<br /><br />The right to demand physical gold (or whatever commodity is backing the notes) would be key. When governments have a gold standard without this check by the general public, manipulation is possible and likely.<br /><br />Where to draw the precise line of "fiat." I guess it depends on whom one places his faith - the market or the state. Both FDR in 1933 and Nixon in 1971 demonstrated the value of the gold backing. It was meaningless.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-27892739940905036842014-03-19T07:20:25.907-07:002014-03-19T07:20:25.907-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-60805554682927212382014-03-19T06:19:07.076-07:002014-03-19T06:19:07.076-07:00Good morning,
I'm trying to understand your p...Good morning,<br /><br />I'm trying to understand your point of view as it pertains to when the US dollar became a fiat currency. Until reading your post I had always thought of Nixon's 1971 pronouncement as the beginning of the dollar's fiat era. In your post you speak in terms of a century, which would coincide with the creation of the most recent US central bank and World War I, when many governments went off the gold standard.<br /><br />PhilNorthern Marlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14110028967096194579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-77910657989750283062014-03-18T14:15:15.351-07:002014-03-18T14:15:15.351-07:00Phil
Is there some specific context that you are ...Phil<br /><br />Is there some specific context that you are getting at? <br /><br />I pointed to the monopoly. I think this is sufficient for me. <br /><br />The definition and further explanation provided by Alaska appears workable.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-80222313032913850052014-03-18T11:21:29.014-07:002014-03-18T11:21:29.014-07:00from dictionary.com
fiat-an arbitrary decree or pr...from dictionary.com<br />fiat-an arbitrary decree or pronouncement, especially by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it<br /><br />In other words, a fiat currency is simply the means of settling debts that is imposed by force (legality). The price of a fiat currency, then, could take on any number of values, some even approaching something resembling a "market" price. But a fiat currency is ipso facto a price fix no matter how accurately it is priced because it is set arbitrarily and imposed by force.<br /><br />How's that?Alaska3636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-27932374935414061902014-03-18T08:24:01.790-07:002014-03-18T08:24:01.790-07:00That's fine. Please define what you mean by fi...That's fine. Please define what you mean by fiat currency so I can better understand you.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />PhilNorthern Marlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14110028967096194579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-254717138100041432014-03-18T06:14:48.334-07:002014-03-18T06:14:48.334-07:00As backing by a physical commodity is not so easil...As backing by a physical commodity is not so easily tested or verifiable when not subject to market conditions, I am not sure I can agree to this definition.<br /><br />A more important consideration might be the monopoly aspect, in any case.<br /><br /><br />bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-58702670275535513162014-03-18T05:57:06.966-07:002014-03-18T05:57:06.966-07:00Greetings!
I always enjoy reading the posts and c...Greetings!<br /><br />I always enjoy reading the posts and comments on this blog, as they are thought provoking. I'm not interested in Mr. Hoffman's view, but am intrigued by yours.<br /><br />First, as Doug Casey always says, I'd like to make sure we agree on definitions of terms used in the above discussions.<br /><br />Will this do for a definition of fiat money? Currency that a government has declared to be legal tender, but is not backed by a physical commodity.<br /><br />If you agree with this definition would you not have to amend your statement about the US dollar? The dollar still had ties to gold until Nixon removed them in 1971 with the failure of Bretton Woods. I believe the British pound was also involved with Bretton Woods.<br /><br />So, the planet has only been on this experiment with world wide fiat currencies for 40+ years. Do you agree or disagree?<br /><br />PhilNorthern Marlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14110028967096194579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-89833794195567302602014-03-17T08:12:54.572-07:002014-03-17T08:12:54.572-07:00Well ... We'll let your readers decide. Thanks...Well ... We'll let your readers decide. Thanks for engaging.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-85061341721783012232014-03-17T06:37:37.800-07:002014-03-17T06:37:37.800-07:00"Oh, come on. He's not credible unless he..."Oh, come on. He's not credible unless he works for the US education/industrial complex?"<br /><br />Did I write such a thing?<br /><br />"Because he works for a private firm (directly revealed) his views mean nothing?"<br /><br />Did I write such a thing?<br /><br /><br /><br />bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-1579844500914248402014-03-17T05:33:03.817-07:002014-03-17T05:33:03.817-07:00Oh, come on. He's not credible unless he works...Oh, come on. He's not credible unless he works for the US education/industrial complex? Because he works for a private firm (directly revealed) his views mean nothing? Expect better from BM. Also, there is only one DB but there are thousands of mainstream publications. Libertarians often shred each other in search of "perfect truth." Here, too?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-51146093988973603202014-03-17T05:10:07.419-07:002014-03-17T05:10:07.419-07:00Someday the sun is going to run out of energy, or ...Someday the sun is going to run out of energy, or so they say. Do you suggest I should order my life in accordance with this eventuality?<br /><br />Is Mr. Hoffman a history professor or does he work for an investment advisory? Double-check that, and then get back to me regarding the context in which one should read his remarks.<br /><br />Just get over it. bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-31393462305196860492014-03-17T04:44:22.858-07:002014-03-17T04:44:22.858-07:00Why don't you just get it over with and endors...Why don't you just get it over with and endorse Keynes? "In the long run we are all dead." Since when did restating freedom's truths become subject to a time horizon? One cannot denounce tyranny unless its death is imminent? Is that a new rule?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-25255765207771259942014-03-17T03:53:01.481-07:002014-03-17T03:53:01.481-07:00"And what fiat currency HAS survived over tim..."And what fiat currency HAS survived over time?"<br /><br />Are you speaking millenia, or even a meaningful horizon for purposes of action? In the first case, none; in the second, many.<br /><br />"...he speaks relevant truths..."<br /><br /><br />Relevant, perhaps for Methuselah.<br /><br />"...that may seem tiresome to jaded sophisticates of alternative journalism..."<br /><br />Infomercial financial advice and economic analysis.<br /><br />"...is that what we have come to?"<br /><br />Yes, that is what I am asking as well.<br /><br />bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-61874536946906868062014-03-16T22:22:30.274-07:002014-03-16T22:22:30.274-07:00Longtime Bell reader here speaking out on behalf o...Longtime Bell reader here speaking out on behalf of DB. There are few alternative media organizations that have been as accurate or courageous as DB. Even fewer that have taken on the corrosive disinformation of the "usury" movement complete with its disinfo agents. As for fiat, well ... the dollar has lost perhaps 95-99 percent of its value since the founding of the Fed. And what fiat currency HAS survived over time? Gold and silver remain, as always. Sure Hoffman is talking up his book. But in doing so he speaks relevant truths that may seem tiresome to jaded sophisticates of alternative journalism but not to many more who need to be reminded of fundamental truths about monetary value. In this day and age, it is sophisticated to temporize and fashionable to parse. But is that what we have come to? Is that really the point? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-79489349212405675602014-03-16T19:31:17.707-07:002014-03-16T19:31:17.707-07:00The dollar will collapse when Putin says "no ...The dollar will collapse when Putin says "no more dollars for Russian oil". Other oil producers will follow suit, and there will then be a global stampede to dump dollars and all dollar-denominated paper derivatives. He might say this in the next 24 hours, or not for awhile yet. But the day will come. Invest in food, water, silver, and lead. StukaPilothttp://chaosandconspiracy.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-5431708557036387122014-03-16T17:08:46.940-07:002014-03-16T17:08:46.940-07:00This is one of the things that bothers me about su...This is one of the things that bothers me about such interviews - if the objective is to make money, what good is it? If the objective is to promote free-markets or Austrian economics, these statements do more harm than good.<br /><br />bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-76242618689343124222014-03-16T10:40:43.789-07:002014-03-16T10:40:43.789-07:00Thinking that you can say what will happen when, t...Thinking that you can say what will happen when, to all of the world's currencies, is as hubristic as Stalin or Mao.<br /><br />I have to guess that the DB organization as a whole is losing a bit of their zest for truth, in being more focused on making money. If so, it is a pity.<br />taxesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com