Comments (15)

• Michael A. Clem

  No comments, yet? This is great! And it's neat having the various people like HHH, Lew Rockwell, and Ron Paul (among others) in it.
  

  Published: February 22, 2008 6:35 PM

• Louis Sette

  Two questions, First, is not the "business cycle" better described as the "credit cycle", a term that implies that booms and busts are created by the expansion of the money supply and, primarily, not by businesses? Second, is not money also a store of wealth? Considering it is a means of exhange, the more you have to exchange, the more wealth you have. Is this not true?
  Thanks.

  Louis Sette

  Published: February 22, 2008 10:19 PM

• Mathias

  Tack! I appreciate this very much.

  Published: February 23, 2008 5:55 AM

• Jake

  Hi Louis,

  I'm not a buff. In my humble oppinion, money will have value as a store of wealth, if it had an intrinsic value. This is possible when it is backed by some form of asset, i.e. gold.

  Currently, fiat is backed by nothing, except debt.

  Published: February 23, 2008 7:25 AM

• Inquisitor

  Louis, I think the reason it hasn't been renamed is that the cycle manifests itself in business activity, not in money itself. So although it isn't caused by business it shows up in their activities.

  Published: February 23, 2008 8:51 AM

• Giorgio Venzo

  A precious fundamentals for beginners entering such a multifolded topic as economics.

  This very morning the related video "Money, banking and the Fed" was published with Italian subtitles on our website, together with the complete Italian transcript, and is available for torrent download.

  So, would any of you like to inform an Italian-speaking person about the contents of the video, please give them these links:
  1) Online article + subbed streaming video + Italian transcript: http://www.luogocomune.net/site/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2442;
  2) Free subbed video torrent download: http://download.luogocomune.net/torrents/Money.Banking.and.the.Federal.Reserve-sottotitoli.ita.avi.torrent.

  The broader the spreading, the higher the chance to light brains with a spark. Let's hope it will be a blast!

  Published: February 23, 2008 11:54 AM

• Ryan Fuller

  This article lost me at the claim that the standard of living for the middle class had declined for 20 years.

  I agree that the Fed is a mistake and that the business cycle is fundamentally driven by the monetary fluctuations that our fiat currency system makes possible, but claiming that the middle class had been going downhill for 20 years is just ridiculous.

  Published: February 24, 2008 10:29 AM

• jeffrey

  actually this film was made some 15 years ago, when the data in real terms bolstered the claim

  Published: February 24, 2008 11:10 AM

• David Spellman

  The message is great, but it is too complicated for the average person to understand. We need to find an even simpler to understand way to present the virtue of a gold standard.

  It is unfortunate that ordinary Americans have been so dumbed down by government education that they cannot think clearly, but that is what we have to work with. We have to bring the concepts down to their level, which will be difficult but must be accomplished.

  Published: February 25, 2008 10:08 AM

• John Wallace

  In Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, the people of the United States granted Congress the power "to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures.” The people never gave congress the constitutional power to delegate this money-creating and regulating responsibility to any private group. Yet this is exactly what the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 did. The bill was publicly promoted as a plan to reform the nation's monetary system and stabilize the currency by taking control of it out of the hands of big bankers. In reality, of course, the Federal Reserve Act was written by the big bankers for the purpose of solidifying their control over our currency.

  Many Americans today wrongfully believe that the Federal Reserve is somehow part of the federal government, possibly even the Treasury Department. Many do not know that the Federal Reserve is actually a cartel of private banks that was given the power to be the sole issuer of U.S. money, with full control over its quantity and thus its value. Since this group of private bankers (the Fed) provides credit to the U.S. government when we spend money we don’t have, the Fed also is able to profit handsomely from the ever-increasing national debt. Because the Fed makes more money when the country goes deeper into debt, there is no incentive for the Fed to support any reductions in federal deficit spending. The more credit we need, the more money this cartel of private banks will make.

  The actions the Fed takes can drastically affect the economy simply by making decisions about the money supply and interest rates. The president, congress, big business, investors, home buyers and anyone else with an interest in our economy waits with baited breath every time the Federal Reserve Board meets. If they decide to raise interest rates, politicians and industries could fall, homes might not be purchased and jobs could be lost. If the Fed decides to lower the interest rates, politicians, industries, investors and consumers may prosper. There is too much power vested in a handful of people whose names would not be recognized by most Americans.
  Why do we allow such a small group of people on the Federal Reserve Board to wield so much power over our country’s economic well-being? As average Americans strive to earn a living, cope with rising costs of food, fuel and hopefully save or invest for the future, Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank are working insidiously against them. On a daily basis, every dollar they have is being devalued.

  Even though most Americans seem unaware of the current plight of the US dollar, especially in relation to the Euro, there is definitely a dollar crisis in the world economy because of the immense size of the international debt of America. America has now become the largest debtor in history, owing somewhere between $70 and $100 Trillion. The reckless deficit spending by our government, coupled with Federal Reserve currency devaluation, has become one of the greatest threats facing America today. Because Congress is routinely spending more than it can tax or borrow and the Fed is routinely printing “Fiat Money” (Dollars backed by nothing) out of thin air to make up the difference, this classic “one-two punch” threatens to further destroy the value of our dollars.

  The actions of both major political parties would seem to indicate that they want the Fed to print more “Fiat Money” to support their extravagant and unchecked spending habits. Most politicians want the printing presses to run faster and faster, create more credit, issue rebate checks, etc., so that the economy will somehow be magically healed by this dangerous financial potion, or so they believe. The President and members of Congress may love a system that generates more and more money for their special interest projects and earmarks, but the rest of us have good reason to be concerned about our monetary system and the future value of our American dollars.

  Issuing “Fiat Money” has allowed our government to live well beyond its means, but that practice cannot continue much longer as it is slowly destroying the value of our dollars. History shows us that when the destruction of monetary value becomes rampant, as the actions of our congress and the Fed would indicate, nearly everyone suffers and both the economic and political structure becomes unstable. The Federal Reserve System has been the tool used by the major bankers to allow them to gain control over the smaller regional and local banks. The Fed has also acted as the financing agency for Congress' unprecedented deficit spending on an ever growing, more intrusive federal bureaucracy and the expansion of the welfare state. Some people believe that the private bankers in the Federal Reserve wield so much power that they can intentionally manipulate the economy in order to influence the results of our presidential elections.

  Our government and the American people do not need the help of any private banking cartel to manage our monetary system. We need to repeal the Federal Reserve Act and return control of our currency to Congress where it belongs, as was the intent of our Founders. We also need to have a serious national discussion about how real currency reform can be achieved. As long as the private bankers in the Federal Reserve have control over our nation's money, Congress' control of the purse-strings will not have the benefits the country’s Founders intended.

  I support legislation introduced by Congressman Ron Paul, of Texas, entitled “Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act (H.R. 2755) that will restore financial stability to America's economy by abolishing the Federal Reserve.

  REF: H.R. 2755: Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act
  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.2755:

  Published: March 16, 2008 7:38 PM

• Jewel

  Ryan, Communist China has a sort of deal with their people...they get plenty of things (electronics, gadgets, etc..) to remain slaves.

  Your standard of living by your COST of living has gone down TREMENDOUSLY.

  At one time in this country if you had a job.... let us say taxi driver... you could afford rent or a home, medical expenses and even a family while saving for your retirement someday.

  NOBODY with the average job could afford the medical let alone having a family, a house AND SAVE????? In today's world.

  The government has U.S. very close and even now surpassing China at this point especially with our new Treasury Fascism from bailout being passed.

  http://www.endthefed.us

  It has been estimated by American Economics Institute that over 6 trillion dollars has been transferred away from American wealth since WWII. No public school or even college graduate at this point has any real understanding of the swindle that is happening to the American people with this Fiat Money system.

  IT MUST END

  Published: October 21, 2008 8:12 PM

• Jewel

  Third, by functioning as a mechanism for "redistributing" wealth, modern political money SYSTEMATICALLY CORRUPTS THE ELECTORAL PROCESS, enabling politicians to buy votes with promises of new or expanded governmental spending-programs made possible only by the banking system's ability to "monetize" the public debt.

  Published: October 21, 2008 8:17 PM

• Jewel

  Fourth, by linking the banking system to the public debt, modern political money licenses the banks to LOOT THE PUBLIC TREASURY, initially by guaranteeing FRNs as "obligations of the United States" and specially privileging those notes as "legal tender", and ultimately by providing taxpayer-funded "bail outs" of the bankers when the scheme of inherently fraudulent fractional-reserve banking collapses.

  Published: October 21, 2008 8:18 PM

• Jewel

  Fifth and last, modern political money and political banking function as key mechanisms in the scheme of FASCISTIC CENTRAL ECONOMIC PLANNING that misdirects and wastes resources and thereby lowers the standard of living of the vast mass of Americans for the benefit of a privileged few.

  Published: October 21, 2008 8:19 PM

• Tore ‘Federal Reserve‘ Toivicco

  Who controls Federal reserve?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzLIz27GqWs

  Most important question in US history?

  http://www.usagold.com/federalreserve.html

  Federal reserve controls US income/ finance?

  http://www.scionofzion.com/federalreserve.htm

  Is Ron Paul talking about this?

  -Tore ‘Federal reserve’ Toivicco

  -

  Hvem kontrollerer Federal Reserve?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzLIz27GqWs

  Vigtigste spørgsmål i USA’s historie?

  http://www.usagold.com/federalreserve.html

  Federal Reserve kontrollerer amerikanske indkomst / finansiering?

  http://www.scionofzion.com/federalreserve.htm

  Ron Paul taler om det?

  ___

  by

  Tore ‘Federal Reserve‘ Toivicco
  

  Published: April 17, 2009 10:40 AM