Bill Bonner, reckoning today from Poitou, France “I do not believe, as a matter of fact, that the monetary authorities, however courageous and well informed they may be, can deliberately bring about those contractions in the money supply that the mere mechanism of the gold standard would have generated automatically.”
Amazing! A French economist predicted exactly what the US would do when it had the chance! And they did it, on a Sunday evening, when all the banks were closed. That way, they didn't have to declare a bank holiday.
Indeed Mr. Bonner. Like so much else in this great Country of ours - Pride is misplaced, unearned and superficial. With Arrogance added as the condiment of choice...
This was in an old book I finished reading last night:
"We are not only an incredibly rich country, but a desperately poor one, because we have disorder, corruption, hypocrisy, war, distorted priorities, an artificiality of work and culture, powerlessness, absence of community, and a loss of self. ... The revolution is individual and cultural, and only changes the political structure as its final act."
When I was a schoolboy in England, I recall Eisenhower using Americans to restrain their purchases of European goods.
One example I remember reading was something along the lines of every dollar every US tourist used to buy a souvenir in Europe was eligible to be exchanged for gold in Ft Knox.
This led me to wonder what would happen to the value of the US dollar if the Europeans exchanged all their dollars for gold leaving nothing but empty vaults in Ft Knox; that is, creating a US dollar backed by gold in theory; not in fact.
Nixon preempted the answer but the question remains. Really, what happens to the value of a gold backed currency when all its gold is gone?
With the bad boy countries -- especially, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia -- planning to create a new currency backed by gold to displace the need to use US dollars in trade, will their new currency be impactful if it is not convertible into gold?
Aren't US dollars already essentially convertible into citizenship for those lucky few who win a lottery managed by various US Embassies, or for the exceptionally lucky few who possess academic credentials urgently needed by America businesses seeking a competitive edge?
It doesn't seem to me too hard a prediction to make. However it took 50 years and the collapse hasn't happened yet.
I retired 15 years ago. I studied money and finance for roughly 10 hours a day and it took me 10 years to understand the confusing terminology the political talk hiding what is going on. It turns out it is simply what it seems at the outset of my studies. Expanding debt continuously and profusely and carelessly and paying that debt with fiat money. Now after another 5 years of study or disgust it appears that society will never understand it until government collapses.
Wow Bill although you've said this so many times before, yet this is a brilliant, slightly accented (Francais) view of why we all feel like FAKE rich people .. eh because in terms of real value we are not rich at all .. so we are all just faking it .. what a wonderful sense of real humor the French have!
In the land down under, everything from property prices , to the "share" market, is completely unrealistic , and disconnected from reality. I believe that gold bullion ,and certificates will be "acquired" by the goverment , probably when the next financial crisis occurs. This will be when cash money is removed , and replaced with the digital version. Total control at last by our "dear leaders".
I hope you're wrong but Aussie govts have taken the Yank example the the one they should follow .. every since the Poms dropped them from the empires protection Aussies have always looked for someone to protect them .. size/distance inferiority and probably eating to much Baah has created a follow the leader culture .. except for when it comes to sports particularly since they took the American cup off them after 100+ years and of course in the swimming pool ..
My wonderment endures. Specifically, what happens to the value of the dollar when so many dollar-holders exchange their dollars for so much gold that there's no gold left too impute value to the many dollars still in circulation?
Under Woodrow Wilson Republic set sail into darkness, under Nixon the lamps were thrown overboard, so the passengers couldn't see the holes being drilled in the hull. All presidents afterward have to one poor degree or another kept the pumps running. Since Obama, the rats have been looting and leaving the ship, while for the most part the passengers feet are a bit damp but none the less remain oblivious, while some on board can only hope the water is not too cold, deep, shark infested, nor far from land.
"Mostly they don't know whether they are going or coming" (the working class).Seems to completely sum up the working classe's present position.Rueff acheived what he set out to do (like Volker),but they aren't honored as heros like Greenspan ,Nixon,Kissenger and the ret of the Rocket Scientists in this past 50 years of economic stupidity.Thanks Bill,imformative essay..
Amazing! A French economist predicted exactly what the US would do when it had the chance! And they did it, on a Sunday evening, when all the banks were closed. That way, they didn't have to declare a bank holiday.
Not just predicted; it seemed as if Rueff made it happen, by urging the French treasury to turn in their dollars for gold.
"America’s proud tower of debt."
Indeed Mr. Bonner. Like so much else in this great Country of ours - Pride is misplaced, unearned and superficial. With Arrogance added as the condiment of choice...
This was in an old book I finished reading last night:
"We are not only an incredibly rich country, but a desperately poor one, because we have disorder, corruption, hypocrisy, war, distorted priorities, an artificiality of work and culture, powerlessness, absence of community, and a loss of self. ... The revolution is individual and cultural, and only changes the political structure as its final act."
Written by 'Adam Smith' in 1972...
1972, do you mean 1772?
No. 'Adam smith' was the pen name of a financial writer who published in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Check out "The Money Game" and "super Money"...
Would it perhaps be John K Galbraith , a lot like his other writings about money ,and how it works.
Thanks
Ransom , you bust described every single country in this planet ...👏👏👏
When I was a schoolboy in England, I recall Eisenhower using Americans to restrain their purchases of European goods.
One example I remember reading was something along the lines of every dollar every US tourist used to buy a souvenir in Europe was eligible to be exchanged for gold in Ft Knox.
This led me to wonder what would happen to the value of the US dollar if the Europeans exchanged all their dollars for gold leaving nothing but empty vaults in Ft Knox; that is, creating a US dollar backed by gold in theory; not in fact.
Nixon preempted the answer but the question remains. Really, what happens to the value of a gold backed currency when all its gold is gone?
With the bad boy countries -- especially, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia -- planning to create a new currency backed by gold to displace the need to use US dollars in trade, will their new currency be impactful if it is not convertible into gold?
Aren't US dollars already essentially convertible into citizenship for those lucky few who win a lottery managed by various US Embassies, or for the exceptionally lucky few who possess academic credentials urgently needed by America businesses seeking a competitive edge?
Curious I am
It seems logical to me that a dollar exchanged for gold would then be retired. That gold would then back the currency of the acquiring country.
🤔
It doesn't seem to me too hard a prediction to make. However it took 50 years and the collapse hasn't happened yet.
I retired 15 years ago. I studied money and finance for roughly 10 hours a day and it took me 10 years to understand the confusing terminology the political talk hiding what is going on. It turns out it is simply what it seems at the outset of my studies. Expanding debt continuously and profusely and carelessly and paying that debt with fiat money. Now after another 5 years of study or disgust it appears that society will never understand it until government collapses.
Wow Bill although you've said this so many times before, yet this is a brilliant, slightly accented (Francais) view of why we all feel like FAKE rich people .. eh because in terms of real value we are not rich at all .. so we are all just faking it .. what a wonderful sense of real humor the French have!
In the land down under, everything from property prices , to the "share" market, is completely unrealistic , and disconnected from reality. I believe that gold bullion ,and certificates will be "acquired" by the goverment , probably when the next financial crisis occurs. This will be when cash money is removed , and replaced with the digital version. Total control at last by our "dear leaders".
I hope you're wrong but Aussie govts have taken the Yank example the the one they should follow .. every since the Poms dropped them from the empires protection Aussies have always looked for someone to protect them .. size/distance inferiority and probably eating to much Baah has created a follow the leader culture .. except for when it comes to sports particularly since they took the American cup off them after 100+ years and of course in the swimming pool ..
“Bigly”
My wonderment endures. Specifically, what happens to the value of the dollar when so many dollar-holders exchange their dollars for so much gold that there's no gold left too impute value to the many dollars still in circulation?
Under Woodrow Wilson Republic set sail into darkness, under Nixon the lamps were thrown overboard, so the passengers couldn't see the holes being drilled in the hull. All presidents afterward have to one poor degree or another kept the pumps running. Since Obama, the rats have been looting and leaving the ship, while for the most part the passengers feet are a bit damp but none the less remain oblivious, while some on board can only hope the water is not too cold, deep, shark infested, nor far from land.
"Mostly they don't know whether they are going or coming" (the working class).Seems to completely sum up the working classe's present position.Rueff acheived what he set out to do (like Volker),but they aren't honored as heros like Greenspan ,Nixon,Kissenger and the ret of the Rocket Scientists in this past 50 years of economic stupidity.Thanks Bill,imformative essay..
Just