Ron Paul wins CPAC straw poll

[fskimospy]

Yes, the unbacked federal reserve notes have been a stunning success right?
I mean the 2011 dollar is worth a whole 2-3 cents compared with the 1913 dollar and we are running our government to the brink of bankruptcy with deficits. But hey, anything else is crazy talk right?

He wouldn't even return to the gold standard anyway, simply make it legal for gold and silver to circulate as money.

And the standard of living today as compared to 1913 is hugely better. You can have your low inflation, I'll take real world improvement in living standards.

Also, our government is not on the brink of bankruptcy. The United States literally cannot go bankrupt unless it chooses to do so, because our debts are owed in our own sovereign currency.

 

[jonks]

Roads already exist.

How very...long sighted of you. Corn exists too but I humbly suggest farmers plant next season's crop anyway. You know, just in case.

 

[xj0hnx]

I believe he does, because he favors competing currencies/free market money (anything as money). I don't think he favors a return to a governmental gold standard.

If Congress creates money, they can debase it/rebase it, and that would cause a centralized boom bust cycle.

You believing something doesn't make it truth, matter of fact, if you believe it, chances are it isn't truth.

 

[airdata]

No, I mean bad ideas like a return to the gold standard.

There's a reason why so few people voted for him.

You do realize the the federal reserve is a private corporation, right? I like the gold standard a hell of a lot better than the "in god we trust" standard.

Faith based currency only gets you so far in the real world.

 

[MotF Bane]

Because he has bad ideas that are very unpopular with the vast majority of the US electorate.

More accurately, the vast majority of the electorate is a bunch of idiots, as evidenced in large part by who has been elected lately.

 

[Anarchist420]

You do realize the the federal reserve is a private corporation, right? I like the gold standard a hell of a lot better than the "in god we trust" standard.

Faith based currency only gets you so far in the real world.

It's not private. I wish it was though. It enriches private-enterprise, but the Fed itself is not private. That's why it's address is .gov.

 

[zinfamous]

hehe.
Ron Paul is like Karl Marx.
It looks good on paper, but you would have to be crazy to try it.

exactly.

Even Karl Marx was a failure at Marxism in real life.

 

[zinfamous]

You do realize the the federal reserve is a private corporation, right? I like the gold standard a hell of a lot better than the "in god we trust" standard.

Faith based currency only gets you so far in the real world.

Gold Standard = Great Depression.

what a fucking idiotic idea. There is a very real and valid reason that no modern economy can ever be beholden by a tenuous scrap of metal.

 

[matt0611]

Gold Standard = Great Depression.

what a fucking idiotic idea. There is a very real and valid reason that no modern economy can ever be beholden by a tenuous scrap of metal.

No, Federal Reserve = Great Depression (even Bernake himself admits this)

We've had huge economic expansions without fiat money. Industrial revolution anyone? Post civil war era? Roaring 20s? Post WWII? It is not a prerequisite for prosperity.

The reason we don't have money backed by something is because then the government wouldn't be able to print all the money it wants to please the special interests.

Money backed by something was used throughout the history of human civilization up until about 40 years ago. As much as you want to paint it as a crazy idea, its not.

Anyway, like I said, Ron Paul said he wouldn't get rid of the fiat money anyway, just allow metals to circulate as money by the market.

 

[JS80]

How is Ron Paul not our president?

He has one idea that is very very bad and would ruin us. Not that he could even implement it.

He also has bad foreign policy.

 

[zinfamous]

No, Federal Reserve = Great Depression (even Bernake himself admits this)

We've had huge economic expansions without fiat money. Industrial revolution anyone? Post civil war era? Roaring 20s? Post WWII? It is not a prerequisite for prosperity.

The reason we don't have money backed by something is because then the government wouldn't be able to print all the money it wants to please the special interests.

Money backed by something was used throughout the history of human civilization up until about 40 years ago. As much as you want to paint it as a crazy idea, its not.

Anyway, like I said, Ron Paul said he wouldn't get rid of the fiat money anyway, just allow metals to circulate as money by the market.

The gold standard is universally seen as perhaps the major reason that the economy collapsed after Black Friday. There was simply no money to put back into the economy. There was nothing, as most Americans were willing to hoard under the knowledge that the US would back their gold stores. Well, too fucking bad there was no money to give them for their gold!

This is why Roosevelt confiscated everything. He had to. Any President would have done the same, and would have been right to do so. There was no other option.


I'd like to see where Bernanke has said otherwise, b/c he is an expert on The Depression, and any accredited economist will tell you that the gold standard is the most pernicious, most ill-informed failure when it comes to understanding currency.

http://www.amatecon.com/gd/gdcandc.html

well, here, Bernanke actually points to the countries that avoided the depression of the Thirties--these were countries that were not on the gold standard
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2005/12/the_gold_standa.html

and again,
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/200403022/default.htm

is the Federal Reserve also a problem? maybe, I don't know. But I sure as shit know that the Gold Standard is the dumbest fucking idea ever.

 

[zinfamous]

He has one idea that is very very bad and would ruin us. Not that he could even implement it.

He also has bad foreign policy.

He's also older than Al Davis

 

[JS80]

He's also older than Al Davis

Who's Al Davis?

...well played.

 

[bamacre]

The gold standard is universally seen as perhaps the major reason that the economy collapsed after Black Friday. There was simply no money to put back into the economy.

We did not have the same type of gold standard then. Wow, people hear "gold standard" and think as if there is one type of gold standard that everyone acknowledges. Ron Paul has never backed the kind of gold standard we had in place leading up to and during the GD. They were running a fractional reserve gold standard, and everyone, Keynesians and Austrians, will tell you that won't work. No one is suggesting such a system, and anyone who thinks so only looks ignorant of the topic.

No, the Fed did not re-inflate the money supply, which people argue caused the GP. They deny the relevance however the fact that the Fed inflated the money supply in the early 20's, which others say created a boom, bound for Bustville.

 

[Anarchist420]

We did not have the same type of gold standard then. Wow, people hear "gold standard" and think as if there is one type of gold standard that everyone acknowledges. Ron Paul has never backed the kind of gold standard we had in place leading up to and during the GD. They were running a fractional reserve gold standard, and everyone, Keynesians and Austrians, will tell you that won't work. No one is suggesting such a system, and anyone who thinks so only looks ignorant of the topic.

No, the Fed did not re-inflate the money supply, which people argue caused the GP. They deny the relevance however the fact that the Fed inflated the money supply in the early 20's, which others say created a boom, bound for Bustville.

It's frustrating how people are so ignorant of that, isn't it? I favor an Amendment to the Constitution that would ban FRB nationwide.

 

[soulcougher73]

It wouldnt matter if Ron Paul were to ever win the POTUS anyways. One honest guy at the top who isnt really in charge with views different from Congress and House and Senete is not going to get 1 single meaninful thing accomplished.

 

[fskimospy]

We did not have the same type of gold standard then. Wow, people hear "gold standard" and think as if there is one type of gold standard that everyone acknowledges. Ron Paul has never backed the kind of gold standard we had in place leading up to and during the GD. They were running a fractional reserve gold standard, and everyone, Keynesians and Austrians, will tell you that won't work. No one is suggesting such a system, and anyone who thinks so only looks ignorant of the topic.

No, the Fed did not re-inflate the money supply, which people argue caused the GP. They deny the relevance however the fact that the Fed inflated the money supply in the early 20's, which others say created a boom, bound for Bustville.

The reason why the gold standard helped exacerbate the great depression (and countless other panics/minor depressions in the past) is because it prevents countries from altering their money supply to deal with changing circumstances.

That part is involved with any commodity based standard, hell that's the primary point of one. It has also been an unmitigated catastrophe. There's a reason why the entire world abandoned the standard, and a reason why so few outside of the ideological extremes push to return to it.

 

[fskimospy]

It's frustrating how people are so ignorant of that, isn't it? I favor an Amendment to the Constitution that would ban FRB nationwide.

You are certainly not someone to call people ignorant.

 

[bamacre]

The reason why the gold standard helped exacerbate the great depression (and countless other panics/minor depressions in the past) is because it prevents countries from altering their money supply to deal with changing circumstances.

Oh, and how did the Fed increase the money supply by 60% before the GD?

Jesus, I just told you they were running a fractional reserve gold standard. Do you even understand what that means? The Fed didn't re-inflate the money supply, NOT because they didn't have the authority to do so, but because they didn't think it wise. Why don't you actually learn WTF you are talking about before you post nonsense making yourself look like a fucking idiot.

 

[fskimospy]

Oh, and how did the Fed increase the money supply by 60% before the GD?

Jesus, I just told you they were running a fractional reserve gold standard. Do you even understand what that means? The Fed didn't re-inflate the money supply, NOT because they didn't have the authority to do so, but because they didn't think it wise. Why don't you actually learn WTF you are talking about before you post nonsense making yourself look like a fucking idiot.

And how close was the fed to the ceiling of what they could lend under a fractional reserve system? In addition, the great depression was a worldwide event, one that the gold standard certainly exacerbated. (there is a pretty amazing correlation between countries abandoning the gold standard and experiencing an economic recovery)

Looks like someone's angry. I'll try not to be mean to you again in the future.

 

[bamacre]

And how close was the fed to the ceiling of what they could lend under a fractional reserve system? In addition, the great depression was a worldwide event, one that the gold standard certainly exacerbated. (there is a pretty amazing correlation between countries abandoning the gold standard and experiencing an economic recovery)

Looks like someone's angry. I'll try not to be mean to you again in the future.

I'd only be angry if I were the one here providing evidence of my stupidity. Fortunately, that isn't me, it's you. What part of "no one is suggesting we move toward a fractional reserve gold standard" do you not understand? I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.

 

[jonks]

It wouldnt matter if Ron Paul were to ever win the POTUS anyways. One honest guy at the top who isnt really in charge with views different from Congress and House and Senete is not going to get 1 single meaninful thing accomplished.

You vastly underestimate the power of the veto and the executive order, as well as the appointment power, near total military control, etc.