This is a bit long, 7 part series of a 25 year old debate. Ron Paul voters, and Gilby might like it. It’s a bit long for those with no interest in money theory.
I note that Paul was a dark haired true believer that a paper money would not last until he was old and gray. He describes his gold buggerness as almost a religion. He makes moral objections to paper cash he never mentions now.
His opponent is a banker they pulled off of the monopoly board. To rich and fat to be anything but mellow, he says “ah” a lot. He looks just like a Fed gov should look. The suit, haircut, and total look that says, “I’m a fat banker”.
The debate is almost totally about the gold standard. The banker made one point that I never thought about. That robust growth in a foreign economy (china ?), could cause money to flow out of the USA, causing a depression here.
Anyway, I thought maybe some of you would enjoy this .
Paul said in his opening statement he wanted to made 4 points.
That central planning never works. Therefor, a central agency managing the money supply can never work. He compared it to the central planning in the USSR, which was failing at the time.
Now he doesn’t say that anymore. Perhaps because the modern example is China, where central planning and paper money appear to be working.
That allowing the Fed to control the money supply gives them to much power.
On that point he is much the same today.
That paper money is immoral. It is wrong, the burning moral issue of the time. He described his opposition to it as a religious zeal. Of course, because it is evil and just wrong to “create money out of thin air”, there is a vague logical extension that a decent moral country cannot prosper this way. He states at the time that this is the most important reason we must have gold money.
He doesn’t say paper money is evil anymore. I guess god failed to punish the wicked. Those who took out mortgages and bought real estate in '83 are rich now. Those who bet the market would rise were right also. Those who borrowed cheap money and started new companies like Microsoft and Goggle, made greater fortunes then even the bankers could dream. All on the paper dollar. It seems it is those that agreed with Paul in '83, and invested in gold and silver, that are poor now. On this point, Paul is wisely silent today.
4 The creation of cheap credit allows the government to borrow, and grow to large, threatening our liberties. This is a plot by the Fed to transfer wealth.
This one always puzzled me. I think deficit spending is caused by politicians, not by the Fed. Carter and Clinton had budget surpluses. Bonds were issued ,and deficit spending was common, before the Fed, and under the gold standard. Yet many still seem to buy the myth that the Fed creates government debt with a printing press. Despite the fact that the debt is created by Congress and financed by 20 year bonds. Despite the fact that the bureau of engraving is not part of the Fed.
Paul still demagogies on this a bit, but he has found a more popular whipping boy today, The IRS. In '83 he never mentioned them. Today they are target #1. I see some logic in this connection. More taxes collected certainly allows for larger, often more evil government. I’m a bit surprised that he let them off the hook in '83. They weren’t so popular then either.
