http://www.thestreet.com/s/ron-paul-get-back-to-gold/markets/marketfeatures/10397859.html?puc=_dm
The problem with going back to the Gold Standard (which is not going to happen) is that the global economy dwarfs the amount of physical gold. I think they used to use a factor of "9 times the amount of physical gold". So what would they do now ? 1000 times ? Inflation would still exist.
In the interview, the congressman also said he thought different currencies backed by precious metals should be legalized and allowed to compete with each other. In particular, he suggested that the exchange-traded funds that hold inventories of bullion, streetTracks Gold Shares (GLD) and iShares Comex Gold Trust (IAU), could issue certificates that could be spent as money.
Competing currencies would also legitimize Liberty Dollar, an Evansville, Ind., company that got in trouble with the FBI and the U.S. Mint for making its own solid silver coins, some stamped with the image of Paul. The firm was raided just before Thanksgiving and all materials were confiscated, including the Paul dollars.
Paul acknowledged that competing currencies could only occur with substantial changes to the criminal law and the tax code. Currently, it's illegal to try to spend precious metals coins as if they were currency, he said. The tax code also means that the changing dollar price of gold creates taxable capital gains. That's something which would need to be repealed, he says.
None of that is going to happen. I think he is only running to publicize ideas, which is a good thing.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (International Transcendental Meditation, friend of the Beatles) has issued his own Raam currency for many years. It is tolerated in the Netherlands as a small scale alternative currency, though the gov't occasionally warns against its stability.
No comments:
Post a Comment