Thread: Is America Going Broke

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politic ... 041805.cfm

Interview with Government Accountant in Office of Management & Budget

"Is America Going Broke"

April 2005

Well we wouldnt be going broke if we operated our own reserve, cut back on spending and went back to the gold standard.

and went back to the gold standard

You've GOT IT!! They've almost destroyed us with their fiat money. For most of my life I've worked off the ol' rumpus....and every time it would appear that I'd get ahead a little...along would come another 'recession'...and then another 'round of inflation'...etc and so on in a continuing cycle while they print more worthless money. This will all come home to roost one day and paying that particular piper isn't going to be a fun thing.

Historically speaking, fiat money has destroyed more nations that all wars combined.

RR

When I got laid off by Acclaim I tried like hell to stay in Austin and basically lived on my credit card. I didn't have any choice. So I am doing everything I can now to pay that off. A lot of us in the tech field had great jobs, worked sixty hr weeks and bought homes--and then suddenly BAM it was over. Things seem to be stabilizing a bit more now--hopefully.

As our beloved Miss Judy instructed on another thread, we should all pay off our credit cards. That's doing our part.

Originally Posted by RoadRunner

Originally Posted by jp_48504

and went back to the gold standard

You've GOT IT!! They've almost destroyed us with their fiat money. For most of my life I've worked off the ol' rumpus....and every time it would appear that I'd get ahead a little...along would come another 'recession'...and then another 'round of inflation'...etc and so on in a continuing cycle while they print more worthless money. This will all come home to roost one day and paying that particular piper isn't going to be a fun thing.

Historically speaking, fiat money has destroyed more nations that all wars combined.

John Maynard Keynes

There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency... The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.

We went off the gold standard in 1971... Correct me if this is not true, but I believe throughout most of our country's history, we've been on some commodity standard... I've even read that it's stipulated in the Constitution that our currency should be backed by a commodity.

Also, I believe throughout most of our history, we've had a trade surplus... But after 1975, we've had annual trade deficits... On the gold standard, you can only have trade deficits for so long before you run out of gold... But on the dollar standard, countries can simply buy our treasury bonds and keep the dollar strong.

In the 1960s, the average salary was just about $7000 per year... I've read that's about the salary of the Indian recipients of the outsourced jobs.

Of course, there are many reasons I'm sure, like the poverty of 3rd world countries, trade liberalization, the spread of capitalism (former soviet union, asia, south america), etc... Still, I wonder if going off the gold standard is a big cause for all these losses of industries and jobs.

After adjusting for inflation, 90% of Americans make no more money than they made 30 years ago...

Also, in the 1800s our country grew strongly, but we had mild deflation... This seems reasonable... After all, with productivity improvements, you'd expect prices to go down.

But despite all the productivity gains of the last 30 years, prices go up a little bit every year... In addition, you'd think all the cheap labor from importing workers & exporting jobs would keep prices down... (I guess the owners keep the savings.)

That's one of the excuse for "open borders.".. All the cheap labor helps to keep prices low, but as a matter of fact, it doesn't... Inflation has been higher over the last 30 years than it was during the 30 years between 1940 and 1970, when our borders were nearly closed (relatively speaking).

We went off the Gold Standard in 1933. We were on the Silver Standard until 1969.

Our government operated on tariffs from imported goods until 1913 when they came up with the income tax scheme and it has been down hill from there.


Okay, I am a bit of a history buff.

Thanks for the correction there.

Not being a history buff myself, I've nonetheless gathered bits & pieces from other history buffs on the Internet as well as other sources of no doubt questionable repute.

From what I've gleaned, we partially went off the gold standard in 1933... Americans could not get their dollars exchanged for gold, but foreigners could... Then, in 1971, we completely went off the gold standard, such that foreigners could no longer get their dollars exchanged for gold.

Correct me again, if necessary...

Our government operated on tariffs from imported goods until 1913 when they came up with the income tax scheme and it has been down hill from there.

Wasn't that about the time of the creation of the Federal Reserve?.. We need to bring back the tariffs.

You are correct about 1971, but since Americans werent allowed to trade dollars for gold it was 1933.

You are also correct about the Federal Reserve:
The central banking system of the United States established under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, sometimes called the Glass-Owen bill. T

Yes, we went off the gold standard in 1933...a mere 3 months after the election of FD Roosevelt--who had promised that he wouldn't do that. Americans were forced to TURN IN all the gold they owned and it became ILLEGAL for Americans to own gold until the late 70's, early 80's--forgot which.

In not having a gold or silver backing for our currency it allows the government to manipulate the money supply any way they want..note the continuing seesawing of the interest rate with which they manipulate our economy...which is a political thing, of course. Our coins were divested of the silver beginning in the late 60's.

RR