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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
A bill recently introduced in Texas seeks to obliterate the Federal Reserve's much-maligned monopoly on currency by establishing gold and silver as legal tender — but the groundbreaking legislation, if passed, would also prohibit those precious metals from being seized by State authorities.
[...] Senator Bob Hall introduced the bill last month, which, the Tenth Amendment Center explains, "declares specifically that certain gold and silver coins are legal tender, and prohibits any tax, charge, assessment, fee, or penalty on any exchange of Federal Reserve notes (dollars) for gold or silver. The bill authorizes the payment of taxes and fees in gold & silver in certain circumstances. It would also prohibit the seizure of gold or silver by state authorities."
Would this matter in a nation where money is mostly plastic nowadays anyway?
Source: http://thefreethoughtproject.com/texas-bill-gold-silver-money-federal-reserve/
(Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Sunday April 16 2017, @02:28PM (6 children)
Blaming Nixon and fiat currency for inflation is demonstrably wrong, for one simple reason: The worst years of inflation the US has ever had were in 1917-1920, back when it were still on the gold standard and Richard Nixon (and FDR for that matter) weren't major political players.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 16 2017, @02:46PM (4 children)
My response above applies here as well:
The great depression was the result of buying on credit which was unsecured in any manner. Doesn't matter what the standard is, gold, silver, plutonium, sticks with notches cut in them, unsecured credit is risky. Unlimited unsecured credit is a recipe for disaster. THAT was the great depression - which differed little from the more recent depression of 2008.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Sunday April 16 2017, @03:50PM (2 children)
Except that neither the Great Depression nor the Great Recession of 2008 were caused by unsecured loans. In the case of the Depression, what was going on was that people were taking on credit secured by the stocks they were buying with that credit. In the case of the Recession, everything was ultimately secured by the homes the mortgages were based on. The problem in both cases is that the financial economy was not being sufficiently propped up by the real economy (i.e. people doing work to make stuff and sell stuff).
Also, the period I mentioned, 1917-1920, was World War I, a full decade before the Great Depression.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by Scrutinizer on Sunday April 16 2017, @06:42PM
If the price of your collateral crashes (or is fraudulent), it's effectively the same as an unsecured loan. Fraud is a regular tenant throughout the US' financial history.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Sunday April 16 2017, @11:20PM
That's partly accurate. My college history class was about the 1920s and this [virginia.edu] was the textbook (full text at the link, and a very good read). Chapters X through XIV explain the stock market crash and its cause.
I still have the copy I had to buy in school.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @03:50PM
plutonium, sticks with notches cut in them
This must be the financial equivalent of inventing people with green skin and purple spots.
Though I admit, there have been a variety of currencies before, such as sea shells.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday April 17 2017, @01:00AM
You misunderstand. I've no objection to devaluing stationary money. It's all but vital for a healthy economy. I was just stating facts.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.