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Money backed by Debt?
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John Gelles
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Nov 02, 2009 02:35 PST
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Money backed by Debt versus Money backed by Products in Demand: That is
the Question of the Moment
Money backed by debt is what we say we have -- and we say it works.
However, that same debt that backs our money is payable in the money
itself -- of which there is no limit except for its effect on price.
The puzzling relations between money, debt and products exchangeable for
money, above, crave clear answers -- that no one will believe except the
person offering them. Money is today defined differently by everyone who
issues it. Sellers have a choice: accept the money or not! If they fail
to take the money, they may be stuck with products whose value is even
less than the value of mysterious money.
The world still values dollars and takes them for what we buy because we
take them back for what we sell. But the value of the dollar is in
question: unless we have products in demand to sell in exchange for
purchasing power to buy our needs and wants, the system of world trade
will begin to switch from wanting our products and technology transfers
to the products from Europe, Russia, China, India, Brazil and other
sellers until America collapses into a pile of hamburgers and ketchup.
Of course this collapse is not on the horizon: our military-industrial
might is still second to none. And our intellectual property is still in
high demand. The problem is: although we can travel to the moon, we seem
unable to close the loop from production to consumption that is meant to
satisfy all wants and show quantity and quality gains every year.
We claim to need more money to pay for all we're missing--like schools,
clinics and ways to switch out of oil and other carbon fuels and away
from polluting habits to a cleaner living life style. Yet we have
endless money for destructive wars and little for constructive action.
Our president is a deficit-wary fellow traveler with crooked capitalists
and socialists on the take. He has found a voice for promising but not
the plan for jobs and the promise of what the right kid of job can
produce.
What Ron Paul calls "corporatism" and Michael Moore calls "capitalism"
and George Soros calls "capitalist fundamentalism", I call FUBAR
Mandarinism, and they are all poised to do us in. Of criticism we have
an abundance, of brevity and practicality we have almost none.
We took our cues from Britain, now China takes theirs from us. They will
create a market at home and a Navy at sea and fish for oil in troubled
waters. Meanwhile sun and wind will allow us to save are oil from
burning. California has the smartest people on earth for information,
entertainment, growing food and taking dope. But they are not allowed to
print their own money and bankrupt without it.
America has elected a lawyer president. Hoover was an engineer. They say
Obama will be a Hoover. The next Roosevelt is waiting to be discovered.
Will she be an actress channeling Katherine the Great?
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