The good, old days of the Gold Standard

"The gold standard was "sacrosanct" to the generations brought up on the Adam Smith ideals of free markets, free from arbitrary and discriminatory interventions by governmental powers. Indeed, it was an essential instrument of economic freedom. It protected the individual against arbitrary measures of the government by offering a convenient hedge against "confiscatory" taxation, as well as against the depreciation or devaluation of the currency. It was an instrument of "mobility" within and beyond national borders. Above all, it raised a mighty barrier against authoritarian interferences with the economic process. "That insidious and crafty animal, vulgarly called a statesman or politician, whose councils are directed by the momentary fluctuations of affairs" (Adam Smith), had to keep the national budget in good order. Authoritarians of all denominations had to keep their inflationary propensities under control and to refrain from excessive taxation in order to forestall the loss of people's confidence in the currency, the breakdown ofthe standard. The public purse had to be held tight. The business community had to learn to live with the salutary realization that illiquidity caused by short-sighted overinvestment and irrational speculation would be penalized by loss of gold and an "automatic" tightening of the money supply, as well as a rise in the price of money.

The gold standard in the classical sense was part and parcel of an economic order. It was a keystone of the system of public law, social customs and institutions, called "capitalism"-the term coined by Karl Marx-a system that rested on what appears in perspective as virtually unlimited freedom of consumer choice, business enterprise, and markets."

Melchior Palyi; Twilight of Gold, 1914 - 1936, pg 5

Do you remember Libya?

Trying to discover the truth of what happened and what is happening in Libya has been a frustrating business. I think it is clear that the western establishment media, and the BBC more than anyone else, was taking its orders from NATO throughout the war. Those looking for an alternative view have had to rely on RT and various independent outlets (e.g. this), many of which with their own political agendas. Between the establishment and the independent voices, one has had to pick a path, taking everything with a pinch of salt.

Given that the British state is still keeping secrets from the First World War, it is obvious that we will not learn much from that source until perhaps the year 2111, and it will be left to the realm of speculation and theory as to what motivated the mandarins to overthrow Gaddafi's regime. However, my own belief is that Gaddafi's pursuit of the gold Dinar was where he crossed the line and became a threat to the shadowy powers that be. This was not, of course, a military threat. The idea that Libya posed any kind of military threat was always ridiculous, and clearly indicated by the ease with which NATO blitzed the country. No, the gold Dinar was a dagger pointed at the heart of the rotten world monetary system.

The clip below discusses this plan of Gaddafi, although I have a few quibbles with some of what it says (such as "a country's wealth would depend on how much gold they have": not so!), it certainly indicates the clear and present danger Gaddafi signified to our overlords.

More news for gold bugs

Via the Cobden Centre, I come to Andy Duncan's interview with Thomas Jacob, of the Property and Freedom Society from Zurich Canton and one of the chief proponents of the return of the Swiss gold franc, the plan being to launch a gold-backed currency to run in parallel with the Swiss paper franc.

Herr Jacob makes some interesting remarks on the Swiss system of democracy, and how the people have power to initiate political decisions in the face of united opposition from the political class, such as when the latter tried to disarm the former, who are required by law to keep weapons at home. It put me in mind to check the stats comparing crime in the United Kingdom of disarmed slaves versus Switzerland, which I note on this Canadian blog, where I also find the clip below.

Return of the Gold Standard? We'll see

A friend flagged up this article by Ambrose Evans Pritchard entitled "Return of the Gold Standard as world order unravels". The friend was wondering if maybe after all there was something to my near mono-mania on the subject of honest money.

The piece runs through various facts which the gold bugs have noted...

"The Bank of England wins the booby prize for selling into the bottom at €254 an ounce on Gordon Brown's orders in 1999. But Russia, China, India, the Gulf states, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan have been buying."

And then Pritchard committed a cardinal sin, which hard currency types such as I will not easily forgive.

HE MENTIONED KEYNES!

Talk about the turd in the punchbowl. Where is Keynes? I want that fucker dug up and thrown on the dungheap. I suppose that may be unfair. After all, Keynes isn't really the problem, so much as the legions of wankers who have followed his charlatan fallacies for the last 60 years.