Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks Undisclosed $13B

[Denny]

Nice dodge

[Broncojohnny]

Nice dodge

Its a 2005 truck, I bought it new.

But anyway, did you buy some gold yet!!?

lol

[SMEGMA STENCH]

We should go back to the gold standard so that the dollar is worth a set amount of gold. That is, until you ask the government for that gold and they don't have it and have to borrow it from JP Morgan.

Oh dear, wait a second, I thought this whole gold standard was going to take power away from the bankers, not turn the evil bankers into another version of the Fed! All of this happened before in 1893 but I'm sure it won't happen again if we just trust that the gold standard is the way to go! Last time it happened there was a Railroad bubble and Union Pacific went bankrupt then 15,000 business followed afterwards and set the stage for >12% unemployment for five years. Probably won't happen again though, just trust me.

Oh and BUY GOLD!

Well then I'd have to ask: If both systems suck, what is the best way to go? The gold standard has its issues, sure. But so does fiat currency. Are we to just suffer inflation until a burger and fries is $489,523? Where does it come to an end? What is the way to make the problems stop? The only thing I can come up with, is to start actually punishing any form of white collar crime with extreme prejudice. Allowing not a single exception. Make it the death penalty for all of it. But that of course, is never going to happen. So how long, with no options, until a fall?

[Broncojohnny]

Well then I'd have to ask: If both systems suck, what is the best way to go? The gold standard has its issues, sure. But so does fiat currency. Are we to just suffer inflation until a burger and fries is $489,523? Where does it come to an end? What is the way to make the problems stop? The only thing I can come up with, is to start actually punishing any form of white collar crime with extreme prejudice. Allowing not a single exception. Make it the death penalty for all of it. But that of course, is never going to happen. So how long, with no options, until a fall?

White collar crime has nothing to do with any of this, I'm not sure what you are talking about.

And yes, we have inflation until a burger and fries costs $489,523. Ideally that will happen. It will take quite a while but it will happen. A little bit of inflation in the economy is a good thing, about 1-3% a year is a "little bit". That situation is certainly a lot better than one with a fixed money supply where deflation can happen overnight. Deflation being where a dollar is worth more tomorrow and people start hoarding dollars.

[Bassics]

The age of the robber barons was a consequence of a gold standard for currency.

Imagine the havoc if a silver standard had been mandated as well?

A similar situation exists today with jewelry grade diamonds. This is a controlled resource in a somewhat cornered market. It depends on artificial scarcity and an extremely aggressive marketing campaign to inflate percieved value. Sound familiar?

[Broncojohnny]

Before 1873 the US had a silver and gold standard.

The age of the robber barons or the "gilded age" was really no different than any other period where a specific asset class is hyped. It wasn't caused by the gold standard but by huge amounts of capital, both private and public, being deployed into railroads in a haphazard fashion. This has happened many times in everything from tulips to railroads to automobiles and the internet.

[kingjason]

The age of the robber barons was a consequence of a gold standard for currency.

Imagine the havoc if a silver standard had been mandated as well?

A similar situation exists today with jewelry grade diamonds. This is a controlled resource in a somewhat cornered market. It depends on artificial scarcity and an extremely aggressive marketing campaign to inflate percieved value. Sound familiar?

I watched a show on this one time and they showed where this place in Russia had like a twelve story building underground that was just full of nothing but diamonds. They also said if they ever released them on the market it would make diamonds worthless. Thats why we went with silver wedding rings from Ireland. My wife believes none of the diamond hype. LOL

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Before 1873 the US had a silver and gold standard.

The age of the robber barons or the "gilded age" was really no different than any other period where a specific asset class is hyped. It wasn't caused by the gold standard but by huge amounts of capital, both private and public, being deployed into railroads in a haphazard fashion. This has happened many times in everything from tulips to railroads to automobiles and the internet.

Well what about the constant bumps to minimum wage that fiat currency is going to cause? I ask because everyone around here seems to have a problem with having a minimum wage, myself included.

[Broncojohnny]

Well what about the constant bumps to minimum wage that fiat currency is going to cause? I ask because everyone around here seems to have a problem with having a minimum wage, myself included.

How does fiat currency "cause" increases in minimum wage? The minimum wage is government interference.

[Denny]

I guess it COULD by correcting missed employment predictions by raising the wage to keep the inflation within range, but that's a bit of a stretch.

[Bassics]

Before 1873 the US had a silver and gold standard.

The age of the robber barons or the "gilded age" was really no different than any other period where a specific asset class is hyped. It wasn't caused by the gold standard but by huge amounts of capital, both private and public, being deployed into railroads in a haphazard fashion. This has happened many times in everything from tulips to railroads to automobiles and the internet.

I disagree. Capital was locked up and controlled by a very limited number of underwriters. If anything, railroad grants were an opportunistic way of keeping that capital in one place. Profiteering from railroad right-of-way grants preceeds the industrialization of the US, even president Lincoln had his hand in the cookie jar.

Interesting comment about the tulips, I was just reading about the fortunes made and lost in Amsterdam with the competing varieties; and how the underlying insurance industry that arose long before enabled people to risk far more than what they could ever repay otherwise. Copper clad ships!

[Broncojohnny]

I disagree. Capital was locked up and controlled by a very limited number of underwriters. If anything, railroad grants were an opportunistic way of keeping that capital in one place. Profiteering from railroad right-of-way grants preceeds the industrialization of the US, even president Lincoln had his hand in the cookie jar.

I'm not talking about playing games with railroad right of ways, that was an exclusive club of elites. I'm talking about publicly traded shares of railroads and railroad service companies. Those shares were ultimately dumped on the public after the players in private equity (or public office in the case of Credit Mobilier) had taken their cut. That situation is no different than the dot com days of the late 1990s.