Thursday, May 12, 2011

Why do we sound need money?

"Because the founders of our nation had experienced first hand the ills attendant unbacked fiat currency, they provided in Article 1, Section 10 of the United States Constitution that no state is to make anything but gold and silver coin tender for payment of debts. Unfortunately, we’ve departed from the wisdom they imparted, and embraced a medium of exchange which has no intrinsic value whatsoever. The value of today’s dollar is upheld by governmental edict, backed only by the indebtedness of our nation and its citizens. Because of sharp increases in our money supply, our national debt is on an upwards trajectory set shortly to eclipse our gross domestic product. Since there is no historical precedent for a totally fiat money system, such as ours, ever lasting more than a few decades, prudence dictates that alternative, sound, means of exchange be put in place well in advance of any potential crisis, such as those endured by the fiat-financed nations and empires of the recent and distant past. 

Even absent the specter of catastrophic consequences, an alternative sound money system confers many benefits on citizens and state governments alike. Such a system serves as a refuge from the ills fiat money produces, including the insidious “inflation tax” that our current monetary system imposes. Consider that the U.S. dollar has lost more than 95% of its purchasing power since decoupling from gold and silver backing. By contrast, sound money systems of the past continued virtually inflation proof for centuries on end."