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Pushing for a Return to the Gold Standard
LA Times ^ | June 3, 2011 | Nathaniel Popper

Posted on 06/05/2011 9:20:08 PM PDT by lbryce

The idea to make the precious metal legal tender has gained currency in more than a dozen state capitals, aided by Tea Party support and other efforts to rein in federal power. Economists say the plan would be disastrous.

Mike Pitts is no economist, but that hasn't kept the retired small-town cop from taking a prominent role in a quixotic campaign to push the U.S. monetary system back to another century.

Pitts, a South Carolina statehouse representative, introduced a bill in April that would make gold and silver coins legal tender in the state. Similar efforts are underway in more than a dozen state capitals, fueled by Tea Party support and antipathy toward the federal government.

The ultimate goal is to return the nation to the gold standard, in which every dollar would be backed by a fixed amount of the precious metal. Economists of all stripes say the plan would be ruinous, but that view is of scant concern to Pitts.

"Quite frankly, I think that economists from universities are thinking within the confines of their own little world," Pitts said. "They don't deal with the real issues."

Proponents of the laws believe that returning America to the gold standard would force the government to live within its means, curtailing runaway spending and inflation.

(Excerpt) Read more at articles.latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: budgetcrisis; goldstandard; prosperity; teaparty
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1 posted on 06/05/2011 9:20:12 PM PDT by lbryce
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To: lbryce

Eventually all fiat money becomes worthless. We’re pretty close now. Wait till you see the chaos when our unit of measure is no longer a store of value or a medium of exchange. Time to get the personal protection ready for the inevitable.


2 posted on 06/05/2011 9:27:44 PM PDT by appeal2 (Don't steal, the government hates competition.)
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To: lbryce

I think if we make the US dollar an asset-based currency again, it will be not just based on gold, but also silver, platinum, palladium, copper and nickel—the most common metals found in coins and bullion blocks used in asset-based monetary trading.


3 posted on 06/05/2011 9:29:45 PM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: lbryce

Greenspan seems to assume we’d move to a post-1913 system, with the fed printing paper that is backed by reserves, and all the reserves are held by the Fed.

In my mind, that was the start of the problem. And the point at which the federal government lost all legitimacy was when it ordered all banks to surrender their reserves to the Fed.

And I see no advantage to backing half-way out of our current system.


4 posted on 06/05/2011 9:40:20 PM PDT by jdege
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To: lbryce

We’ve been off the gold standard for some 40 years. It was a bad decision, but could it be returned without a shock to the economy?


5 posted on 06/05/2011 9:40:39 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (Muslims are a people of love, peace, and goodwill, and if you say that they aren't, they'll kill you)
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To: Clintonfatigued

Considering that the economy is heading towards a massive shock if not outright collapse: I would say that there is a greater risk from not going back to the gold standard. At least the storm can be weathered much better by being on the gold standard than not.


6 posted on 06/05/2011 9:46:07 PM PDT by Republic_of_Secession.
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To: lbryce
Economists say the plan would be disastrous.

Not real economists.

7 posted on 06/05/2011 9:51:48 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: Clintonfatigued

Hence the reason why a “new” US dollar will be more than just based on gold—it will add silver, platinum, palladium, copper and nickel, also.


8 posted on 06/05/2011 9:58:00 PM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: lbryce

Return to hard money would be great, but it is not going to happen; the illuminati would lose all their power over the government, and the source of their wealth.

What is going to happen is that they will inflate the present fiat currencies out of existance, and attempt to install a global fiat currency.

If people are truly stupid, they will get away with it. That will be the end of all personal liberty.


9 posted on 06/05/2011 9:58:15 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Going 'EGYPT' - 2012!)
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To: Clintonfatigued

>> “...but could it be returned without a shock to the economy?” <<

.
What economy? - The current game of musical chairs is spiraling into hell at light speed.


10 posted on 06/05/2011 10:01:43 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Going 'EGYPT' - 2012!)
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To: lbryce; blam; Marine_Uncle; SunkenCiv
Watched Huckabee's show on Fox and Ray Stevens has a cute song out about Obama's Money Press...or the Fed's printing press.

And James Grant was on CSPAN Q & A with a new book on "The Life and Times of the House Speaker Thomas Reed"

Author of the Reed Rules of the House which did away with the "disappearing Quorem" or sometimes called the Filibuster in the House.

Allowed the legislatures to pass more Bills and spend more Money....and he was a Republican!

11 posted on 06/05/2011 10:03:29 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ( Support Geert Wilders)
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To: RayChuang88

>> “Hence the reason why a “new” US dollar will be more than just based on gold—it will add silver, platinum, palladium, copper and nickel, also.” <<

.
That wouldn’t work. Base metals are in such great supply that it would lead back to the present game eventually.


12 posted on 06/05/2011 10:04:14 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Going 'EGYPT' - 2012!)
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To: lbryce

bttt


13 posted on 06/05/2011 10:07:59 PM PDT by TEXOKIE (Anarchy IS the strategy of the forces of darkness!)
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To: lbryce
didn't the treasury secretary just address this issue recently when he said it was impossible to return to the gold standard, because their wasn't enough gold in existence to cover our money supply?
14 posted on 06/05/2011 10:18:14 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama = Epic Fail)
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To: SeeSharp
...Economists Democrats and Rinos say the plan would be disastrous...

There, fixed it.

15 posted on 06/05/2011 10:45:13 PM PDT by chopperman
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To: TexasFreeper2009

America could go back on a Gold Standard tomorrow - Gold would simply rise to somewhere north of 15000 dollars/oz.

(Note: I am not saying a Gold Standard is a good idea, I’m just saying its perfectly possible)


16 posted on 06/05/2011 10:45:30 PM PDT by agere_contra ("Debt is the foundation of destruction" : Sarah Palin.)
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To: agere_contra
Be careful what you wish for.
Going back to the Gold Standard could also mean going back to prohibiting Citizens from owning Gold Bullion.
And when that happens you will only receive the amount that the Government tells you they will pay for it.
Just like the last time.
17 posted on 06/06/2011 4:49:00 AM PDT by Falcon4.0
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To: lbryce

My belief is that the world will eventually end up on some sort inverse carbon dioxide standard.


18 posted on 06/06/2011 5:16:12 AM PDT by TruthBeforeAll (I will never ask permission to do what's right.)
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To: editor-surveyor

Okay, just limit it to gold, silver, platinum and palladium—all of which have been used as an asset-based store of monetary value. The combination of these four metals would certainly make for a far stronger US dollar, one that is far less likely to crash in value.


19 posted on 06/06/2011 5:26:30 AM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Aheeeemmmm....”The Chair directs the Clerk to record the following names of members present and refusing to vote.”


20 posted on 06/06/2011 7:30:33 AM PDT by Marine_Uncle (Honor must be earned....Duncan Hunter Sr. for POTUS.)
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