Chicago’s Fiscal Storm: With bonds already rated junk, the city considers borrowing billions

City Journal ^ | 08/13/2018 | Steve Malanga

[arrogantsob]

There is not enough gold to provide a sufficient money supply and it is no guarantee against inflation or deflation. Modern capitalism is dependent on credit and would collapse without it.

There never has actually been a Gold Standard in any case. Nations pretending to have a gold-backed currency immediately eliminated convertibility when it became destructive to political ends. Look at the history of Britain during the Napoleonic Wars.

It would not get rid of paper currency and would be terribly complicated. One dollar would be 1/1400th of an ounce, how is this to be measured? There would be a paper dollar substituted for gold just because of the impossibility of carrying carrying out small transactions.

One gram would be worth 50 bucks.

It would be the equivalent in medicine returning to bleeding as a treatment.

[PGR88]

There is not enough gold to provide a sufficient money supply and it is no guarantee against inflation or deflation. Modern capitalism is dependent on credit and would collapse without it.

Sorry, but this statement is simply wrong. First of all, how much is "enough" gold? Second, tying money supply to a finite commodity would, be definition, limit the creation of money. It would limit bubbles created by excess credit in a manufactured, printed currency, and therefore, limit the crash and deflationary effects of those bubbles.

"Modern Capitalism" (whatever that is) needs credit, but it also needs properly priced credit, stable price levels, and real, free-market interest rates. We have none of those things now. Does the Federal Reserve, pushing rates to 0%, so primary dealer banks can pad their cash reserves and loan money to hedge funds buying up NY and SF real estate count sound credit? The mis-pricing of the cost of money is the most egregious form or wasteful, mistaken, soviet-style central planning there is.

[arrogantsob]

When the gold supply expands at a rate of 1% per year it tends to depress economic activity. It doesn’t not stop recessions or inflation and this is well shown throughout history.

Gold in 1980 was about $300/oz now it is about $1400 after hitting over $17-1800 per. This would mean a massive inflation.

When the price collapsed the shrinking of the money supply would throw an economy into recession.

There has never been a Golden Age without economic perturbations and cannot be. You might recall that the Great Depression occurred when the world was on a Gold/Silver standard. And that fact retarded government action to deal with it.

You did not address the most important problem, it’s impracticability.

The Market establishes credit paper money or no. Your claim that credit is mispriced and interest rates are manipulated for unwarranted reasons. Interest rates on Gold would be very high though I haven’t had time to consider the effect of interest rates of switching to gold.

All your complaints about what we don’t have are unwarranted. Our inflation rate has been stable for at least two decades.

[roadcat]

Solution - enact socialist policies as follows:

All city employees get minimum wage salaries. All wages are capped at minimum wage. Any overtime is not paid; it is for the community. All days off with pay will be rescinded. All pensions of those who remain in the city will be taxed at 50 percent. Those pensioners who leave the city will have their pensions eliminated. Half of city-owned buildings will be sold off, and workers will be consolidated in the remaining half. A large toll will be enacted for all roads leaving the city. Anyone protesting these new policies will have their assets seized, for the good of the city.

Hey, it’s a solution, I didn’t say it’s a good one.

[Liz]

"In charge" that infamous day of the Broward school massacrer was Obama's hand picked pal from Chicago----Broward County School Supt, Robert Runcie.

Runcie got a $28,000 raise and additional benefits under his contract.The deal brings Runcie’s salary to $335,000 and extends his employment through June 30, 2023. Under the new contract, Runcie would:

-- Be able to trade in 15 of his 29 vacation days for a cash value of $20,500.

-- Get $48,000 contributed annually from the school board for retirement plans

-- Be allowed to earn a pension based on four years of his service in Chicago, estimated to cost taxpayers $80,000.

More than 30 people lined up mostly to praise Runcie’s work since he started in 2011. Leaders of local community organizations, businesses and schools praised improved student achievement, Runcie’s communication skills and inclusion and protection of immigrants and minorities under Obama's vaunted "Promise" plan.

Runcie collected $53 million tax dollars from Obama for keeping minorities off arrest records.

Then the massacre took place.

Runcie was named Supt of The Year.