Eric Mathis Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 But, as I pointed out in my post, in every single occurrence of a commodity backed currency the government just adjusted the ratios to fit their macro models. Of course, all macro models are flawed and doomed to fail. And in the instances where coins (which people hate carrying even more than cash hence and even checks which are all quickly being replaced by debit cards) are actually made out of gold/silver/etc, governments have always just jerked around the purity levels of the coins. Sure, you can insist on keeping your higher purity coins but then you can't spend or deposit them since they'll be replaced by the newer versions. It happened in 1965 with quarters. Can't remember what year they did it with dimes. Fine. Then I'll demand my salary in coins with high purity and on tax day give unto Caesar in the form of lower purity coins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottkursk Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Fine. Then I'll demand my salary in coins with high purity and on tax day give unto Caesar in the form of lower purity coins. Okey dokey. You'll just have to deposit them at the bank and give Ceaser a check who will treat them just the same as the low purity ones that they just issued. Ceaser will appreciate your patience and participation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mathis Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Okey dokey. You'll just have to deposit them at the bank and give Ceaser a check who will treat them just the same as the low purity ones that they just issued. Ceaser will appreciate your patience and participation. Why trade perfectly good solid gold for phony “gold” on a one-for-one basis? Sure, state-licensed banks will be required to treat them the same, but not the black market (a.k.a. free market). For example, whenever I travel to third world countries, I always get much better exchange rates from cab drivers and waiters than I do at the big banks and major hotels. So, I’ll trade the solid gold for its true free market value in inflated dollars, and pay Caesar in his own play money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Ideally, the government should not be in control of the money supply. Its role should stop at the legal convenience of standard-setting. That is what it ought to mean to be on "a gold standard" or "a silver standard", etc. It ought to mean that the government has created a legal definition of a "dollar". In the idea of a "gold standard", the concept "standard" is crucial. Philosophically, it is more important than "gold". After all, "gold standard", "silver standard", "platinum standard" could be various implementations of a monetary standard. So, a government that defines a dollar as 1/20th of an ounce of gold one year, and changes this to be 1/30th of an ounce at some other time, is not on any standard. In essence, "inflation" is a "creeping standard" (oxymoron alert). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mathis Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 So, a government that defines a dollar as 1/20th of an ounce of gold one year, and changes this to be 1/30th of an ounce at some other time, is not on any standard. Furthermore, any debasement of money constitutes an act of fraud, putting an inferior good in place of a widely accepted superior good. It would be the same as buying gasoline at $1.75 per gallon, only to discover that each "gallon" being pumped contained only three quarts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottkursk Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Furthermore, any debasement of money constitutes an act of fraud, putting an inferior good in place of a widely accepted superior good. It would be the same as buying gasoline at $1.75 per gallon, only to discover that each "gallon" being pumped contained only three quarts. Well, legally a gigabyte is no longer legally a gigabyte. Actually, it's defined two ways now. The correct way and the marketers way. But SoftwareNerd is right, any government controlled standard is not a standard at all. Sad thing is, we can't even trust the government to set the standards for pizza. Wolfgang Puck had to fight in federal court for the right to call his pizzas just that. Some federal type defined pizza as having tomato sauce and since his didn't have sauce, they obviously weren't pizzas. So god knows how much he had to spend to fight for the right to call his pizza a pizza. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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