Recent content by Pianist4Freedom

"inflation tax" as rationale for wealth redistribution if sound money weren't option? Say we absolutely could not return to a sound monetary policy. In that case, then, does it make (flawed) sense to redistribute purchasing power from the financial elites/government pet corporations back down...

It seems to me there are valid criticisms of fractional reserve banking but I have difficulty thinking of it as two groups of people: evil lazy bankers versus the pure, virtuous hard working people that have deposits with them. It seems to me the whole system is dependent upon initial...

I asked this question in my previous post, but did not receive an adequate answer----if someone defaults on a loan, and the bank is unable to recover its loss, then does that mean that the deposits created by whomever received money from the debtor remain in circulation? How does such money get...

So it really is possible via fractional reserve lending for money to be spent into the economy which can never be recovered on a bank's balance sheet?

When someone defaults on a loan, what happens to the bank's balance sheet? Does it stay on there permanently as a loss and are there ways that banks can recover their loss (higher interest rates perhaps)? I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. I thought I understood it before when I...

I was thinking to myself, is it at all possible to liquidate bad debt gradually and build up more efficient capital allocation at the same time? Or must a correction always be painful for an economy? Is it possible bernanke/paulson & crew are attempting this very thing?

How often do you hear this statement when you attempt to explain Austrian economics to someone? In a completely different endeavor---I play piano---and I've often heard people say: "Oh dear, you improvise? I would have to take years and years of music theory to even BEGIN to try that!" When in...

hah The guy I go to has an amusing shop: It's mostly collectible trains. All the coins/bullion he has are in the back of the shop you have to tell him what you want. When I first went in there I said: "Is this the coin shop? Where are the coins?" coin dealer: "THIS IS A BULLION DEALER. WE...

I found this little tidbit in my local newspaper today, a historical highlight from the democratic convention in 1896: "William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic presidential nominee, rouses convention attendees with his "Cross of Gold" speech, which calls on the government to stop using the gold...

I asked myself a simple question the other day: What do I use on a daily basis to save me time and effort? Goods, or services? The obvious answer is goods. My car, my computer, electricity (is that a good or a service...?), the refrigerator, video games, cell phone, on and on and on. What I'm...

so much for

Yep. Anything can be money. Since I realized how the different systems worked, I realized all fiat systems will be bolted on top of already existing money supplies. So in an economy based on silver and gold, the government will come along and say: "Give me all your metal and I will give you...

I don't see how charging interest on a loan is doing nothing. The one who issues the loan is taking a risk. Taking a risk requires judgment, action, perhaps market research. How is that evil? Also, I thought usury was *excessive* interest. And what excessive really is is a subjective thing, I...

What if that person invests or got a raise? Then he has the same purchasing power as before, and gains back that 10% (and sometimes more) I agree excessive debt can be destructive and can be considered immoral. So how are we to prevent our society from over using debt? Just outlaw it?

Doesn't that depend on the choices of our government though? Not that we should trust them of course, I certainly don't. But if a miracle happened and they became responsible, that situation could reverse, couldn't it? I don't know much about the history there but doesn't Japan have (or had)...