Sincere apologies to all for my previous post; it was meant for another forum.
Jefferson, I don't consider myself a socialist or a fascist. As I have already said, I agree with Mises -and you- for the need for 'sound' money. I also agree that it does not have to be a gold standard.
I seem to recall some free marketeers (Freidman, perhaps) posited the idea that in a truly free market, every bank could issue it's own currency; promissory notes, basically.
I think that's crap.
I firmly believe in Democracy. First, last and always the idea that every citizen should have an equal vote, and be equal before the Law. In a corporate environment, it is one share, one vote.
The thought that we are evolving into this kind of society fills me with disgust.
A democratic government must be the only provider of currency. And currency must only be the means of exchange for products.
It must never be a product.
While I don't consider myself a Christian, one of the most appealing aspects of the story of Jesus -to me- was the incident at the temple.
The only thing that provoked Jesus to violence was the money changers.

The Gold Standard is done, it will not return. Seriously, as of 2001, the estimated amount of gold ever mined was about 145,000 tonnes. At the current price of approximately US$28.6 per gram, that means the total current value of gold is only about 4.2 trillion US dollars- globally.

There isn't enough gold to sensibly revalue it at such a high rate.

Besides, the Gold Standard failed to prevent the Depression of 1807, Panic of 1819, Panic of 1837, Panic of 1857, Panic of 1873, the Long Depression (1873–1896), Panic of 1893, or the Post-World War I recession.

Somehow I think something else might be in order. Personally, I'm hoarding Teddy Bears. When the economy finally dies and you are all eating each other, I'll be having a picnic.

I agree with Bugsy, the days of the gold standard have long gone.

Today I see money as just another commodity. But nobody is forced
to store their assets in money form. They are free to buy gold,
oil, diamonds, houses, whatever floats their boat really.

I personally like good farmland as one investment, as it is still
relatively cheap, doesent rust or rot and demand for food is highly
likely to continue.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" was a handy thing to
learn as a kid and it certainly applies to assets and investments.

REAL gold..[as in real gold currency,is an impractability,

what hapens with real/gold..real/silver is people accumulate it,and somehow there seems always more''promise of gold certificates''[read paper money]..than silver/gold coin it is based on

never the less we need to have a standard-measure only real gold/silver allow..thus..there needs to be a virtual-linkage to the gold/silver..[because we know nearly egsactly how much of the real stuff there is]

currently the real stuff is near impossable to get..[because it was stolen long-ago,..thus the only'fair'thing is to re-monetise it,to achieve currency stability..[by seizing its physical possesion back under the physical control of the state]..

then issue a central/accounting..[but not possesion]of it,..that issues the relitive fiat for each country..[by factering in value added improvements to the countries infastructure/peoples living standards]

all coinage is as good as gold/silver..[yet not'[real'gold and silver,..the countries are allowed to maintain their coin-age issue under rights of seignorage,..but the fiat notes are dependant on real assets..[or grants/gifts or reperations via a central body,like the imf,..yet NOT the current imf..[ie not a bankers/cartel[but a wholesale credit provider to the banks]

its time for seperation of finatial powers as well as the sepperation of govt powers,..we retain the current birth bond,and securities currently bonding the people as surity..but add value according to the skills ready ness of its citisenry..[educating your people allows you more money]..to spend on your peoples services

anyhow we need a surity,..gold silver can give that surity,..but bankers should not hold the franchise..[just as elected leaders couldnt be trusted,..it thus has to be done democraticlly or systematiclly,..all abouve board..[with real civil/servants validating and delivering when certain standards are met]

all debt must be repaid..[ursury clearly is abhorant/bankers need to cover charges..[thus get a transaction tax..[say 1 percent of all repayments,cash into the bank,as a handeling charge]

all payments..[plus one percent transactioning fee]..on loans repay the loan debt..[no ursury and a fixed measure must be the basis for real currency stability],..inflation disappears as does all income/wage tax,..say a reasonable transaction/tax on bying/or rather selling

we can figure out a better faier way
lets try

Jefferson, under Mises 100% reserve where do the funds come from to enable the sorts of innovation and development we continue to have come from?

Isn't the price we pay for technological advancement that we allow banks the privelege of 'making money out of money'? The system we allowed meant everyone could regard money as a commodity and thru speculation we could all make a motza? I'd suggest that money should not be treated as a commodity or good except in this limited way where banks had a smallish ratio to issue credit.

Keen is starting to look very middle of the road after my crash course in economics these last few weeks. Somewhere between Mises and Minsky.

Hi palimpsest

What are you saying? That commercial lending activities are compelling the reserve to lend to the commercial banks through the discount window? And this is responsible for the creation of fiat?

The RBA’s accounts should show very strong use ( I would say a big upsurge) of the discount window – probably tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars worth over the past five or six years if that were the case. Commercial banks are generally reluctant to use this facility because of the costs involved.

I think that in the absence of federal deficit spending, no significant new net monies have entered the economy (as they are now thanks to the deficit). People have simply been willing to part with an ever-increasing portion of their income as debt, which creates deposits in the commercial banks. Certainly, the debt-to-income ratio has exploded in the past decade.

The reserve ratio isn’t that significant in the long run because banks lending is not reserve constrained.

Jefferson,

Returning to a gold standard is probably impossible for a modern economy. The use of gold itself as the only legitimate medium of exchange is a history written in the blood of countless millions. Unlike fiat, gold cannot be created. Some countries are blessed with large natural gold reserves, some have little and some have none. Every time you imported, you would drain your money reserves and would be unable to create more any faster than you could mine or export – or kill and take. The European empires great wars of conquest were largely motivated by the lust for gold. If you cannot create your own currency because it is a rare earth element, the motivation exists to seize it from someone else. With fiat currency, you don’t need to worry about where your money supply will come from, nor is it possible or necessary to forcibly take it from someone elese.