What They Don't Tell You About Money

[yoda]

17 minutes ago, BawWatchin said:

So you think austerity is an accident and hasn't been purposely implemented using false economy?

Erm, no, because that’s not what I said.

Austerity isn’t an accident, it’s a choice. A choice based on “small government” ideology. At some point you need to reduce a deficit and/or pay down the public debt but doing that when (a) monetary policy had reached its absolute limits was absurd, and (b) the state of the economy, was stupid.

[BawWatchin]

2 minutes ago, yoda said:

Erm, no, because that’s not what I said.

Austerity isn’t an accident, it’s a choice. A choice based on “small government” ideology. At some point you need to reduce a deficit and/or pay down the public debt but doing that when (a) monetary policy had reached its absolute limits was absurd, and (b) the state of the economy, was stupid.

The economy isn't an actual thing, it's an idea. An idea that we're taught. The world wide debt crisis could come to an end tomorrow if we all agreed that the world doesn't owe itself money after all.

[Zetterlund]

Most people probably don't know the basic points in that video because it's not something they ever have to think about. It just sums up some fundamental realities in a few minutes without going into detail. 

Without being backed by anything tangible like gold, the value of fiat money is derived only from trust in that currency which comes from the underlying economy and the ability to pay back debt denominated in that currency. Interestingly there has been a shift recently in central banks stocking up on gold again as the US increasingly uses the dollar as a club to beat disobedient nations (Hungary being the latest to increase their holdings 1000% last month). The next couple of years may well be tense times as many large economies move away from the dollar in trade, as this hasn't ended well for several weaker nations in recent years. 

The old gold standard may be unworkable these days, certainly without another huge revaluation of gold, but it's clear it still has its place as a store of value and a hedge against uncertainty.

[welshbairn]

12 minutes ago, Zetterlund said:

Most people probably don't know the basic points in that video because it's not something they ever have to think about. It just sums up some fundamental realities in a few minutes without going into detail. 

Without being backed by anything tangible like gold, the value of fiat money is derived only from trust in that currency which comes from the underlying economy and the ability to pay back debt denominated in that currency. Interestingly there has been a shift recently in central banks stocking up on gold again as the US increasingly uses the dollar as a club to beat disobedient nations (Hungary being the latest to increase their holdings 1000% last month). The next couple of years may well be tense times as many large economies move away from the dollar in trade, as this hasn't ended well for several weaker nations in recent years. 

The old gold standard may be unworkable these days, certainly without another huge revaluation of gold, but it's clear it still has its place as a store of value and a hedge against uncertainty.

With China, Russia and the US being amongst the top 4 producers of gold, the price is hugely open to political manipulation. Australia is the other one by the way. Back in the days when currencies left the gold standard, apartheid South Africa was the big boy. I was told by a high up business bod at the time that Switzerland could have sunk the SA regime overnight by putting their gold stocks on the market.

[BawWatchin]

23 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I was told by a high up business bod at the time

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, BawWatchin said:

#liberalelite m7

[yoda]

Why not a palladium backed currency? 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

Disappointed to see the Monty memes being absolutely ruined by this moon-howling imbecile tbh

[Zetterlund]

56 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

With China, Russia and the US being amongst the top 4 producers of gold, the price is hugely open to political manipulation. Australia is the other one by the way. Back in the days when currencies left the gold standard, apartheid South Africa was the big boy. I was told by a high up business bod at the time that Switzerland could have sunk the SA regime overnight by putting their gold stocks on the market.

The physical market has little effect on price really, all the manipulation is done with paper trading where hundreds of ounces are sold for every ounce which actually exists. It seems to suit all parties for now, as it keeps the USD looking strong while allowing the eastern countries to keep stacking the cheap gold. It's true to say though that it still has political relevance, despite being rubbished by mainstream economists as a relic of the past.

[BawWatchin]

51 minutes ago, jupe1407 said:

Disappointed to see the Monty memes being absolutely ruined by this moon-howling imbecile tbh

 

 

 

 

[new kyd in town]

10 hours ago, Zetterlund said:

Most people probably don't know the basic points in that video because it's not something they ever have to think about. It just sums up some fundamental realities in a few minutes without going into detail. 

Without being backed by anything tangible like gold, the value of fiat money is derived only from trust in that currency which comes from the underlying economy and the ability to pay back debt denominated in that currency. Interestingly there has been a shift recently in central banks stocking up on gold again as the US increasingly uses the dollar as a club to beat disobedient nations (Hungary being the latest to increase their holdings 1000% last month). The next couple of years may well be tense times as many large economies move away from the dollar in trade, as this hasn't ended well for several weaker nations in recent years. 

The old gold standard may be unworkable these days, certainly without another huge revaluation of gold, but it's clear it still has its place as a store of value and a hedge against uncertainty.

 

 

 

I can remember trying to explain to some innocents, years ago, how paper money value was based on trust. It was like trying to explain the Law of window cleaning to the blind. It's on the other side.

[Jambo: First Blood]

14 hours ago, BawWatchin said:

What about austerity being rolled out world wide because of the hundreds of trillions the world owes to itself?

You're misunderstanding what the nature of money actually is under a gold standard. It is still debt based as the cash monies are redeemable for gold. 

Also Nixon did not take the world economy off the gold standard but merely took removed the link between the dollar price and the gold price. The gold standard had already been dead for decades and money wasn't 'backed up' by any redeemable resource. 

The real issue with the monetary system is discussed in "97% owned" and is that private multinational banks of a certain size have the ability to create money which grants them extraordinary power. The gold standard does not solve that problem and has it's own issues which makes it not feasible for a modern economy including:

• Severely limiting the liquidity of the money supply.
• More open to price manipulation as gold is finite but also extremely unequally possessed.
• It's deflationary which is disastrous for a modern economy.

You also still haven't explained why you are sharing Youtube videos made by fascists.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Disappointed to see the Monty memes being absolutely ruined by this moon-howling imbecile tbh

Which one . . .

[Detournement]

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/09/financialization-capitalism-debt-globalization-crisis

This is an excellent article by Grace Blakely about the ways in which we are being fucked over by money. She has being gaining a bit of a profile recently and gave Michael Portillo a good telling about austerity on This Week last Thursday.

[Savage Henry]

22 hours ago, ICTChris said:

Money is completely worthless.  Feel free to DM me and I'll take your useless cash off your hands.

This is my thinking too.  I sent my bank details to a Prince in Nigeria.   He's withdrawn all my life savings, but the last laugh's on him.    Similarly, that bloke at Hamilton Accies is loving life right now.

[BawWatchin]

6 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

This is my thinking too.  I sent my bank details to a Prince in Nigeria.   He's withdrawn all my life savings, but the last laugh's on him.    Similarly, that bloke at Hamilton Accies is loving life right now.

There's enough money in the world to make everybody a millionaire. It doesn't mean everybody will live like a millionaire though, because the value isn't in the money, it's in the resources that are available.

[NotThePars]

Damn now THAT’S what they don’t tell you about money.

[BawWatchin]

2 minutes ago, NotThePars said:

Damn now THAT’S what they don’t tell you about money.

They don't. People wrongly view money as a resource and think the more the better. They don't understand the limitations.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

So whats the alternative to money then if its so shite?

[BawWatchin]

2 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

So whats the alternative to money then if its so shite?

The issue isn't with the use of money itself. It is the false value that is being placed on it. The modern monetary system works on the false idea of unlimited resources. More money is becoming available while resources become less available. It's all designed to make you feel richer than you actually are. Your monetary income increases while your access to resources declines.