Saturday, November 8, 2014

Alan Greenspan — Gold & Economic Freedom



Published in Ayn Rand’s “Objectivist” newsletter in 1966, and reprinted in her book, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, in 1967.
Zero Hedge
Gold & Economic Freedom
Alan Greenspan

How on earth did this man become the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and serve five terms, appointed successively by Presidents Reagan, GWH Bush, Clinton, and GW Bush?

Of course, Greenspan was not the only central banker who was a gold fetishist.
It is a sobering fact that the prominence of central banks in this century has coincided with a general tendency towards more inflation, not less. By and large, if the overriding objective is price stability, we did better with the nineteenth-century gold standard and passive central banks, with currency boards, or even with ‘free banking.’ The truly unique power of a central bank, after all, is the power to create money, and ultimately the power to create is the power to destroy. — Paul Volcker, Foreword to Marjorie Deane and Robert Pringle’s The Central Banks (Hamish Hamilton, 1994)
Central bankers hate inflation and love gold as a price anchor. As economists, they possess little creative imagination, lack systemic awareness, and have one track minds.


3 comments:

Matt Franko said...

Neither Volcker or Greenspan or any of the countless other libertarians can see or understand authority...

Ignacio said...

Right, they are 'weather observers'.

Dan Lynch said...

If Republicans make more gains in the states in 2016 they may soon have control enough states to pass a constitutional amendment(s). So the question is, what kind of amendments would they be interested in?

I think a balanced budget amendment or a gold standard amendment would be at the top of their list.

Of course it would crash the economy, force cuts to social programs, and suppress wages. Which is all the more reason the 1% would want it.