You see, in the conservative worldview, markets aren’t just a useful way to organize the economy; they’re a moral structure: People get paid what they deserve, and what goods cost is what they are truly worth to society.…
Modern money — consisting of pieces of paper or their digital equivalent that are issued by the Fed, not created by the heroic efforts of entrepreneurs — is an affront to that worldview. Mr. Ryan is on record declaring that his views on monetary policy come from a speech given by one of Ayn Rand’s fictional characters. And what the speaker declares is that money is “the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. ... Paper is a check drawn by legal looters.”
Once you understand that this is how many conservatives really think, it all falls into place. Of course they predict disaster from monetary expansion, no matter the circumstances. Of course they are undaunted in their views no matter how wrong their predictions have been in the past. Of course they are quick to accuse the Fed of vile motives. From their point of view, monetary policy isn’t really a technical issue, a question of what works; it’s a matter of theology: Printing money is evil.And the corollary is the gold and silver are virtue.
Paul Krugman gets this very right. It's a moral issue with some people since money and morality are joined at the hip if not synonymous. Which the basis for the double standard that allows those with wealth to follow different rules than those that don't have wealth, moral worth being equated with financial worth.
BTW, notice that Krugman uses the term "modern money."
Economist’s View
Paul Krugman: Money Makes Crazy
Mark Thoma | Professor of Economics, University of Oregon
