OT post for Randy and anyone interested

[Rickortreat]

This is a link to a pdf file which explains our monetary system from the Austrian economic perspective.  And explains my perspective on the value of a true Gold standard.

http://www.mises.org/mysteryofbanking/mysteryofbanking.pdf

Here is link to is as an HTML, in case you don't have the free Acrobat Reader:

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:a9ZLx...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[Guest_Randy]

Rick,

My wife has her undergrad in business administration and her minors in econ -- was halfway through her masters in econ when she had our first child and it changed her priorities (it was her goal to teach econ in college).  I could go into a long tirade about my opinion on the gold standard (my wife and I talked about it a great deal when it happened) and I think there are pros and cons with that system as well as the system we have today -- my wife was in banking and it is interesting to see how a bank "creates."  One thing that I do know is that there are a ton of economists in this world and most of them don't agree with each other -- interesting, isn't it?  

PS - my wife does NOT like Greenspan and I agree with her -- IMO, he helped make our economy worse by the way he, first, did not react and then overreacted to the nations reaction on his not reacting.  Like he should have seen that one coming because it sent things into a worse spiral, IMO.  That's about as much time as I enjoy talking about econ.  I used to use her advanced microeconomics book when I had insomnia.

[ziggy]

This is a link to a pdf file which explains our monetary system from the Austrian economic perspective.  And explains my perspective on the value of a true Gold standard.

http://www.mises.org/mysteryofbanking/mysteryofbanking.pdf

Here is link to is as an HTML, in case you don't have the free Acrobat Reader:

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:a9ZLx...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Rick,
Someone who reads Rothbard, Von Mises, and Hayek?!?  First JN is into Hound Dog Taylor, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, and you read Rothbard and Mises.  Now if we could get one more Blazer fan on here, so I don't have to go through the misery alone.
I am a graduate of Hillsdale, with a degree in Economics, read Rothbard, and Von Mises over and over and over in college.  Hillsdale actually had the Von Mises lecture series while I was in college, went to most if not all.  I actually thought all of the above were strictly verboten in the halls US Higher Ed.

I need to pull out my Rothbard books before I get into any discussions though, it has been a very long time.

[Reality]

Have you two read The Wealth of the Nations by Adam Smith?
If so what did you think?

It was given to me and said to be an excellent econ read.

[rickortreat]

On my path to trying to be a better investor/speculator, I've tried to increase my knowlege by exposing myself to lots of different ideas.  A lot of economics is bullshit, primarily because of the nature of academics in societies.  Power structures tend to exclude ideas which are threatening to their continuation.

Ideas like those espoused by Rothbart et. el. are pretty much arrogantly dismissed by mainstream economitsts and polititcians.  That doesn't mean the Austrians aren't right.  Once upon a time Gallileo was very unpopular for saying the earth orbited the sun, however, reality has demonstrated the absurd ignorance of those opposing him.  (Little consolation to Galileo at the time!)

I'm attracted to the ideas and concepts of the Austrians because they make sense on many levels.  It is a very deep regret of mine that the World's economies aren't governed according to these principals.  Continuous economic prosperity is every rational person's dream, but it's implimentation is extremely difficult, in no small part because of Governmental interference.  

Governments insist on interfering with the natural economic cycles and end up makeing things much worse than they would otherwise be.  It is my contention that fiat (by law) money is a primary mechanism by which goverments interfere with these cycles, and represents a unnaceptable extension of their power.  I think those that try to lead a society should have humility and strive to do no harm, but they frequently abuse their power and harm their societies.  Hitler thought he was a genius and did more damage to more people in more places than anyone in history.  His leadership brought Germany to ruin, and made America the leader of today's world.

Now that the US has been on top for about 60 years, many of us can see the flaws and problems that are undermining our country from the inside out.  Even as we have led the world to greater global econmic ties, we have brought ourself and the rest of the world to fiancial insolvency.  This drives me absolutly  :crazy:

Throughout out history, man has made progress in nearly every field of human endeavor. Through the application of science we can now feed everyone on the planet and provide for every human want.  What we have failed to do is find an equitable way to distribute and apply this knowledge so that can actually happen.  

The excessive violence and turmoil in the world is rooted in politics and Governmental intervention in the affars of their own citizens and others.  Fiat money enables government to wage war on others and rob their own citizens.  If you knew how much the war in Iraq was really costing us, we never would have started it!  Getting the control of money out of governments hands would do more to help the world, imo, than anything else!