I've learned a lot about how the fed is harming our economy and will only continue to make matters worse in the future. We used to be an economy that actually had gold and silver packed away in the reserves. The government would issue us notes and those notes were actually worth what they said they were. Nowadays, money(notes) is printed in such excess that we don't have anymore gold or silver to back it. So, what does the fed do about this? Continues to print more money. You wonder why there is so much buying going on in these markets.. Because so many people are pulling out debts and using the fed's money that is printed in the excess! Congress needs to shape up and Wall St. needs to stand up for getting rid of the federal reserve or at least have the fed slow up on printing all this money! How do you think we could survive from day to day if the money supply is slowed down and not as much is printed? What would you think would be the first pro-active step in a post-federal reserve world save the value of our money? Intellectual thoughts need only apply.
Not a chance. The Fed and the Gummint are in cahoots to suck the middle class and most of the little-bit-rich completely dry of their assets. They'll do it too... by taxes, deficit spending, inflation, and currency debasement. America is barreling down the road to Financial 3rd World status. Where we once had "government of the people, by the people, and for the people", we now have "government of the people, BY THE GOVERNMENT, and FOR THE GOVERNMENT". Sadly, nothing will ever be done about it. Americans are too politically naive to worry about anything beyond their own personal "Gummint cheese". (Heavy sigh....)
Gold standard is history - there isn't enough in the world to seriously back the economy of any of the large world powers. As to eliminating the federal reserve, you might not like the replacement. Good or bad, the US economy is huge and powerful. Playing around with money availability might bring a lot of consequences that make you wish for their return. I imagine us becoming like Argentina. A country once one of the powerful SA economies, but defaulted on its debt, and for a long time, people used to living well were bartering dress suits in exchange for food or household goods. Or perhaps you would like Ecuador or Bolivia? Or the Philippines? Where people try hard to go overseas to a place like America or Taiwan or Dubai, to get jobs in factories so they can send money back to their families. Or study nursing, to get jobs in the West so they can earn a real living.
It occurs to varying degrees in virtually all countries... (maybe not some place like Dubai where the royalty shares oil revenues with citizens, but those types are exceptions). Unfortunately, America has an especially bad set of problems... including (1) world's biggest debtor, (2) Boomer retirement and Medicare funding, (3) we are the world's policeman with a military budget to prove it... much of its funding in deficit, of course. Many more issues, too. I don't think there is an easy answer, and all possibilities have their own unique risks.
Why? Without quoting conspiracy theories and childishly inaccurate economic reasoning - why? While there are rationale and reasonable objection to certain fed policies, Fed as an economic mechanism has merits that are well understood and accept in the actual finance and economics community. Shouldn't you first learn how macro-economics work, how monetary policy works, how these policies are carried out, and how such policies affect finance and real economics?
Haha Take it from an econ major - burn your econ textbooks And buy a history book - you'll learn more that way
Every major economy in the world has a central bank that carries out monetary policy (the degree of independence from the government varies and is important. The US Fed is widely considered one of the more independent and effective instituations). We have the ECB, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of China, the Bank of England, etc... There are reasons why the world at large came off the gold/silver standard. Commodities backed currency subjects the economy to wild business cycles due to uncontrollable appreciation and deprecation of metals. Fiat money and monetary policy are designed to combat these weakenesses.
BnB, if you really believe what you say, become your own economy with your own currency. Nothing prevents you from converting your net worth, less a little pocket change, to precious metals. Just leave enough dollars lying around to cover your liabilities.
This is kind of funny actually... suppose we have the following: An Econ Major: Burn your econ textbooks An Econ Phd (I'm not one): It's more complicated than what undergrad textbooks says - there are things we understand and there are things we don't; here's what we think is true and here's what we are still arguing about. I wonder if, when most people face these two statements, take the first one because it's easier to accept (it makes a certainty statement) and that it embodies the triumph of "common sense" over an "egg head".