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Inflation Is Legalized Robbery, Part 2

by Gregory Bresiger January 1, 2007

Part 1 | Part 2 Whether one believes in the “price stability” policies of our nation’s central bank, or believes such policies have caused countless economic problems, the onus is on the Federal Reserve. It is a strange, quasi-secret public/private agency with little or no accountability. [click for more]

Inflation Is Legalized Robbery, Part 1

by Gregory Bresiger December 1, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 Inflation. It’s the biggest problem in the world. — Paul Cabot, legendary money manager quoted in The Money Masters, by John Train. A dangerous specter once again haunts our economy, our pocketbooks, and the value of almost ... [click for more]

The Federal War on Gold, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 It is impossible to overstate the significance of the Franklin Roosevelt administration’s confiscation of gold and its nullification of gold clauses in contracts. It is one of the most sordid episodes in American history. To get an accurate sense of Roosevelt’s actions, it would not be inappropriate to compare what ... [click for more]

The Federal War on Gold, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt revolutionized the monetary system of the United States and set the nation on the road of inflationary plunder that has characterized other nations in history. The actions of these two presidents also provide a textbook example for understanding the animosity and antipathy that ... [click for more]

The New Deal and Roosevelt’s Seizure of Gold: A Legacy of Theft and Inflation, Part 2

by William L. Anderson September 1, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 The monetary system of the United States at the time of the Depression could not sustain inflation very long because the country was on a gold standard. If people sensed that the government was printing too many paper dollars, by law they could redeem those dollars from the government’s store of gold. Moreover, ... [click for more]

The Federal War on Gold, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Given the rising price of gold and the fact that federal spending is totally out of control, the prospect of gold confiscation and criminalizing the private ownership of gold by federal authorities inevitably rears its ugly head. There are few things that federal big spenders hate more than gold. ... [click for more]

The New Deal and Roosevelt’s Seizure of Gold: A Legacy of Theft and Inflation, Part 1

by William L. Anderson August 1, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 In a recent discussion on the economy with a faculty colleague, I reminded her of some of the absurdities of New Deal economic policies (many of which have been laid out in previous issues of Freedom Daily and elsewhere). She reminded me that Franklin D. Roosevelt is a “hero” to her and ... [click for more]

Speaking of Inflation

by Stu Pritchard January 1, 2006

Discussions about inflation remind me of a drink I bought in a Shanghai bar in 1948. I kept tossing rubber-banded stacks of paper money, Chinese National Currency (CNC), onto the bar. Finally, the bartender shrugged and said, “That’s enough.” I once told that story to Dr. Norbert Einstein, an economist in Seattle and a distant cousin to Albert. Standing ... [click for more]

A Balanced Budget Is Not Enough

by Sheldon Richman January 24, 2005

Conservatives must be easy to please. Case in point: The other day columnist Lawrence Kudlow excitedly let us in on the well-kept secret that the federal budget deficit is getting smaller. “Last week’s Treasury report on U.S. finances for December shows a year-to-date fiscal 2005 deficit already $11 ... [click for more]

The Federal Attack on the Dollar

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 27, 2004

In the wake of unrestrained U.S. federal spending, U.S. conservatives are no longer talking so loudly about how they brought down the Soviet Union — by making it spend the nation into national bankruptcy. But the marketplace is speaking as loudly as conservatives once did, as reflected in ... [click for more]

Ireland and Big-Spending Republicans

by Benjamin Powell December 1, 2003

Despite some tax cuts, the size of the U.S. government has increased rapidly under President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress. Washington leaders looking to improve the economy could learn a lesson or two from Ireland, which has consistently achieved high rates of growth over the last 15 years by successfully slashing government spending. Under the Republican Congress during Clintons years ... [click for more]

“Bad Money Drives Out Good”

by Charles Adams December 1, 2003

This is what has been called Gresham’s Law. It was formulated by Sir Thomas Gresham to explain to Queen Elizabeth I what was happening to the English shilling. Her father, Henry VIII, had been adulterating the English shilling, the basic coin of the realm, by replacing 40 percent of the silver in the coin with base metals — a ... [click for more]