Quote of the day

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth.

Full context:

In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold. . . . The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth.

--Alan Greenspan, 1966

turbocarrera · 05-03-2005, 08:33 AM

island911 · 05-03-2005, 08:50 AM

Nice quote.

But, didn't the Jimmy Carter years make this abundantly clear? .. massive bracket-creep, and all.

Jamie79SC · 05-03-2005, 09:06 AM

Ironic isn't it that so-called conservatives are overseeing this massive deficit spending and confiscating, if not my wealth, then certainly the wealth of my children.

I'm not sure that today Greenspan would fully support the rest of his essay Gold and Economic Freedom, that was included in Ayn Rand's Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. For one thing, gold ownership is now legal and although some individuals and banks have significant gold holdings, deficit spending is still alive and well.

island911 · 05-03-2005, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jamie79SC
.. ..if not my wealth, then certainly the wealth of my children. .. ..

See, I don't get that.

The whole point of the Greenspan quote is that "wealth" can not be (over time) defined by #of dollars. . .. dollar value is only based on a value at a specific point in time.

The "wealth of your children" willl be largely based on the infrastuctre left by our efforts .. . not on how many deflated/inflated dollars are left. (that is a ruse)

That is; will they enjoy a cure to cancer, altzimers. . . Will they have a commercial structure that allows them to prosper in the world market-place. Will they be able to travel from Seattle to London in a couple of hours ... Energy availability; management, extraction & conversion costs...

A "lauk Baux" approach shows a foolish understanding of the current currency.

CRH911S · 05-03-2005, 09:31 AM

Quote:

.. massive bracket-creep, and all.

Probably, but nothing compared to the current administration and redneck congress....

island911 · 05-03-2005, 09:46 AM

oye

CRH are you saying we should expect years of ~20% inflation?

. .. or are you just looking for an opportunity to say "damn rednecks . .. it's all their fault" ?

Look, in this case the SS over-taxation is giving our govt money to burn. That is bommers are really productive right now . .. lots of excess to skim.

So, Now this "debt" is chalked-up as an IOU deficit . .. .later, it will be forgiven as a bankruptcy.

Jamie79SC · 05-03-2005, 10:06 AM

Island,

Someone someday has to pay the taxes to repay the T-bills and other instruments by which the government borrows money. The Regan era debt was largely paid off in the late 90's by the phenomenal - probably once in a lifetime - growth in the economy (and no Clinton doesn't get any credit for it except that he didn't do too much to screw it up

)

So my guess is that through increased taxes or reduced government services, (perhaps in the form of a defunct or greatly reduced social security system), my kids will bear most of the brunt of today’s spending

island911 · 05-03-2005, 10:15 AM

It doesn't work like that.

currency. . .. current

Jamie79SC · 05-03-2005, 10:15 AM

So, how does it work?

island911 · 05-03-2005, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by island911
. ..
The whole point of the Greenspan quote is that "wealth" can not be (over time) defined by #of dollars. . .. dollar value is only based on a value at a specific point in time.

The "wealth of your children" will be largely based on the infrastuctre left by our efforts .. . not on how many deflated/inflated dollars are left. (that is a ruse)

That is; will they enjoy a cure to cancer, altzimers. . . Will they have a commercial structure that allows them to prosper in the world market-place. Will they be able to travel from Seattle to London in a couple of hours ... Energy availability; management, extraction & conversion costs...

A "lauk Baux" approach shows a foolish understanding of the current currency.

CRH911S · 05-03-2005, 10:44 AM

It doesn't matter what color the stripe.

The problem is spending-deficit spending. Ok, so we deal with the SS issue what good will that do if we don't deal with the spending issue?

I fully support private accounts. What I don't support is a week kneed congress incapable of $elf control. When Ronal Reagan was president, no meant no!

dd74 · 05-03-2005, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by island911
The "wealth of your children" willl be largely based on the infrastuctre left by our efforts .. .

I don't know, either this is a plug for Socialism or an acknowledgement that nothing's better than "old money."

CRH911S · 05-03-2005, 08:57 PM

The "wealth of your children" willl be largely based on the infrastuctre left by our efforts .. .

So bonded indebtedness isn't the same as social security