"The question is whether they will be able to keep exercising discretion in the face of ever mounting federal debt and the increasing political pressure to purchase large quantities of that debt."
Interesting. Congress has the authority and the power to end all of this madness.
But they don’t, of course. All one needs to do to understand why is to examine the ‘balance sheets’ of 95% of Congressional members. Most of them enter Congress at least financially well off, compared to 90% of the population. And by the time they leave, they are in the 1%.
It is the opinion of many of us that the Fed keeps more than one set of books. There is the one we are allowed to see as you describe in this article. But understanding the total debt in America today, both public and private, stands somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 Trillion Dollars, it becomes pretty clear the Fed has another set of books we will never see, as Bernanke once informed congress when asked by a representative, if they could audit the Fed's books. His short answer was NO, but if congress wished to withdraw the charter which authorized the creation of the Fed, they were free to do that. Of course congress is not going to do that, they would be jeopardizing their careers if they did, as the economy, which is hooked on cheap credit, would go into freefall, and most would blame congress for what would happen. Today America is held captive by the Fed and very few have the courage to challenge them. Congress could put the Dollar back on the gold standard, but again, that would hamper congress' ability to spend without worrying about paying for it.
Congress could simply usurp the power of the purse and announce that the price of gold per ounce just happens to equal the amount of gold stored at Fort Knox. Say, the price of gold per ounce equals the tonnage of gold in storage will be $10,000.00 per ounce, or $20,000.00 per ounce times the tonnage in American vaults, as long as it equals 33 trillion in debt or 133 trillion in debt. The total amount of debt is irrelevant. The price per ounce does not matter as long as all debts are covered. VOILA, we are now completely out of debt as a country, because every dollar of current and future debt is completely covered by the value of our gold. All Federal reserves around the world, will honor this scheme, because then they could do the same. As long as a country holds gold in its vaults, they can pare their debts as well. A debt free world.
The debt cannot be redeemed for gold, it will just be covered by gold. Sort of like a gangster providing protection for the world's debts.
Is this really any more insane than what we are doing right now??? If we can convince the whole world that the American dollar is solvent, then we can convince then that the dollar debt is covered by our stored gold. Obey The Pug!
yeah that's what I was tryna say as well up above but I like how u said it better. the knowledge being laid out here really fills in some understanding gaps. the only thing I remember from econ101 was utility, the prof said suppose u get a choice between 2 brownies, one is dried-out and made with something that's gone rancid. the other is moist, flavorful, and has melty chocolate chips inside. the latter is an example of high utility. some lessons just stick with ya. anyhow thanks to you all for sharing these insights nuggets, sincerely appreciated
You channeling Rudy? End the Fed. Buy an ounce of gold and a pound of lead every month. Keep your arms well oiled and clean. Practice. Buy a Kevlar and ballistic vest.
I remember the Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac bailout that pissed me off. Maybe they will think of more stupid ways to screw the working man. Next round of bank bailouts or perhaps price controls so they can take over all the grocery stores.
Interesting. Congress has the authority and the power to end all of this madness.
But they don’t, of course. All one needs to do to understand why is to examine the ‘balance sheets’ of 95% of Congressional members. Most of them enter Congress at least financially well off, compared to 90% of the population. And by the time they leave, they are in the 1%.
It’s such a massive scam.
It's akin to winning the lottery. They only represent themselves.
It is the opinion of many of us that the Fed keeps more than one set of books. There is the one we are allowed to see as you describe in this article. But understanding the total debt in America today, both public and private, stands somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 Trillion Dollars, it becomes pretty clear the Fed has another set of books we will never see, as Bernanke once informed congress when asked by a representative, if they could audit the Fed's books. His short answer was NO, but if congress wished to withdraw the charter which authorized the creation of the Fed, they were free to do that. Of course congress is not going to do that, they would be jeopardizing their careers if they did, as the economy, which is hooked on cheap credit, would go into freefall, and most would blame congress for what would happen. Today America is held captive by the Fed and very few have the courage to challenge them. Congress could put the Dollar back on the gold standard, but again, that would hamper congress' ability to spend without worrying about paying for it.
Congress could simply usurp the power of the purse and announce that the price of gold per ounce just happens to equal the amount of gold stored at Fort Knox. Say, the price of gold per ounce equals the tonnage of gold in storage will be $10,000.00 per ounce, or $20,000.00 per ounce times the tonnage in American vaults, as long as it equals 33 trillion in debt or 133 trillion in debt. The total amount of debt is irrelevant. The price per ounce does not matter as long as all debts are covered. VOILA, we are now completely out of debt as a country, because every dollar of current and future debt is completely covered by the value of our gold. All Federal reserves around the world, will honor this scheme, because then they could do the same. As long as a country holds gold in its vaults, they can pare their debts as well. A debt free world.
The debt cannot be redeemed for gold, it will just be covered by gold. Sort of like a gangster providing protection for the world's debts.
Is this really any more insane than what we are doing right now??? If we can convince the whole world that the American dollar is solvent, then we can convince then that the dollar debt is covered by our stored gold. Obey The Pug!
TY for this comment, u crystallized the whole Fed/Congress symbiosis. The 'creddy' must flow or us lemmings would surely go apeshit
Meanwhile, wealth disparity has grown 10-fold and housing affordability has plummeted. Congrats to the Fed: They "fixed" it.
This is very informative. I am a late learner when it comes to the economy and money and how it all works. I really enjoy these posts.
yeah that's what I was tryna say as well up above but I like how u said it better. the knowledge being laid out here really fills in some understanding gaps. the only thing I remember from econ101 was utility, the prof said suppose u get a choice between 2 brownies, one is dried-out and made with something that's gone rancid. the other is moist, flavorful, and has melty chocolate chips inside. the latter is an example of high utility. some lessons just stick with ya. anyhow thanks to you all for sharing these insights nuggets, sincerely appreciated
You channeling Rudy? End the Fed. Buy an ounce of gold and a pound of lead every month. Keep your arms well oiled and clean. Practice. Buy a Kevlar and ballistic vest.
I remember the Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac bailout that pissed me off. Maybe they will think of more stupid ways to screw the working man. Next round of bank bailouts or perhaps price controls so they can take over all the grocery stores.