Is there a connection between Human Freedom and A Gold Redeemable Money? At first glance it would seem that money belongs to the world of economics and human freedom to the political sphere.John DeFoe notes that Leila Buffett, Warren Buffett's mother, recounted that her husband said he considered only one issue when deciding whether to vote for a bill: "Will this add to, or subtract from, human liberty?" Now that's a concept that more policymakers, business leaders, their economists and advisers should ask of themselves.
But when you recall that one of the first moves by Lenin, Mussolini and Hitler was to outlaw individual ownership of gold, you begin to sense that there may be some connection between money, redeemable in gold, and the rare prize known as human liberty.
Also, when you find that Lenin declared and demonstrated that a sure way to overturn the existing social order and bring about communism was by printing press paper money, then again you are impressed with the possibility of a relationship between a gold-backed money and human freedom.
... The subject of a Hitler or a Stalin is a serf by the mere fact that his money can be called in and depreciated at the whim of his rulers. That actually happened in Russia a few months ago, when the Russian people, holding cash, had to turn it in -- 10 old rubles and receive back one new ruble.
... Under such conditions the individual citizen is deprived of freedom of movement. He is prevented from laying away purchasing power for the future. He becomes dependent upon the goodwill of the politicians for his daily bread. Unless he lives on land that will sustain him, freedom for him does not exist.
(htChristopherBarcelo)
The article linked above to from 'the street' is great because it also provides a link to download Buffet's fathers pamphlet which I found especially riveting apart from the great excerpts above.
ReplyDeletebuffet's father seems to have been a great man, while warren on the other hand, is a crony capitalist scumbag
ReplyDeleteSometimes the apple falls so far, it rots.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Mises and, if I recall, Hayek, both developed their view of liberty form their perspective on economics. This is why the Austrians have such a strong pro-liberty position, because methodological individualism precludes the development of a state-based money not tied to the exchange valuations of individuals. And Mises' regression theorem very much places the development and value of money in human history. The centralist approach simply hijacks, controls and revalues money in terms of a state agenda.
ReplyDeleteA reformed Christian perspective would find a place for gold and silver as the most likely forms as a commodity money due to its use in history, as articulated in Scripture, but also due to the juridical aspect: the necessity of just weights and balances. And this applies to commercial transactions. It would be an interesting study to cast a biblical law notion of justice, or even common-law justice, applied to money in the Austrian economic categories of time and value. It would of course have to include a reference to Menger's original article, 'geld', where he considers the notion of money as an indirect exchange commodity.
All of this is way beyond, above or below, mainstream economists. That is why it easy for them to sneer at the concept of gold (or silver) as money. However, if it is cast in a notion of justice, such that fiat money is the theft in real time of value, then let them apply their indifference curve analysis to that!