Category Archives: Monetary Issues

Iran Blasts Dollar At OPEC Summit — Calls Dollar “Worthless”

In a stunning example of a stopped clock being right, Iran’s President Ahmadinejad assails the dollar, suggesting OPEC should break the petrodollar link:

“They get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper,” Ahmadinejad told reporters after the close of the summit in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. He blamed President Bush’s policies for the decline of the dollar and its negative effect on other countries.

Oil is priced in U.S. dollars on the world market, and the currency’s depreciation has concerned oil producers because it has contributed to rising crude prices and eroded the value of their dollar reserves.

“All participating leaders showed an interest in changing their hard currency reserves to a credible hard currency,” Ahmadinejad said. “Some said producing countries should designate a single hard currency aside from the U.S. dollar . . . to form the basis of our oil trade.”

He was unsurprisingly echoed by statements from Mini-Mahmoud, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

This expands an already wide rift within OPEC, as several states (most notably Saudi Arabia) are allies with the United States. They fear that dropping the dollar will also destroy any semblance of friendly relations between their governments and Washington. Many of their regimes could face internal resistance if American backing disappeared, and given some of their internal policies, it’s not likely that they’ll be peacefully overthrown.

Quite honestly, this has been on the horizon for a long time. Our own Federal Reserve and politicians, in an effort to keep the American economy moving (and themselves from political harm), have engaged upon a credit glut that has covered the world with American paper. And the world is slowly starting to realize that this paper is becoming worthless. To a large extent, they were still stuck with the dollar, as there wasn’t an alternative large and stable enough to be an alternative. With the growth of the Euro, though, the dollar no longer has a monopoly position in the world market.

A global dollar crisis is a nightmare for the entire world. But it’s becoming increasingly likely, and while Ahmadenijad might be crazy, he’s not stupid. He knows that his best option for getting rich on the back of the falling dollar is to get on the leading edge and ditch it before the crisis materializes. And if divesting of the dollar manages to cause that world panic after he’s complete, all the better to damage “the Great Satan” and turn him into a hero to the extremists at home.

To the vast majority of Americans, the “high price of oil” is OPEC’s fault. But in reality, how much of the high price is a reflection of the weakness of the dollar instead of a short supply? The vast majority of Americans see “crazy Mahmoud” spouting off, but I guarantee the prospect of oil being sold in euros rather than dollars is a prospect keeping many folks in Washington awake at night.

Milton Friedman and the Power of Choice

Just over one year ago, the world lost perhaps the greatest economist of his generation. Milton Friedman had the ability to explain complex economic theories to the average person. I just recently watched his 1980 (and updated 1990) PBS series Free to Choose (based on a book Friedman had published with the same title). I cannot recommend this series enough to both proponents and critics of capitalism. If you can watch this series and still hold on to the notion that capitalism is not morally superior to any other economic system, then you are beyond hope.

https://i2.wp.com/www.businessinnovationinsider.com/Milton%20Friedman%202.jpg?w=860

In the 1990 updated version, Friedman discussed the power of the free market, tyranny of control, the Great Depression*, how cradle to grave “entitlement” programs harm the economy, equality, inflation, and much more. After each episode, Friedman discussed his theories with distinguished guests such as Donald Rumsfeld (mostly a critic of Friedman), Walter Williams, and Thomas Sowell.

Friedman’s thesis is that capitalism boils down to one important concept: choice. The ability for the individual to choose where to live, where to work, where to send his children to school, etc. makes all the difference between freedom/prosperity and tyranny/poverty. Economic freedom is every bit as important as any other freedom.

Though Milton Friedman has left us over a year ago his important work lives on. Its up to us to make sure what he taught us isn’t lost to future generations.

Watch the entire Free to Choose series at this link: http://ideachannel.tv/
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The Liberty Dollar Seizure

The big news for those interested in libertarianism and monetary systems over the last day has been the fed’s seizure of materials and metals related to the sale, production, marketing, and other business activities of the Liberty Dollar. Last night co-contributor tarran posted a very interesting piece related to the government’s tactics and rationale for going after the Liberty Dollar. I am not a lawyer, and cannot speak to that aspect (although I understand Doug is working on it), but there are some very interesting things when you look into it.

Is the Liberty Dollar (ALD) a competing currency? Or is it a scam designed to fill its creators’ pockets while suckering us into buying silver at inflated prices? The best place to understand what is happening is the full seizure warrant.

Looking over the full document, I can see where there might be some standing for a case against the Liberty Dollar*. I’ve never understood the difference between the “face value” of their currency and the US Dollar. For example, they suggest buying the Liberty Dollar $20 piece at a discount and “spending” it as if it is worth $20, when the silver inside is not worth $20. The feds refer to it as a MLM scheme, and through reading their case, I can see where they may have a point there.

As a second point, it does appear that in many ways the Liberty Dollar folks are violating the law against coining your own currency in metal. I consider it to be an improper law, and I don’t begrudge them for breaking it, but it does appear to be illegal.

Of course, none of this in any way should be understood as me being a supporter of the Fed’s system**. I believe strongly in competing market-created currencies.

It does seem, though, that the Liberty Dollar was created to secure profit for its creators from the US Dollar, instead of being a true alternate currency. The “convertability” and desire that merchants give Liberty Dollars as change, as well as the “move-up” process described in the Fed’s case belie a desire by the Liberty Dollar folks to sell silver in exchange for FRN’s at a consistent profit compared with the market price, cloaked in the language of undermining the current system.

For the Liberty Dollar to be a true competing currency, it should not be assumed as a “stand-in” for FRN’s at the same face value, which is what the Liberty Dollar proponents are suggesting. If anything, the cost of converting from FRN’s to ALD’s should be set by a market-based exchange rate, not by NORFED. It is here that I believe the fraud may be found.

As an example of a competing “currency”, my father is a self-employed architect and a member of a bartering group in the Chicago area. The bartering group acts more as a network of producers than anything else, but instead of bartering services directly, they have a system of trade “credits” tracked by the barter service itself. Thus, he can design a home addition in exchange for “trade dollars”, and then use those “trade dollars” at another business within the network.

This differs from the ALD in that trade dollars are expected to only be accepted by businesses who are members of the trade exchange, and are not interchangeable with FRN’s. Thus, much like competing national currencies, a business can accept FRN’s and also accept trade dollars, but their prices for a good or service might be substantially different based on the currency used. If a member of the exchange wanted to divest of their trade dollar holdings by selling them, the exchange rate would be determined by buyer and seller, establishing a market price, rather than a rate demanded by the trade group itself (which is what the ALD attempts to do). When it comes to getting the best possible rate of exchange, it’s worth knowing that transferwise is one of the better alternatives on offer that provide online transfer services.

A competing currency must not be interchangeable with FRN’s, which is the fiction that the Liberty Dollar creators try to uphold. Thus, the ALD becomes a method for them to sell silver at a profit while their associates or merchants work to defraud businesses by offering silver worth less (in FRN terms) for goods that are priced in FRN terms. At each level, it appears to have a cut of profit, as all multi-level marketing schemes do, and at the bottom of the scale, those who receive ALD’s as a “face value” equivalent to FRN’s are being shafted. When you hear “multi-level marketing”, programs like that of Amway might come to mind: one of the leading names in door to door sales. If it’s something you’re keen to investigate, you likely will want to know is amway really bad, amongst other questions.

The Liberty Dollar does not seem to live up to what is bills itself as. If it were a true competing currency, merchants would price goods in ALD terms higher than in FRN terms, in order to receive identical value for their wares. If it were a true competing currency, the “exchange rate” between ALD’s and FRN’s would float, rather than be defined by the Liberty Dollar creators. I previously have written favorably about the Liberty Dollar, but given new information, I have changed my mind. It does not fit the bill of an alternative currency; it is a scam.
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The Violence Against Non-State Backed Currencies

UPDATE: Alternative currencies are becoming more and more popular since this article was published. In fact, even China are developing their own digital currency with the China-based yuan pay group developing the digital Yuan. On top of this, Bitcoin is more mainstream than ever before so, despite the government’s efforts, they haven’t been able to stop the ever-increasing popularity of non-state backed currencies.

Yesterday, agents of the FBI raided the offices of NORFED and, according to an email sent by its founder, confiscated all their assets:

Dear Liberty Dollar Supporters:
I sincerely regret to inform you that about 8:00 this morning a dozen FBI and Secret Service agents raided the Liberty Dollar office in Evansville.
For approximately six hours they took all the gold, all the silver, all the platinum and almost two tons of Ron Paul Dollars that where just delivered last Friday. They also took all the files, all the computers and froze our bank accounts.
We have no money. We have no products. We have no records to even know what was ordered or what you are owed. We have nothing but the will to push forward and overcome this massive assault on our liberty and our right to have real money as defined by the US Constitution. We should not to be defrauded by the fake government money.
But to make matters worse, all the gold and silver that backs up the paper certificates and digital currency held in the vault at Sunshine Mint has also been confiscated. Even the dies for mint the Gold and Silver Libertys have been taken.
This in spite of the fact that Edmond C. Moy, the Director of the Mint, acknowledged in a letter to a US Senator that the paper certificates did not violate Section 486 and were not illegal. But the FBI and Services took all the paper currency too.
The possibility of such action was the reason the Liberty Dollar was designed so that the vast majority of the money was in specie form and in the people’s hands. Of the $20 million Liberty Dollars, only about a million is in paper or digital form.
I regret that if you are due an order. It may be some time until it will be filled… if ever… it now all depends on our actions.
Everyone who has an unfulfilled order or has digital or paper currency should band together for a class action suit and demand redemption. We cannot allow the government to steal our money! Please don’t let this happen!!! An experienced HyperLedger development company can support your need for decentralized currency trading. Decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are becoming what many finance professionals pursuing liberty in the industry have been waiting for but the technology can often be confusing. However, simplified explanations of how it all works can be found over on VanillaCrypto. Bitcoin can be beneficial for both finance professionals and for regular individuals who want to invest in online currency, and reap the benefits as and when they want. To see a list of all of the potential places you can use your Bitcoin money, why not have a look at https://coinsspent.com/.

Many of you read the articles quoting the government and Federal Reserve officials that the Liberty Dollar was legal. You did nothing wrong. You are legally entitled to your property. Let us use this terrible act to band together and further our goal – to return America to a value based currency.
Please forward this important Alert… so everyone who possess or use the Liberty Dollar is aware of the situation.
Please click HERE to sign up for the class action lawsuit and get your property back!
If the above link does not work you can access the page by copying the following into your web browser. http://www.libertydollar.org/classaction/index.php
Thanks again for your support at this darkest time as the damn government and their dollar sinks to a new low.
Bernard von NotHaus
Monetary Architect

For those of you not familiar with the Liberty Dollar, the architect intended them to compete with Federal Reserve bank notes. They currency takes many forms:

  • Specie in the form of silver and gold coins,
  • Bank notes backed by gold and silver in their vaults (in other words every bank note promising redepmption by an oz worth of silver has an oz of silver sitting in their vaults)
  • Electronic or digital money, again backed by specie in their vaults

Each bank note and coin was stamped with a suggested exchange rate with U.S. dollars. This exchange rate was far higher than the value of the metal in the coins, $15.00 USD worth of silver in a coin stamped with a $20.00 exchange rate. The company bent over backward to get treasury department approval and to comply with U.S. currency laws.

So why were they raided? Brian Doherty of reason magazine reports:

I’ve seen a copy of a Nov. 9 seizure warrant on an Asheville, NC, address, not available online, claiming that Liberty Dollars at that address are forefeitable for being connected with money laundering and mail fraud. I have not read the entire 38 page warrant, nor am I 100 percent certain it is connected with the actions in Evansville today, but given that the Indianapolis FBI referred me to the U.S. Attorney in North Carolina, probably so, and that multiple raids were planned or executed re: the liberty dollar.
The warrant explains that the FBI from Aug 2005 to July 2007 were “conducting undercover operations to determine the legality of the American Liberty Dollar currency.” The warrant also notes that von NotHaus sold an undercover agent a Liberty Dollar T-shirt, and that the agent observed von NotHaus driving a 1999 Cadillac Deville. It doesn’t take a trained federal agent to connect the dots here, I suppose. In other words: What-th-what-th-What?

This came after the U.S. Mint made dark warnings that people doing business in this currency were breaking the law.

Furthermore, NORFED is not the first currency backer to be so attacked. Last December, e-gold was also raided, by agents claiming to be going after money launderers.

Is this some plot to shore up the shaky Federal Reserve system by outlawing competition? I don’t think so, namely because government economists all believe that their system is a good stable one. I truly think they believe their propaganda.

The problem is that a system of commodity currency allows someone to do business anonymously. These systems were consciously designed to preserve people’s wealth from the depradations of misguided governmental monetary policy. This protection inherently makes monitoring the flow of money more difficult for government officials. It attracts people who distrust the government, a significant number of which whose fear is based on the victimful crimes they commit. This institutional distrust, in turn, engenders a hostility in modern law-enforcement who are understandably suspicious of people who distrust them.

In the end, it is quite clear to me that it is the hostility of these law-enforcement officers which is the problem. Confusing suspicion of the state with criminal intent, they are convinced that these institutions that have criminals as customers are in fact conspiring with the criminals. So they shut them down, ruining the guilty and the innocent indiscriminately. There is nothing precluding the FBI from reviewing e-gold or Norfed’s records while the firms continue to do business. Shutting them down is as absurd as shutting down the Motel 6 down the road, because it was the preferred resting place of mobsters visiting town.

Neither Norfed nor E-gold are defrauding anyone. Their fees might be a little high, but everyone doing business with them knows what the costs are going to be up-front. The reason that they are being raided and attacked is, in the end, a political one, hostility amongst law enforcement, perhaps egged on by some of the more conventional financial institutions seeking to knee-cap competition. As such, these raids should be condemned.

Update:

Ron Paul Radio interviews von NotHaus, who claims that the FBI agent in charge told him that the Department of Justice ordered the confiscation of all assets because the currency was illegal:

http://www.ebacherville.com/cgi-bin/uploaded/FINAL-LibertyDollarNotHaus11152007.mp3

Update II:

The search & seizure warrant have been posted by NORFED:

The search warrant orders the seizure of all records, all printing equipment, computer hardware and media, devices used to manufacture the coinage and notes, and somewhat sinisterly membershiplists of all Liberty Dollar Regional Currency Officers, Liberty Dollar Associates, Merchants who have registered themselves as accepting Liberty Dollars, and any individuals that have purchased the currency.

The seizure warrant states that

American Liberty Dollar and/or Hawaii Dala currency and/or percious metals of gold, silver, copper , platinum or other substance and Unites States currency are forfeitabls to the United States under 18 USC § 982 (a)(1) because it is property involved in, or traceable to, money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956 and 1957; under 18 U.S.C. USC § 982 (a)(3) because it is, or is traceable to, gross receipts and proceeds obtained, directly and indirectly, as a result of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Authority for this warrant is provided by 18 U.S.C. § 981(b) and 21 U.S.C. § 853(f)

This is very interesting:

18 U.S.C. § 981(b) states:

(b)(1) Except as provided in section 985, any property subject to
forfeiture to the United States under subsection (a) may be seized
by the Attorney General and, in the case of property involved in a
violation investigated by the Secretary of the Treasury or the
United States Postal Service, the property may also be seized by
the Secretary of the Treasury or the Postal Service, respectively.
(2) Seizures pursuant to this section shall be made pursuant to a
warrant obtained in the same manner as provided for a search
warrant under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, except that
a seizure may be made without a warrant if –

(A) a complaint for forfeiture has been filed in the United
States district court and the court issued an arrest warrant in
rem pursuant to the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and
Maritime Claims;
(B) there is probable cause to believe that the property is
subject to forfeiture and –

(i) the seizure is made pursuant to a lawful arrest or
search; or
(ii) another exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant
requirement would apply; or

(C) the property was lawfully seized by a State or local law
enforcement agency and transferred to a Federal agency.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of rule 41(a) of the Federal
Rules of Criminal Procedure, a seizure warrant may be issued
pursuant to this subsection by a judicial officer in any district
in which a forfeiture action against the property may be filed
under section 1355(b) of title 28, and may be executed in any
district in which the property is found, or transmitted to the
central authority of any foreign state for service in accordance
with any treaty or other international agreement. Any motion for
the return of property seized under this section shall be filed in
the district court in which the seizure warrant was issued or in
the district court for the district in which the property was
seized.
(4)(A) If any person is arrested or charged in a foreign country

in connection with an offense that would give rise to the
forfeiture of property in the United States under this section or
under the Controlled Substances Act, the Attorney General may apply
to any Federal judge or magistrate judge in the district in which
the property is located for an ex parte order restraining the
property subject to forfeiture for not more than 30 days, except
that the time may be extended for good cause shown at a hearing
conducted in the manner provided in rule 43(e) of the Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure.
(B) The application for the restraining order shall set forth the
nature and circumstances of the foreign charges and the basis for
belief that the person arrested or charged has property in the
United States that would be subject to forfeiture, and shall
contain a statement that the restraining order is needed to
preserve the availability of property for such time as is necessary
to receive evidence from the foreign country or elsewhere in
support of probable cause for the seizure of the property under
this subsection.

Now, what is interesting is that there is supposed to be a hearing, wherein a person can hear the claim and attempt to rebut it, unless:

(3) A temporary restraining order under this subsection may be entered upon application of the United States without notice or opportunity for a hearing when a complaint has not yet been filed with respect to the property, if the United States demonstrates
that there is probable cause to believe that the property with respect to which the order is sought is subject to civil forfeiture and that provision of notice will jeopardize the availability of the property for forfeiture. Such a temporary order shall expire not more than 10 days after the date on which it is entered, unless extended for good cause shown or unless the party against whom it is entered consents to an extension for a longer period. A hearing requested concerning an order entered under this paragraph shall be held at the earliest possible time and prior to the expiration of the temporary order.

while 21 U.S.C. § 853(f) permits seizure of property without a trial:

(f) Warrant of seizure

The Government may request the issuance of a warrant authorizing
the seizure of property subject to forfeiture under this section in
the same manner as provided for a search warrant. If the court
determines that there is probable cause to believe that the
property to be seized would, in the event of conviction, be subject
to forfeiture and that an order under subsection (e) of this
section may not be sufficient to assure the availability of the
property for forfeiture, the court shall issue a warrant
authorizing the seizure of such property.

There’s only one problem – the law is one that pertains to Food and Drugs. Obviously, NORFED is not involved in drug trafficking.

I am not a lawyer, so I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that the forfeiture process under the FDA statutes is far less burdensome to the state, and the odds are more heavily stacked against the defendant. Is the Federal Governemnt violating its own rules by seizing property that falls under the money-laundering statutes using the process for narcotics related seizures? Doug?

It also seems to me that von NotHaus is giving some very bad legal advice. A class action lawsuit will go nowhere – becasue the claimants will have no standing.

The laws for money-laundering related seizures permit “innocent owners” to file claims with the government. If they jump through the right hoops, they may get their property back. The courts will reject any class action lawsuit and instead require people to prove their claims through the regular channels.

More worryingly, the law for narcotics related seizures has no provision for innocent owners, at least that I could find.

Furthermore, the narcotics statute has this littlegem:

(k) Bar on intervention
Except as provided in subsection (n) of this section, no party
claiming an interest in property subject to forfeiture under this
section may –
(1) intervene in a trial or appeal of a criminal case involving
the forfeiture of such property under this section; or
(2) commence an action at law or equity against the United
States concerning the validity of his alleged interest in the
property subsequent to the filing of an indictment or information
alleging that the property is subject to forfeiture under this
section.

Basically, the people who own liberty dollar notes will have to petition the government for redemption of the silver, prove that they did not break the law, to have any hope of getting their money back.

The suit will be costly in time and money, and unless you are sitting on a huge pile of NORFED notes not worth your time.

I think NORFED has just been killed. Even if the seizure is eventually found to have been unjustified under the law, and the staff be found innocent of any wrongdoing, NORFED is out of business.

I am an anarcho-capitalist living just west of Boston Massachussetts. I am married, have two children, and am trying to start my own computer consulting company.

Treatise on Property Tax Through Fiat Currencies

Below, please enjoy a guest article by Clayton Slade. Clayton is in the information technology field by trade, but has been an economics/finance buff for most of his life, as well as a believer in liberty and the free market.

Clayton’s article succinctly explains a rather complex concept rarely discussed, the effect of inflation as a tax on all those who hold dollars, both domestically and abroad.

As always, feel free to discuss in the comments. Clayton can be reached at [email protected].

————————————————————————————

Treatise on Property Tax Through Fiat Currencies
By Clayton Slade

Property Tax
The United States has a property tax that applies to the entire world. In fact, all countries with fiat currencies do, but the extent to which they can tax is directly related to the distribution of currencies in circulation. This tax is called a fiat property tax. The tax rate varies between different currencies.

First, it must be understood that at any given moment, there is a finite total value of resources and services. Second, there is a total amount of currencies in the world, which can be manipulated. These two values form a ratio of Currency:Stuff. If more of a currency is created, such as new federal reserve notes, the total economic value of everything is not increased; this merely increases the currency side of the ratio, meaning that in the long run, it takes more currency to get the same amount of stuff. This amount of time is the response time or lag time of the market to realize the increased currency.

When more federal reserve notes (FRN) are created, the ratio of FRN:Stuff shifts accordingly, making it take more FRNs to get stuff. This means that each individual FRN is worth less than it was originally. The value of the “new” FRNs is derived from taking value away from the original FRNs. This is true for all fiat currencies when the quantity of a given currency in circulation increases.

The devaluing of each FRN is more than mere inflation. This is a property tax. It takes value away from assets, in this case currency owned by the holder, and redistributes it to the entity that creates the new notes (e.g., the Federal Reserve). Whomever has the power to create new currency inherently has the power to tax anyone and everyone who is holding that currency.

History
When the United States used the gold standard, people saw the US dollar as a sanctuary. The dollar was no more than a receipt (certificate) for a certain weight of gold, and the gold was protected in a safe location, which allowed the dollar to permeate throughout the world. When we moved off the gold standard domestically, we still met our obligations for foreigners who had gold certificates, and we also used relatively responsible monetary policies. This kept foreigners comfortable with using the US dollar.

At the same time, a very real economic boom after WW2 made the United States rich and a marketplace that other nations want to sell to. When the United States imports, it also exports federal reserve notes, which further serves to spread FRNs to all parts of the world. Some other consequences of WW1 and WW2 were that the borders in the Middle East were redrawn, and other political changes ensued that, for better or worse, involved making the US dollar the currency used in all major petroleum transactions. If anyone wanted to buy oil from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc, they first had to buy US dollars (now FRNs) on the foreign exchange market.

As a consequence. the world has been saturated with dollars, and then federal reserve notes, during the past century.

Real World
When the federal reserve creates new notes, it steals value from all existing notes. Since many existing notes reside outside of the United States, the property tax effect applies to anyone holding a FRN. This is a property tax on all notes that exist, and thus, the world.

When this newly taxed money is spent domestically, there is a net benefit to the United States. This has worked well for 30-50 years and is one reason why the trade deficit is not so bad. Money flows out of the country, but the value of it is then just taxed right back when new money is created. One must also consider that this is a tax on holdings, and not just cash flows. A country such as China that possesses a large quantity of federal reserve notes and treasury securities is taxed not only on the trade deficit, but also the notes from all previous trade deficits that are still held by the country.

Downfall
That sounds great, right? The United States gets to tax the whole world and spend it in ways that benefit itself! All moral issues aside, it would be wonderful if this could be done forever. However, other countries are not stupid and are wising up to this.

This most recent round of bail outs (paid for by fiat property tax) in the financial markets (sub prime, etc) is really waking people up. Take a look at the dollar against other competing currencies or even gold and silver. On it’s present course, the FRN will not be able to maintain reserve currency status much longer.

It seems like every year or two, another oil producing country moves away from the FRN in favor of other currencies that are destroying themselves slower. Most notably, Iran has been switching to Euro and Yen for oil transactions.

Effectively, all fiat money has a property tax rate associated with it. This system of fiat property tax only works when people are willing to accept a given currency. They have to either be naive to what is going on (general public), accepting it because it is the best option available (central banks, foreign governments, investors), or coerced (OPEC?). The Europeans are destroying (taxing) their currencies in order to help their exports, but they are doing it slower than the United States, making the Euro and £ the current better choice for maintaining value. This is why treasuries, central banks, regular banks, etc are shifting away from the federal reserve note to currencies such as the £, Euro, and gold – the fiat property tax rate is lower with those currencies.

It is a fragile system. Once the international community stops accepting federal reserve notes, the decline will be rapid. The decline may have already started. Depending on how widespread this rejection and decline is, the United States could experience massive inflation (WW2 Germany style).

Solutions
There are a only few ways to stave off a total rejection of the federal reserve note. One way is more conservative fiscal policies in congress that involve balanced budgets.

The other is to float some sort of commodity based currency that forces the value of individual currency units to be finite and relatively unchanging true value over time. If an option like this were adopted, it would be key for the new currency to be issued in a “natural” and non-obligatory manner in order to not shock financial markets. One such way would be to simply allow such currencies to float freely on the foreign exchange markets. If consumers of currencies wish to use that currency as a sanctuary, such as the dollars of old, they should be free to do so in a liquid manner. It would also be advised that consumers who are active within the Foreign Exchange Market use software to support them in making informed decisions. A good starting point would be this FXTM review to give them an idea of what they need to look for in software, thus allowing them to find one that helps them best.

The United States and some other super powers have had the luxury of a lifestyle that is subsidized through the taxation of the world with the practice of fiat property tax. One way or the other, those who currently are accustomed to the benefits of this system should begin to wean themselves off of it on their own terms as more and more people and organizations realize how this system works and refuse to participate.

Seigniorage is alive and well. Why should someone choose to hold federal reserve notes if there is an alternative that has a lower tax rate?

———————

Aside: There is probably only one candidate running for president who is concerned about this or even understands the situation. That person is Ron Paul. If someone does not understand how taxation through inflation works, they should not be president.

All conservatives, especially rich ones and those who would like to become rich, should be opposed to this system. It is a progressive tax that directly attacks savings, affecting those with more cash more than those with less. Such a property tax is contrary to conservative or libertarian principles. Anyone who wants to save money should be opposed to this.

This is a tax just like any other. The only difference is that congress does not have to pass a bill to raise or lower the tax rate and the general public does not even know what the rate is. It is meaningless to focus on marginal income tax rates, capital gains, dividend tax, etc while at the same time the government can tax all the money it needs regardless. And they do not even have to ask you for a dime. They simply confiscate it from your bank account.

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