Tag Archives: fiat money
All that glisters…
Posted by on July 12, 2017
All that glisters is not gold… [The merchant of Venice — Act 2 Scene 7]
Finding an article that included a simple link to cryptocurrency in support of my linking sixteenth century Spanish bullion to modern mercantilism and the desire of a sovereign power to maintain authority over what is now its fiat money was difficult. I eventually concluded that I had write my own. Debasement of the currency is the inevitable result of abandoning a monetary standard¹ that limits the money supply (or commodity money), giving credence to Keynesian economics and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)². Read more of this post
Cryptocurrency bubbles and money
Posted by on July 8, 2017
This week on Facebook: Debasement of the coinage was rare in Greek history with the notable exception of Dionysius of Syracuse. The Byzantine economy was assumed to have a sound fiscal policy but in the eleventh century emperor Michael VII earned the nickname “Parapinaces” or “minus a quarter”, because the gold nomisma was debased by that amount but little is made of the continuous debasement of the Roman denarius, The enforced sale of the monasteries failed to solve King Henry VIII’s financial problems, earning him the nickname ‘old copper nose’ during his great debasement. In a fiat money world debasement by fiscal policy is the norm and has perhaps in part (if not entirely) accounting for the intended use of cryptocurrency as fiat. Read more of this post
Cryptocurrency as fiat
Posted by on July 1, 2017
This week on Facebook: When I wrote Monday’s article in 2011 about fiat money I never had in mind the cryptocurrency in last week’s post, although I was certainly aware that the ravages created by the inflationary effects of fiat money did not protect wealth. Wealth protection only comes to those with the means of investing in things whose rarity increased their value. The rise in the value of cryptocurrency, particularly as a wealth protector (like that of gold), shouldn’t really have come as the surprise it did. Read more of this post
Assignats and Reprises!
Posted by on February 25, 2017
This week on Facebook: I keep getting economic reports that any money I may hold is in danger and that those who want to take it from are my government. That my government should seek innovative means of creating inflation is hardly a surprise, the government’s (apparent) wish dispense with money altogether and make all fiat money digital is news. Although digital money is not new concept and in todays economy is synonymous with debt, the trail blazed by a digital money economy will be complex. Not in the least — I believe — because it will lead to greater debt having to be borne by the taxpayer. In a world scramble for economic growth any public administration where all money is digital in form will find it easier to devalue their currency in a sleight of hand inflation, especially when engaged in a currency war to promote economic growth. Read more of this post
Fleeced Again!
Posted by on October 15, 2016
This week on Facebook: Being somewhat surprised by the scale of the political incompetence (although political connivance would fit equally well) that I came across in last week’s article on pensions, I decided that this week I would look a little deeper. I found that the sorry saga continues with perhaps the only positive slant that could be put on it would be that of politicians caring for their own stipends. Read more of this post
Helicopter Money
Posted by on September 17, 2016
This week on Facebook: Sees me return to economics, yet more history and the despair of an old man who — like all old men before me — thinks that the world is going to hell in a handcart. My first instinct was to ignore articles on helicopter money as it being something that I was incapable of having an influence on (which is true) and finding myself totally confused by the rationales offered by economists and politicians. Nevertheless, the notion of helicopter money made me think of some historic precedents that I believe are valid allusions to its use. Read more of this post
Free Trade — not so transparent
Posted by on April 23, 2016
This week on Facebook I intended to post some links on the age of transparency. This interest in transparency was prompted by a comment on a previous post, perhaps itself prompted by the recent revelations of the Panama Papers. Papers which raised great cries of indignation around the world and which will inevitably lead to less transparency in regard to their revelations. My web research for articles on transparency led me to conclude that we are living in an age of pseudo transparency, in which administrations, whatever their political hue, will constantly seek greater control over the pseudo transparency they permit. Articles on transparency are not easy to find, in fact the opposite is the case, there is a concerted effort to counteract and, where possible, suppress articles in the social media that could lead to any opposition an administration’s viewpoint. Read more of this post
The Budget Deficit – The Record
Posted by on April 29, 2015
The role that economic theory plays in the creation of money — even if understood by a government — is ignored in favour of economic manipulation for the purpose of a fiscal policy. Self interested post war governments have little interest in the social responsibility that Peter Drucker applied to a private enterprise.
“The first responsibility of business is to make enough profit to cover the costs for the future. If this social responsibility is not met, no other social responsibility can be met.”
That Odious Greek Debt
Posted by on January 28, 2015
Der Spiegel reported in May 2010 that without bribes virtually no foreign company could do business in Greece. In How German Companies Bribed Their Way to Greek Deals, Der Speigel claimed that the money from bribery enriched industrialists, civil servants, the military and politicians. Read more of this post
2015 Election Year
Posted by on January 14, 2015
In The debt we’re in (Jan 2011) I referred to a 2009 report by Brooks Newmark MP with the title The Hidden Debt Bombshell. In it Newmark claimed that the true level of government debt was £2,200 billion and not £805 billion as was reported by the Office for National Statistics. It’s interesting that Newmark has not written a similar report in the run-up to this years general election. However I can understand why. Read more of this post
