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I am a Crank

November 12, 2007, 9:14 pm

As defined by Kevin Drum:

Well, since you asked, the reason I
think Ron Paul is a crank is because he wants to repeal the 16th
amendment, eliminate the personal income tax, abolish the minimum wage,
deep six the Federal Reserve, and return the United States to some kind
of weird quasi-gold standard.

Tags: , , , ,
Category: Capitalism & Libertarian Philospohy
  • somebody

    Don't take it personally. Liberals have a hard time comprehending the notion of liberty.

  • http://goodmorningeconomics.wordpress.com jsalvati

    Can you explain reason you'd like to see us go back to the gold standard? I've never been convinced by hard core libertarian's arguments for why fiat is bad; the fed seems to do a much good job if maintaining low, stable inflation than no fed.

  • dearieme

    In Britain, the cost of living in 1900 was the same as in 1700. When a fiat currency proves capable of that sort of performance, the case for it will be made.

  • markm

    jsalvati: You must be young. We remember the days of double-digit inflation even during a recession. The professionals at the fed know how not to do that, but they knew that much even in 1968 - there is only so much the fed can do when Congress and the President go nuts on the spending side.

  • http://www.liftport.com/progress/wp Brian

    I'm just this guy whose only expertise is making computers run in circles but ... why is the Fed and the Gold standard a good idea?

    I've just read John Gordon's 'Empire of Wealth' where .. to a non-economist .. he makes a convincing argument (to this layman at least) that the lack of a central bank was a major reason for the cycles of boom and depression in the 18th and 19th centuries and that a gold standards ain't such a good idea either.

  • Andy

    I'd be satisfied to go to a flat tax and eliminate the 19th

  • Max Lybbert

    I don't think Coyote necessarily wants to go to the gold standard; he's simply saying that Ron Paul does.

  • http://www.liftport.com/progress/wp Brian

    he's simply saying that Ron Paul does.

    Okay. Why does Ron Paul think the gold standard is a bad idea.

  • bob

    Ron Paul:
    Case for Gold: A Minority Report of the United States Gold Commission    .
    I think that does a pretty good job of explaining why he wants a "gold standard" -- and why all honest people should also want it.

    Another good explanation.

  • http://www.liftport.com/progress/wp Brian

    and why all honest people should also want it.

    Wow - way to slag people and make friends, Bob.

  • http://www.liftport.com/progress/wp Brian

    The Mises institute publishes a PDF of 'Case for Gold'. Link here ..

    http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp38236

  • Bruce

    Am I the only one who thinks the idea of using letters of marque against terrorists is a loony idea?

  • http://www.liftport.com/progress/wp Brian

    using letters of marque against terrorists is a loony idea?

    I like that idea.

  • Les

    Money is worth what people Believe it's worth, nothing more, nothing less. Two things which influence that belief are..

    A) The amount of money circulating in the economy.

    and..

    B) The amount of Stuff (real goods and services) circulating in the economy that you can spend all that money on.

    Going back to the Gold standard does nothing but introduce a third factor,

    C) The market value of some arbitrarily selected commodity.

    Gold has value because it's pretty and not so easy to get at, it has no Intrinsic Objective value that stays true through the tests of time, it's a commodity like any other and as such it's value is up to the whims and fancy of the market.

    I see no problem with the Federal Reserve in and of itself, if only they'd clue-in to one important fact. Their one and ONLY responsibility is to put money into the economy at a rate high enough to keep-up with real economic growth but not so high as to produce unruly inflation. The problem with the Fed today is it's assumed responsibilities well beyond it's original scope as some sort of benevolent (though not necessarily competent) shepherd of the national economy and if some key market sector trips over it's own feet and causes a few other sectors to stumble as well then it's up to the Fed to swoop in and make a dog's breakfast of things trying to sort it all out instead of just letting the market get back up on it's own like big boys and girls.