Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Friday, November 16, 2007 at 12:06:56 (-0500) Doug Henwood writes: On Nov 16, 2007, at 12:00 PM, Paul Zarembka wrote: The think my deepest problem is that I have never truly understood money. Thus, I don't really understand gold as money or a $20 Fed piece of paper as money. I have to

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Nov 16, 2007, at 12:14 PM, Bill Lear wrote: Didn't Randy Wray write a nifty, enlightening book on this topic? He did, though he's got a weird theory behind it. But I'd have thought a Marxist economist would have read the Chapter on Money from the Grundrisse, which kicks Wray's ass. If I

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

From Buffalo, but not in da midst, Paul Zarembka wrote: The think my deepest problem is that I have never truly understood money. Thus, I don't really understand gold as money or a $20 Fed piece of paper as money. I think a lot of professional economists don't understand money. To my mind,

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Peter, Let's accept every criticism of the Fed you mention below. Probably libertarians would say the same, and say it more frequently and with more vigor. As I understand Marx, banking capital is an intermediary between finance capital and industrial capital. As such, it is in the vortex of

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

from a side-discussion with Paul [Zarembka, not Ron]: I wrote: The Fed should be subject to democratic control. Paul is against democracy, as far as I can tell, favoring market control instead. Paul summarizes: the issue is not central banking as such but how it is run. -- Jim Devine /

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Is the current US system a combination Central Bank/Stock Market one ? You've brought this up before. I think you're confusing central bank and bank-centered. Everybody has a central bank, even Cuba. It's the institution at the center of a country's financial system, and is part of the

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Nov 14, 2007 10:14 AM, Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What is the role of investment _banks_ that are part of a stock market system ? Do investment banks guide management and organize ownership in the US system today ?. You ask two separate questions. As I understand it the

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

raghu wrote: One last criticism can be made that the Fed is very far from being a representative government agency. Fed governors are not elected and they are almost invariably wealthy white men and they are accountable to no one. Jim D wrote: worse, the FOMC includes a bunch of Reserve Bank

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Laurent and others, I don't feel that we have gotten to the bottom of the question of the role of Central Banks. There was an article in the NYTimes on Sunday describing Ron Paul and mentioning that he wants to dump the Federal Reserve and return to the gold standard. The basis of the

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Nov 13, 2007, at 8:34 AM, Paul Zarembka wrote: There was an article in the NYTimes on Sunday describing Ron Paul and mentioning that he wants to dump the Federal Reserve and return to the gold standard. The basis of the justification seems to be along the lines I mentioned -- that Central

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Doug Henwood wrote: Interesting. It seems like it's a short step from conspiracism to goldbuggery. I like that last word. Ever read about the 19th century? There were lots of violent booms followed by busts. The busts were often horrendous. The U.S. spent about half of the last three

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Doug Henwood On Nov 13, 2007, at 8:34 AM, Paul Zarembka wrote: There was an article in the NYTimes on Sunday describing Ron Paul and mentioning that he wants to dump the Federal Reserve and return to the gold standard. The basis of the justification seems to be along the lines I mentioned

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Nov 13, 2007, at 2:20 PM, Charles Brown wrote: Is the current US system a combination Central Bank/Stock Market one ? You've brought this up before. I think you're confusing central bank and bank-centered. Everybody has a central bank, even Cuba. It's the institution at the center of a

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Nov 13, 2007 5:34 AM, Paul Zarembka [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There was an article in the NYTimes on Sunday describing Ron Paul and mentioning that he wants to dump the Federal Reserve and return to the gold standard. The basis of the justification seems to be along the lines I mentioned

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

raghu wrote: One last criticism can be made that the Fed is very far from being a representative government agency. Fed governors are not elected and they are almost invariably wealthy white men and they are accountable to no one. worse, the FOMC includes a bunch of Reserve Bank Presidents,

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Sun, 2007-11-11 at 15:35 -0800, Jim Devine wrote: Laurent writes: PS: the astute reader will have noticed that USA fed/gov debt makes 99.9% of the headlines and papers but count for less than 20% of total USA debt, the other 80% is unknown to MSN and most economists. One sector

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Sat, 2007-11-10 at 12:57 -0500, Paul Zarembka wrote: It is true that the Federal Reserve, after printing money, places it on the market at interest (if it is more than the replacement of worn-out currency). The fed does not create new money: only private banks do create money each time

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Paul Zarembka wrote: It is true that the Federal Reserve, after printing money, places it on the market at interest (if it is more than the replacement of worn-out currency). Laurent writes: The fed does not create new money: only private banks do create money each time they make a loan

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

On Sun, 2007-11-11 at 08:04 -0800, Jim Devine wrote: Paul Zarembka wrote: It is true that the Federal Reserve, after printing money, places it on the market at interest (if it is more than the replacement of worn-out currency). Laurent writes: The fed does not create new money:

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Laurent writes: The fed does not create new money: only private banks do create money each time they make a loan and they have this right in exchange for following bank regulations. me: Laurent, that's only according to a narrow interpretation of money creation. The Fed does not

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Paul Zarembka wrote: Libertarians make a case the controllers of economies are the Central Banks which becomes the sole source of making money payments, that they create money and lend AT INTEREST, that the requirements to paying debt with interest creates the need for more money, more debt

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

The Fed can control labor by slowing the economy supposedly w/o a strong government. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com

Re: [PEN-L] Libertarians on the Central Banks

Jim Devine wrote: The libertarians are right that Central Banks replace the gold standard or a pure specie-based economy with fiat money. This, I think, is what the libertarians are pissed about: they'd prefer a system where the entire economy was guided by the invisible hand of the market.