Good post Ed,
Very clear. Now how is the National Bank of Canada different from the
Federal Reserve here in the US? For example, it would never occur to us to
use the Federal Reserve as a bank. It is purely regulatory and constitutes
one hell of a "bully pulpit." There is always a need for an "old man of
the North" to be concerned with the whole of things. It is admitted that
the people must stay out of the way while the world is taken care of.
Unfortunately, here in the US it is not free from politics, especially when
the head of the Federal Reserve and the Government are of the same political
party. There is no such thing as purity as our Supreme Court has amply
shown in the last election. If I had the money I would move to France
until this whole mess was over or I was done. The US has suffered a coup
and this government is illegitimate no matter how competent or incompetent
the current Viceroy is as a manager.
REH
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Magic Circ Op Rep Ens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "futurework"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 9:49 AM
Subject: Re: Musings on the FTAA
> > Ed Weick then said:
> > It's not an idea which appeals to me at all. The preamble of the Bank
of
> > Canada Act says that the role of the Bank "is to regulate credit and
> > currency in the best interests of the economic life of the nation, to
> > control and protect the external value of the national monetary unit and
> to
> > mitigate by its influence fluctuations in the general level of
production,
> > trade, prices and employment, so far as may be possible within the scope
> of
> > monetary action, and generally to promote the economic and financial
> welfare
> > of Canada..."
> >
> > REH Question:
> > You seem to be saying that the only use for the bank is regulatory. Is
> that
> > the case?
>
> Yes. Central banks, like the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve Board
> were established back in the 1930s essentially to protect and preserve the
> value of the currency. However, they are also powerful actors in the
> economy, as the Fed under Greenspan has demonstrated recently.
>
> > Does the Bank of Canada care about the people or the corporations? It
> does
> > not follow that the health of the wealthy means that the health of the
> > common person will improve.
>
> The Bank of Canada is not in the business of caring about people or
> corporations.
>
> > The issue here for me Ed is that I don't believe that your system is for
> the
> > development of all the people but for the moneyed class. I certainly
> could
> > be selling you short on that but on the one hand you seem to invest the
> bank
> > as a kind of Supreme Court of monetary issues but on the other hand the
> > rules favor the wealthy and corporations as the keepers of the wealth of
> the
> > nation.
>
> Central banks were established because of some very nasty things very
> ordinary people had experienced with their money. My father was a young
man
> in Germany when that country experienced hyperinflation in the 1920s.
> Prices escalated so rapidly that people simply couldn't keep up. Savings
> accumulated over several years were wiped out overnight. It was
situations
> like that, and the awareness of the very vital role money plays in
society,
> that persuaded governments that a regulator of the money supply was
needed.
>
> >Believe me, you and your family will hate HMOs. If the common
> > man or woman can choose to put the corporations or private banks in
their
> > place by giving their money to the bank of the Nation and if that would
> then
> > hurt the private banks then is it not possible that the private
> institutions
> > are simply wasteful and inefficient?
>
> The Bank of Canada, like the Fed, was established to keep the value of our
> currencies reasonably stable. It deals with private banks, determining
how
> much money can be loaned out at what rate of interest etc. It is not, and
> should not be, an institution in which you and I can put my money. That
> would simply make it part of the commercial banking system which it is
> supposed to regulate. Nor should it be a supplier of government funds.
If
> it is to do its job, it has to arms length and neutral, favouring neither
> rich nor poor.
>
> Private citizens have plenty of options. I don't like dealing with banks,
> so I deal with a cooperative.
>
> Ed W
>
