Re: Gold did shine, once ! (eric pinto) cf yesterday's Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444914904577619383218788846.html The Gold Standard Goes Mainstream In the ferment within today's Republican Party, there's a growing realization that America's system of fiat money is part of the economic problem. By SETH LIPSKY An under-reported development of this campaign season is the Republican Party's decision this week to send Gov. Mitt Romney into the presidential race on a platform effectively calling for a new gold commission. The realization that America's system of fiat money is part of its economic problem is moving from the fringes of political discussion to the center. (...) Gold is clearly and definitely the second best solution as a mmonetary standard, the tangible response to a lack of trust in contractual/ constitutional arrangements. Fiat money has become the problem. Not because of itself - it is the first best solution in a complex economic-financial system - but because it has been hi-jacked and perverted by private parties (funnily enough by the Republican's very best chums). Hence the financial crisis, fast moving towards system collapse. So at one end of the scale you get the potential return of the Gold Standard and, on the other end, the rise of 'complementary' or even 'alternative' currencies, where communities (partially) reclaim monetary and economic autonomy. This as the two - and only - advantages of state-issued and guaranteed (but by now no longer state-managed) fiat money, sovereignty and seigneurage have become intellectually, morally, and before soon, practically, bankrupt. I am quite happy about local currencies, much less about the return of the Gold Standard, and even less about the extremely convoluted economic ideas prevailing on the right side of the political spectrum anywhere (not only in the US). These, in my view, amount to a little more than "take the money where it is: from the poor", with a serious dose of "apres nous le deluge" added for good measure. Cheers, p+4D!
