Forgive my asking, and know that my question portends no doubt or rejection ... Just curious what your background is, Levi? Do you work in finance, or simply read a lot? I'd like to learn more about our us systems. On Jun 1, 2013 5:14 PM, "Levi Pearson" <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 1, 2013, at 4:01 PM, Charles Curley < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > On Sat, 1 Jun 2013 15:47:13 -0600 > > Joshua Marsh <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> You seem to be suggesting that the US dollar hasn't been manipulated > >> by people with similar things. The Fed isn't as bright and wonderful > >> as most people seem to think. At the end of the day, they are still > >> beholden to their anonymous shareholders. > > You cannot manipulate the value of the dollar with a couple million bucks > and a Twitter account. You can manipulate a penny stock that way, but that > does not change how many dollars it takes to buy typical goods and > services, which is how inflation and thus the value of the dollar are > measured. > > Yes, the Fed is a corporation. But its continued existence relies on > Congress, which can amend the Federal Reserve Act at any time. And you say > "beholden to its anonymous shareholders" like that isn't how all > corporations work. Except the Fed doesn't quite work that way. The Federal > Reserve Act requires all nationally chartered commercial banks and S&Ls to > own stock in their regional Fed bank in proportion to their size, thus > becoming "member banks". And shares can't be sold to the public or other > non-bank entities since all branches met their funding requirements when it > was created. So, if you want to know who the shareholders of your regional > Fed are, look at the largest banks in the region. > > So, how do shareholders influence a corporation? The mechanism is purely > through election of the board of directors, typically by votes in > proportion to stock ownership. The Fed banks, however, elect their boards > on the basis of one vote per shareholder, not proportional to share > ownership. So, in order to control who gets elected to a regional Fed > board, you must control the majority of the banks and S&Ls in the region. > But even controlling the regional board won't let you control the regional > Fed's actions, as they are coordinated at a higher level via the Board of > Governors and Federal Open Market Committee. The Board is appointed by the > President and confirmed by the Senate, and it sets the basic parameters > that the Fed banks must follow, e.g interest rates, reserve ratios, and the > amount of currency that may be issued. The FOMC consists of the the members > of the Board, the president of the New York Fed, and the presidents of 4 > other regional Fed banks. It formulates ope > n market policy, which determines how much in Government bonds the Fed > will buy and sell, which is the vast majority of how the Fed influences the > economy. None of the actions that directly influence the economy can be > taken without approval of the Board or FOMC. > > So, how is the Fed some shadowy conspiracy? It has clear legal mandates > and direction for its goals. Its influences on the economy are controlled > by known people, some of whom are elected by banks and others appointed by > the federal government. > > > > > The Fed was created by legislation 100 years ago. In the period from > > its creation until 1913, the dollar pretty much retained its purchasing > > power. In the century since, it has lost 99% of its value. > > > > The purchasing power of a single dollar is irrelevant. What matters is > the productivity of the economy and the standard of living of the people of > the nation. What is your standard of living vs. your ancestors 100 years > ago? > > Wages rise over time and safe investments are available that do retain > value over time as well as provide economic value, which hoarding cash does > not. You cannot be this economically naive, so please don't try to mislead > with facts that don't even begin to paint the whole picture. > > --Levi > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ > /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
