items tagged with federal reserve

February 4, 2009's  cover story - The Future of Money?: With the Economy a Wreck, Alternative Currencies Could Gain Traction - explores local and national currency systems that have emerged as alternatives to Federal Reserve Notes - commonly known as U.S. dollar bills. It is my firm belief that the Federal Reserve system - with its fractional reserve lending, lack of accountability to the people (via Congress) and the market (via price fixing of interest rates) - is going lead to the total devaluation our currency and the destruction of our nation's economy. What will fill that vacuum, without these alternative currencies, is subject for another column.

[June 5, 2009: Since this was published the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 has been introduced by Congressman Ron Paul and co-sponsored by over 180 House members from both sides of the duopoly, Republicans and Democrats. Even if the bill passes the house it faces a royal battle from the Senate, who is even more so in the pockets of the banksters on Wall Street,with such senate luminaries in finance as Chris Dodd and Chuck Grassely.]

In Fairfield, Iowa, those same coins are accepted at more than 15 merchants, from Mexican restaurants to Radio Shack.

They're called Liberty Dollars, and they're part of a movement called "community currencies," or "alternative" or "competing" and "complementary" currencies. And with the economy seemingly getting worse each day, you're likely to hear a lot more about them.

The crushing lack of leadership, underscored by the absence of even a rudimentary understanding of the factors that contributed to the current economic crisis, begins to unfold in the wake of a demoralizing vote by the U.S. legislature for a $700-billion bailout. The House of Representatives originally voted it down, obviously holding out for earmarks from the Senate. Incredibly, the Senate obliged, attaching an additional $125 billion worth of such bribes to ensure the House majority vote in favor of bailing out Wall Street, and indefinitely indenturing future generations with impossible debt.

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

- P.J. O'Rourke.

Thoughtful people love that quote. Here's why.