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Many people, Ron Paul included, mistakenly think that the gold standard is inflation proof. One of the worst runs of inflation in history was while much of the world was on the gold standard.
Our currency is based on a percentage of the GDP, so it's not valueless, and it grows. In order to have a healthy economy, we have to maintain a small percentage of inflation, between about 1% and 7%, with 3$ to 4% being what is normally needed.
To what event are you referring? In what way was a gold standard currency inflated?
"Gold and Economic Freedom" by Alan Greenspan is a good essay on the subject. It can be found through google if you're interested in reading it.
Also, if you don't mind, please clarify your last statement for me. Do you mean that a rate of inflation of 3-4% is healthier for the economy than a rate of 0%? If so, why?
Why not cure world poverty by convincing all nations to pass a minimum wage law?
I'm still working on my re-education, but I think I'd like to take a stab at answering this question. I may still be wrong, if I am, then the reason why I'm wrong might help push me towards the correct answer.
The minimum wage law isn't an anti-poverty measure, it's a "minimum standard of living guarantee" for those who are can be employed at a profit to the employer at the price point established by the minimum wage.
And even if world poverty could be "cured" by a minimum wage law, such a law isn't the only prerequisite for an economy that can provide employment. It would also require at least a rule of law, an enforcement of business ethics and standards, a stable money supply, and probably a lot of other things that I don't know about.
Why is water cheaper than diamonds when it is essential to life? Because diamonds are scarce and water, in many places, is not as scarce.
Diamonds are not scarce, the control and manipulation by De Beers Company and others make them scarces.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostInTheShell
"why is healthcare so expensive in the first place? The quick, and wrong, answer is supply and demand. Yes, it would all come down to supply and demand if the market was unregulated, but it's not. Healthcare is expensive because the government put its little hands in it and messes it up (now they want to take it a step further by imposing even more regulations to "repair" what they've already messed up)
Healthcare is expensive because of supply and demand? Please explain how government increased the cost of healthcare?
I haven't read all nine pages of this so maybe it's already been mentioned but...
The minimum wage is meant to be an entry level wage for those with limited skills and experience. If you're 30 years old and still earning close to minimum wage, get thee some skills! If you're still the fry guy 12 years after high school, maybe it's time to move on. Yes, it's hard work and it could mean working full time as the fry guy while attending school or other training programs. Heaven forbid someone actually work a 10 hour day and then go to school for 3-4 hours. That investment in yourself as hard as it may be is a means to an end, a better end. I understand that some people go through tough times and end up with a lower wage than most but there are many examples of those who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and then moved up in the wage world. Be one of those people!
The minimum wage is meant to be an entry level wage for those with limited skills and experience. If you're 30 years old and still earning close to minimum wage, get thee some skills! If you're still the fry guy 12 years after high school, maybe it's time to move on.
That is easily said "get some skills". Some people are unble to do so. Some people will always be at the entry level. The minimum wage is to protect the people that are unable, due to mental, physical, budget, learning disability, skill level, etc. to move ahead or on.
Healthcare is expensive because of supply and demand? Please explain how government increased the cost of healthcare?
I think Ron Paul offers a very good explanation on pages 86 - 90 in "The Revolution: A Manifesto". Here's an excerpt, "Because HMOs always want to minimize their costs, they often deny payment for various drugs, treatments, and procedures. Similarly, Medicare does not have unlimited funds, so it generally covers only a portion of any costs. The result of all this is that doctors and patients cannot simply decide what treatment is appropriate. Instead, they constantly find themselves being second-guessed by HMO accountants and government bureaucrats. When a third party is paying the bills and malpractice lawsuits loom, doctors have every incentive to maximize costs and order all possible tests and treatments. The incentive to cut costs is lost, as physicians (now working essentially as low-level employees) seek to make as much as they can in the new corporate environment and charge the maximum the HMOs allow. Before 1965, physicians and hospitals (like all other private entities competing for your dollar) strove to charge the minimum; because payment now comes so largely from third parties, they instead charge the maximum. At the same time, patients suffer when legitimate and necessary treatment is denied. HMOs have become corporate, bureaucratic middlemen in our health care system, driving up costs while degrading the quality of medical care. In all other industries, technology has nearly always led to lower prices--except in health care, thanks to the managed-care system that has been forced upon us. In fact, with costs skyrocketing due to this system, more and more Americans are actually traveling overseas to get high-quality inexpensive health care--half a million of them took this route in 2005 alone."
That is easily said "get some skills". Some people are unble to do so. Some people will always be at the entry level. The minimum wage is to protect the people that are unable, due to mental, physical, budget, learning disability, skill level, etc. to move ahead or on.
That's what community is for. Noone, nor any government, has the right to forcibly steal the product of our labor and give it to others. If our tax burdens were lower, most of us would be more than willing to donate more of our time, money and skills to help those in need as we saw fit, in whatever way we found most efficient. As we saw fit, voluntarily.
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