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There's no such thing as an all encompassing value.
Exactly. That's why a precious metals economy is just as faith-based as a paper currency or digital economy. It will continue to work as long as people have faith in the system. But when someone tells me our fiat system is broken ONLY because it is no longer tied to precious metals, I have to wonder why.
All of these economic games we play are done because they're more convenient. But in the event of a global meltdown, we will likely revert to the only honest method of economic exchange -- bartering. But then we'll have to work out the price of things in pigs and eggs and a day's labor.
Why do you think gold and silver have any real value? That's just "Money ver. 1.0" -- the stable version that replaced "Money beta 0.80 -- The Wampum Edition."
Precious metals have some industrial uses. They make decent enough jewelry. But they don't have any real value, either. They're just metals.
In the event of a global catastrophe, gold and silver will be even more useless than paper money -- it weighs more and is more of a chore to lug around as one flees from the tsunamis, zombies, etc.
In 1929 a $20 gold coin would buy you a nice suit. In 1965 a $20 gold coin would buy you a nice suit. In 1983 a $20 gold coin would buy you a nice suit. Today in 2014 a $20 gold coin will buy you a nice suit. Nothing has changed with what you can buy with a $20 gold coin. It remains the same. When our money is tied to something as predictable as a $20 gold coin then the money has value. Today that is not the case.
It is a huge priority for them...And local police don't investigate it, and aren't equipped to handle it. The US Secret Service does. Until 2003, the Secret Service fell under the auspices of the Treasury department. In the same way the BATFE investigates gun smugglers, USSS investigates major financial crimes and counterfitting. They even investigate the small time cases. There were two kids at my high school basically doing it off of a printer and one or two other processing steps IIRC. They were quite small time, they maybe passed a couple hundred dollars, and the secret service came with warrants and took apart the house looking for evidence of crimes.
You would think the local police would forward it to them. It just seems like when counterfeit happens a lot (in one area) it's ignored. Another poster said they called them about a similar situation and nothing happened. As I said I wonder I who is profiting from counterfeit money. Two teens are criminals, but a place that is regular "getting" (probably making it) all that money is suspicious. Why aren't they stores/restaurants being shut down?
Another thing that disturbs me is in the cases I've involved the police in. One for myself and one for my job, they never actually took the money. I destored as I am a moral person, but I could have just as easily turned around and passed it onto someone else. As opposed to say if I found drugs and told the police. Would the have caught the dealer? No, but I doubt they would have let me walk off with the drugs.
In 1929 a $20 gold coin would buy you a nice suit. In 1965 a $20 gold coin would buy you a nice suit. In 1983 a $20 gold coin would buy you a nice suit. Today in 2014 a $20 gold coin will buy you a nice suit. Nothing has changed with what you can buy with a $20 gold coin. It remains the same. When our money is tied to something as predictable as a $20 gold coin then the money has value. Today that is not the case.
The last time we sold a $20 gold coin, we charged appx. $1,500 for it. Even calling it a $20 coin is disingenuous.
More people desire precious metals than paper. I'm not suggesting that isn't the case. What I AM suggesting is that both are used as financial instruments because society has faith in them. Faith can be shaken.
Exactly. That's why a precious metals economy is just as faith-based as a paper currency or digital economy. It will continue to work as long as people have faith in the system. But when someone tells me our fiat system is broken ONLY because it is no longer tied to precious metals, I have to wonder why.
All of these economic games we play are done because they're more convenient. But in the event of a global meltdown, we will likely revert to the only honest method of economic exchange -- bartering. But then we'll have to work out the price of things in pigs and eggs and a day's labor.
That's not how it works. To have a gold standard, or any standard, you have to figure out how much gold a country owns. Then figure out the worth of that gold. Let's say you own a billion dollars worth of gold. Anyway you slice (1s, 5s, 10s, 100s,) all cash (and coins) owned should equal that. Not less and not more. One you have a billion and one dollars, there's a problem. Either the price of gold (or whatever your standard is) has to go up or your dollar is worthless. It causes inflation.
To the other part, bartering is probably one of the worst systems and the easiest to manipulate. Should male and female (which can have babies) be the same value? What my pig that is about to die tomorrow? What the young pig that's not full grown enough to produce the maximum amount of food or breed? I also think bartering depends too much on trust. Unless I pay you in cash, I can always prove I paid you with money. Credit card recipts or bank recipts or copies of checks. How can I prove I paid you a pig or you owe me a pig? It's your word against mine and vice versa. Honestly, I could see people in high positions taking advantage of that. I.e. I'm the Mayor of City Date would I cheat ScoopLV?!
. . . I pay you in cash, I can always prove I paid you with money. Credit card recipts or bank recipts or copies of checks. How can I prove I paid you a pig or you owe me a pig? It's your word against mine and vice versa. Honestly, I could see people in high positions taking advantage of that. I.e. I'm the Mayor of City Date would I cheat ScoopLV?!
It's called a receipt. Anyone can write and sign one.
It's called a receipt. Anyone can write and sign one.
Just as you said, anyone can make one. Who's to say I didn't forge giving you a goat or that you still owe me one? If I have a homemade receipt, not from a cash register, it doesn't hold up in court. They will ask you for proof that you withdrew the cash. If they didn't, anyone could go into court with homemade receipts and contracts and claim people owe them all sorts of things. You need something like from a register, or from the credit card company, or from the back (check proof, or withdrawl proof). How are you going to get that in an economy that doesn't take cash? Unless, we develop a Paypal like website for good trading. However, Paypal is still flawed and it deals with money.
Another thing that disturbs me is in the cases I've involved the police in. One for myself and one for my job, they never actually took the money. I destored as I am a moral person, but I could have just as easily turned around and passed it onto someone else. As opposed to say if I found drugs and told the police. Would the have caught the dealer? No, but I doubt they would have let me walk off with the drugs.
It sounds like an issue of apathetic police, or possibly even police who were on the take.
I gave the nieces cash in $2 bills on Christmas... they said it was interesting when they tried to spend it... some even thought it counterfeit.
There's a fair number of stories about $2 bills.. One guy was detained for quite some time at a Circuit City.. And there's a Taco Bell story as well.. Lemme see if I can find those.
I think it is useless, though. What bank would honor that now? What bank even carries gold? What's 10 dollars worth of gold? Isn't gold worth 1500? Here's you're 10/1500 or 1/150 piece of microscopic gold.
Umm.. Any bank or store. It's still a $10 bill.. Legal tender. The US never 'retires' currency. If I have a $20 bill from 1950.. It's worth $20 now. $20 now isn't worth $20 from 1950, but.. The bill is still worth $20. Once the bill makes it to the bank, generally it's going to be pulled from circulation and stuck in the 'recycle' pile to send off to be destroyed, and the bank will get a crisp new bill to take its place.
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