Re: [A-List] Ron Paul on the Dollar's Woes

["Xxxx Xxxxxx" <xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Anne. Thanks for posting this information. where is it from? can you give
the exact citation?

is this a speech at the House of Representatives?

thanks,
---
Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Ph.D Candidate, ABD
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222

----- Original Message -----
From: "Anne Williamson" <annewilliamson@xxxxxxx>
To: <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 8:57 AM
Subject: Re: [A-List] Ron Paul on the Dollar's Woes


>
>
> The Declining Dollar
>
> by Rep. Ron Paul, MD
>
> US House of Representatives, June 5, 2002
>
> Mr. Speaker, I have for several years come to the House floor to express
my
> concern for the value of the dollar. It has been, and is, my concern that
we
> in the Congress have not met our responsibility in this regard. The
> constitutional mandate for Congress should only permit silver and gold to
be
> used as legal tender and has been ignored for decades and has caused much
> economic pain for many innocent Americans. Instead of maintaining a sound
> dollar, Congress has by both default and deliberate action promoted a
policy
> that systematically depreciates the dollar. The financial markets are
keenly
> aware of the minute-by-minute fluctuations of all the fiat currencies and
> look to these swings in value for an investment advantage. This type of
> anticipation and speculation does not exist in a sound monetary system.
>
> But Congress should be interested in the dollar fluctuation not as an
> investment but because of our responsibility for maintaining a sound and
> stable currency, a requirement for sustained economic growth.
>
> The consensus now is that the dollar is weakening and the hope is that the
> drop in its value will be neither too much nor occur too quickly; but no
> matter what the spin is, a depreciating currency, one that is losing its
> value against goods, services, other currencies and gold, cannot be
> beneficial and may well be dangerous. A sharply dropping dollar,
especially
> since it is the reserve currency of the world, can play havoc with the
> entire world economy.
>
> Gold is history's oldest and most stable currency. Central bankers and
> politicians hate gold because it restrains spending and denies them the
> power to create money and credit out of thin air. Those who promote big
> government, whether to wage war and promote foreign expansionism or to
> finance the welfare state here at home, cherish this power.
>
> History and economic law are on the side of the gold. Paper money always
> fails. Unfortunately, though, this occurs only after many innocent people
> have suffered the consequences of the fraud that paper money represents.
> Monetary inflation is a hidden tax levied more on the poor and those on
> fixed incomes than the wealthy, the bankers, or the corporations.
>
> In the past 2 years, gold has been the strongest currency throughout the
> world in spite of persistent central bank selling designed to suppress the
> gold price in hopes of hiding the evil caused by the inflationary policies
> that all central bankers follow. This type of depreciation only works for
> short periods; economic law always rules over the astounding power and
> influence of central bankers.
>
> That is what is starting to happen, and trust in the dollar is being lost.
> The value of the dollar this year is down 18 percent compared to gold.
This
> drop in value should not be ignored by Congress. We should never have
> permitted this policy that was deliberately designed to undermine the
value
> of the currency.
>
> There are a lot of reasons the market is pushing down the value of the
> dollar at this time. But only one is foremost. Current world economic and
> political conditions lead to less trust in the dollar's value. Economic
> strength here at home is questionable and causes concerns. Our huge
foreign
> debt is more than $2 trillion, and our current account deficit is now 4
> percent of GDP and growing. Financing this debt requires borrowing $1.3
> billion per day from overseas. But these problems are ancillary to the
real
> reason that the dollar must go down in value. For nearly 7 years the U.S.
> has had the privilege of creating unlimited amounts of dollars with
> foreigners only too eager to accept them to satisfy our ravenous appetite
> for consumer items. The markets have yet to discount most of this monetary
> inflation. But they are doing so now; and for us to ignore what is
> happening, we do so at the Nation's peril. Price inflation and much higher
> interest rates are around the corner.
>
> Misplaced confidence in a currency can lead money managers and investors
> astray, but eventually the piper must be paid. Last year's record interest
> rate drop by the Federal Reserve was like pouring gasoline on a fire. Now
> the policy of the past decade is being recognized as being weak for the
> dollar; and trust and confidence in it is justifiably being questioned.
>
> Trust in paper is difficult to measure and anticipate, but long-term value
> in gold is dependable and more reliably assessed. Printing money and
> creating artificial credit may temporarily lower interest rates, but it
also
> causes the distortions of malinvestment, overcapacity, excessive debt and
> speculation. These conditions cause instability, and market forces
> eventually overrule the intentions of the central bankers. That is when
the
> apparent benefits of the easy money disappear, such as we dramatically
have
> seen with the crash of the dot-coms and the Enrons and many other stocks.
>
> Now it is back to reality. This is serious business, and the correction
that
> must come to adjust for the Federal Reserve's mischief of the past 30
years
> has only begun. Congress must soon consider significant changes in our
> monetary system.
>
> Congress must soon consider significant changes in our monetary system if
we
> hope to preserve a system of sound growth and wealth preservation. Paper
> money managed by the Federal Reserve System cannot accomplish this. In
fact,
> it does the opposite.
>
> Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.
> Ron Paul Archives
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