Money, Security and Marshall Plans

["John Gelles" <johng@xxxxxxxxxx>]

o  More than one activist movement has suggested
    new Marshall Plans to help develop Africa, stop
    global warming, or do other necessary tasks at
    a cost that may be nearly beyond reckonning.

o  Since the days of the Marshall Plan we no longer
    pay US government gold for dollars held by allied
    central banks. We also no longer tax wealthy
    individuals and corporations at high marginal rates.

o  Critics of our Federal Reserve System ask that
    we move from our central and commercial bank
    monopoly over the money supply to a system
    that supplements Federal Reserve Notes with
    US Treasury Notes when Congress deems them
    necessary.

o  We know if we had the need, Congress would
    impose wage and price controls. It would also
    re-regulate bank interest within the system pro-
    tected by Federal Deposit Insurance. It would
    bring back savings bond drives and do all that
    was necessary to support production of critical
    national tools to survive in a sea of peril.

o  What we do not know is the best approach to
    survive less apparent perils such as all the short-
    ages of care, education, infrastructure, defense
    and foreign aid, that we do without because we
    do not want to raise taxes.

o  Although some experts say to raise taxes, others
    suggest we should alter our system to mimic the
    way we found the money to fight WW II. Only
    we should do this without wage and price con-
    trols and without a high tax regime.

o  One can imagine the cost of homeland defense
    added to the cost to reach full employment in a
    green environment will require more money than
    we have. In addition, there are those Marshall
    Plans the world needs.

o  If a President or Congress or both were to go
    to the Universities for ideas to solve the above
    problem, what would be the advices they are
    likely to receive?

        John Gelles