This week, I decided we should lay down some foundational elements of discussion before we go any further. What would Fed News Friday be without understanding where all this money comes from or where it originated from?

If you are a fan of Murray Rothbard you would know that he loves dividing ham sandwiches and using tractors to explain the grief with bartering and currency. He also claims in The Case Against the Fed, that money doesn’t just appear as a medium of exchange. The government can’t just close their eyes, spin around, and pick the money for a country. It develops. Today we may see that America uses paper currency, backed by debt, for purchases and though its worth amounts to nothing…the American people still exchange their hard work for it.

If you walked around and asked the public today what money is (ooo do I smell another Harvard Square visit), they would most likely answer dollars, credit cards, checks, coins, etc. Even economist Paul Krugman finds himself describing it in this ever-changing fashion.  This outlook seems to be missing an important element: the fundmentals of money and its origin. When and why did people begin to accept dollar, credit cards, checks, and coins as money? Why isn’t Murray’s ham sandwich in your wallet?

In a small community if there was no developed form of money, but resources to produce useful things how would you decide what is money or how to sell/buy what you produce? Do you think walking into a community whose resources help them produce several food and health products would be interested in your tattered green pieces of paper (dollar)? Barter (or the double coincidence of wants) has been proven as a logical option in smaller communities, but you run into problems with bartering that make this mode of exchange very inconvenient.

Chances are within a community without a developed currency, the market would take its course and a medium of exchange would evolve.  For instance, if everyone loved apples because they are a source of medicine and food, as well as native growing, then there is a possibility that apples could be used as a medium of exchange/money. However, let’s keep in mind some of the ideal qualities of money:

• divisibility
• industrial or other uses
• durability
• convenient mobility

Apples are easily divisible so you could cut an apple in half in exchange for that bar of soap. The uses are apparent because of its food and health benefits which may be important to this community. The downfall with apples is their durability. You leave an apple alone for too long and it becomes brown and soft, no longer appealing to one’s appetite. Also, not everyone is ok with having apple bulges from stuffing their pants and purses with the fruit/money. Yet, if they were abundantly produced this may not be a significant issue. Thus apples would be the most marketable commodity in this community, and according to Austrian Economist, Ludwig Von Mises…that’s money! Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: megan

With the approaching three day weekend and subsequently heavenly four day work week due to Martin Luther King Day, politicos the nation over will be wont to claim Martin Luther King, Jr.’s efforts as closely related to their own goals in an effort to establish some sort of legitimacy-granting political heritage in the tradition of the claiming of Jesus and the Founding Fathers.  Most people, political or otherwise, will also engage in the offering of vague platitudes to an  inhuman rendering of this complex historical actor.

This blogger expects that the 2011 incarnation of the holiday will additionally yield many references made in connection to the recent assassination attempt of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and associates by Jared Loughner in Tucson, Arizona, and the idea that political violence is unacceptable.  This message, which, , is a totally reasonable idea in terms of means, but the ends shouldn’t be a middle ground of compromise beyond the statist right and left but the exposing of the political system and its laws as they exist as the premier system of violence in existence. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Ross Kenyon

The Federal Reserve is the central bank’s third round of existence in the U.S. First it was the First Bank of the United States from 1791-1811, then came the Second Bank of the United States which eased the debt amounts from the War of 1812.  The Second Bank’s lifeline was 1816-1836…similar to the First Bank’s 20 year span.

How were the first two disposed of? Congress voted NOT to renew the charter of the First Bank (by only one vote did this pass) and Andrew Jackson refused to renew the Second Bank’s charter.  Both instances focused on the unconstitutionality of the central banks.

The Economic Collapse Blog covered the top 10 things that wouldn’t be so if we had nipped our current Federal Reserve’s being in the bud:

So how would America be different if we could go back to 1913 and keep the Federal Reserve Act from ever being passed? Well, the following are 10 things that would be different if the Federal Reserve had never been created….

#1 If the U.S. government had been issuing debt-free money all this time, the U.S. government could conceivably have a national debt of zero dollars. Instead, we currently have a national debt that is over 14 trillion dollars.

#2 If the U.S. government had been issuing debt-free money all this time, the U.S. government would likely not be spending one penny on interest payments. Instead, the U.S. government spent over 413 billion dollars on interest on the national debt during fiscal 2010. This is money that belonged to U.S. taxpayers that was transferred to the U.S. government which in turn was transferred to wealthy international bankers and other foreign governments. It is being projected that the U.S. government will be paying 900 billion dollars just in interest on the national debt by the year 2019.

#3 If the U.S. government could issue debt-free money, there would not even have to be a debate about raising “the debt ceiling”, because such a debate would not even be necessary.

Continue reading with The Economic Collapse Blog…

h/t LewRockwell.com

Posted by: megan

Some of our prizes on the Fiat Money Bomb day include this great guide to silver investing.  Find out the why’s and how’s from the silver communities well-versed, David Morgan. If you look closely you will see a shiny piece of metal next to the book, you guessed it!  We will be raffling off 1/2 oz pieces of silver from Silver-Investor.com and 1 oz Silver Circle rounds.

This is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.  Any pledge from $10 to $1,000 will be entered into the drawing.  Visit today to join the raffle and help Silver Circle bring our film to Sundance Film Festival.

Posted by: megan

Posted by: Zoe

Posted by: megan

Yet ANOTHER set of awesome prizes we are giving away on the day of the Fiat Money Bomb. David Morgan has been in the Silver world for over 30 years and considered one of the top authorities in the Silver market. According to their newsletter they predicted back in 2004 that “Gold will outshine silver”. Guess what it did!

2004—Silver was up 15% for the year and gold was up just over 6%. The Market did correct recently but the Bull Market is far from over.

2010—Silver was up 89% and gold 24%.

Our goal is to help you make as much money as safely as possible. Stone Investment Group researches the right gold and silver dealers, digs out mining equity investments of merit, by helping you find real opportunities not hype!

On the day of the Fiat Money Bomb we will have the Basic One-Year Membership to the “Morgan Report” ($130 value) and a Basic Plus Trading One-Year Membership (their most popular valued at $270).  To learn more about the other subscription offers visit Silver-Investor.com.

On top of free membership’s…Yes! there’s more…David Morgan’s book Get the Skinny on Silver Investing will also be raffled as well as some Silver-Investor 1/2 ounce silver rounds! These are some great prizes you don’t want to miss.  Pledge to the Fiat Money Bomb today and be entered to win the day of the bomb!

Posted by: megan

I recently decided to pick up Case Against the Fed, by Murray Rothbard for a second go around.  One theme he tackles in his short and sweet book is the act of counterfeiting.  You don’t hear much on the issue in mainstream headlines, however it is happening all around us.  Counterfeiting is considered one of the most punishable of crimes, even though the privileges of counterfeiting are granted to one particular agency…the Federal Reserve.

An article I came across in my pursuit of counterfeit encounters was called, “Secret Service Reports Surge in Counterfeiting”. Contrary to my initial though this article wasn’t about the Fed’s quantitative easing…it was about the $132 million the Secret Service has pulled in through 2010. Which is hardly comparable to the trillions of dollars the Fed has legally printed, counterfeited, in the last year. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: megan

The day of the Fiat Money Bomb will consist of some awesome giveaways. Some of those prizes include the ALWAYS popular bumper stickers from LibertyStickers.com. Take your pick from the awesome stickers that were donated to Silver Circle’s Fiat Money Bomb:

Visit LibertyStickers.com to find more of their stickers that help you spread the liberty message from your backside, let’s face it…everyone’s always looking at the backside……..of your car on the highway!  Take advantage of the attention and spread the message of liberty, or pledge to the Fiat Money Bomb and you will be entered to win bumper stickers that will be given away all through the day (February 1st).

Posted by: megan