more from the Zarlenga link:
"Unhappily, mankind's experience with private money creation has undeniably been a long history of fraud, mismanagement and even villainy. Banking abuses are pervasive and self-evident. Major companies focus on misusing the money system instead of production. For example, in June 2005, Citibank and Merrill Lynch paid over $1.2 Billion to Enron pensioners to settle fraud charges.
Private money creation through fractional reserve banking fosters an unprecedented concentration of wealth which destroys the democratic process and ultimately promotes imperialism. Less than 1% of the population claims ownership of almost 50% of the wealth, but vital infrastructure is ignored. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives a D grade to our infrastructure and estimates that $1.6 trillion is needed to bring it to acceptable levels.
That fact alone shows the world's dominant money system to be a major failure crying for reform.
Infrastructure repair would provide quality employment throughout the nation. There is a pretense that government must either borrow or tax to get the money for such projects. But the government can directly create the money needed and spend it into circulation for such projects, without inflationary results."
he wants to use money as an instrument of social policy, and therefore needs to give the govt the power of making money. He thinks that if this power resides with govt, it will not be abused, as opposed to our current use of a privetely owned federal reserve, in which this power is abused to allow the bankers to profit.
He thinks that govt will use this power to create infrastructure, ie, productive goods, rather than destructive wars or perhaps induced economic expansion and contraction with the intent of consolidating wealth into the hands of banking insiders.
Essentially his system gives a blank check to whoever has the power to write it...ie, govt or the bankers...and the check has a claim on the wealth of individual citizens.
This fiat money has no creative power, it is only the power to extort wealth from those who have earned it.
The only money that will serve as wealth protection is a money backed by a tangible, eg gold.
Zarlengas thesis is that central planning leads to prosperity...and therefore we should allow the govt to use the tool of fiat money...no?
Robin
Heinz essay was brilliant, imo.... |
