Yeah, yeah... I'm an obnoxious prick; doesn't mean I'm
not usually right!
(*CHUCKLE*)
Anyway... read Schiff's column... and if my snide running
commentary doesn't apply to you... pat yourself on the back and then do
something useful - pass this info on!
* * *
* * *
A recent article on the Wall Street Journal’s blog draws
attention to the high cost of producing a single penny – 1.6 cents each, to be
exact.
* PONDER WHAT YOU'VE JUST READ, FOLKS... (SURE... I'LL
WAIT WHILE YOU MAKE YOURSELF A COCKTAIL...)
They blame this unsustainable price on the high cost of
zinc, which makes up 97.5% of every American penny. The online publication
Quartz ran with this story, giving it a new headline: “It costs 1.6 cents to
make one penny because of the rising price of zinc.”
Time for a short economics lesson:
An alternate, more accurate headline for this story would
be, “It cost 1.6 cents to make a penny because of currency debasement.” Rather
than pondering whether or not the United States should simply stop producing
pennies to save money, Americans should really be thinking about the long-term
effects of currency debasement that has been going on for generations.
* THE AMERICAN SHEEPLE... THINK...? SURELY YOU JEST,
SIR!?
To debase a currency is to weaken its purchasing power.
* YOU JUST LOST HALF THE SHEEPLE AT THE WORD "DEBASE."
(*SNORT*)
This is often done by inflating the money supply through
quantitative easing, which the Federal Reserve has been practicing for years.
* ARTIFICIALLY LOW INTEREST RATES TO SPUR BORROWING OF FIAT
DOLLARS... BASICALLY HIGH-QUALITY MONOPOLY MONEY BACKED BY THE NUCLEAR ARSENAL
OF THE UNITED STATES AND...
(*SHRUG*)
* AND... WELL... THAT PRETTY MUCH COVERS IT. (BLIND
FAITH. HABIT.) (HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A DEAD BODY TWITCH OR MOVE?) (YOU DO KNOW
THAT A CHICKEN WILL ACTUALLY RUN AROUND WITHOUT ITS HEAD FOR A SHORT TIME -
RIGHT?)
When a currency is debased, a unit of that currency
doesn’t buy the same amount of stuff that it once did. The U.S. dollar has been
seriously debased over the last hundred years or more. Just take a look at the
handy infographic at the end of this blog post to see how bad it has become.
* HERE.
Currency debasement is the same reason why the U.S.
ditched the copper penny in 1982, as well as silver half-dollars, quarters, and
dimes in 1964. Today we call these old silver coins “junk silver,” and they’re
popular physical precious metals investments. However, they’re anything but
junk – they actually contain a useful commodity that has held its value for
centuries. It’s not that zinc or copper or silver has become “too expensive,”
it’s that those coins have lost some of their purchasing power.
* VIA DELIBERATE GOVERNMENTAL POLICIES... POLICIES
FOLLOWED BY BUSH... THEN DOUBLE-DOWN UPON BY OBAMA. (FOLKS... ULTIMATELY THE
PRESIDENT CONTROLS THE FED - NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.) (SEE: REAGAN, RONALD;
VOLCKER, PAUL)
The government debases our currency and says it is
because it became too expensive to produce instead of the real reason –
destructive monetary policies. The policies of central banks around the world
are supposed to stabilize economies and protect the people from currency
debasement. However, the truth is that these policies only enrich the
politically well-connected, while hurting the poor, those on fixed incomes, and
savers.
* AND THE MIDDLE CLASS! (DON'T FORGET THE MIDDLE CLASS!)
When currencies aren’t debased, prices tend to fall, not
rise. This gives more purchasing power to the poor, those on fixed incomes, and
savers.
* AND... THE... MIDDLE... CLASS...!!!
It also decreases the need to gamble savings in the stock
market, which means you have fewer bubbles like the one we’re experiencing
right now.
(*NOD*)
So the next time a friend brings up the pretty well-known
fact that it costs more to produce a penny than it's worth, take the time to
educate them about currency debasement.
* YES... EVEN THOUGH THAT FRIEND PROBABLY HAS A COLLEGE
DEGREE... PERHAPS A MASTERS... PERHAPS EVEN A DOCTORATE.
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