gold again

[mellowtigger]

I've been calling for a move to a money supply whose quantity is limited, as a way to prevent exponential inflation of the money supply.  I've suggested returning to a gold standard, as some countries are already trying to do today.  It never occurred to me to wonder how much physical gold there was on the planet, and how much value it would represent at today's prices.

Somebody else wondered.

"If we added up all the gold ever mined on the planet, its total value would equal no more than $5 trillion at today’s prices." and "If the gold industry is tiny, then silver’s $9 billion market cap makes it a nano industry."
- http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-how-will-niagara-falls-fit-through-garden-hose

So even the attempt to move to a gold standard as a valuation of wealth will require a huge increase in the value of gold.  Sure enough, in the last few years, gold prices have skyrocketed.  It was less than $300/ounce in 2001, and today it is over $1100/ounce.  I have read one interpretation that matches my own regarding the absurdity of using an inflationary fiat money system.  It's written by a "Chief Market Strategist", whatever that is.

For the past 9 years now, students of history and common sense have been literally shouting from the rooftops that Gold was the place to be as the monetary tradewinds shifted back in 2000 and the fiat inflationary cycle began to go parabolic. While the multi-trillion dollar deficits might be a surprise to many, for those who understand how these things work, it is just a mundane repetition of history and yet another confirmation that man cannot alter the laws of economics or his own intrinsic predilection to ignore events past."
- http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1258039701.php

Even more interesting, though, is an article written on 2009 November 7 by Martin A. Armstrong (who became a millionaire at age 15).  He describes a long American history of gold incidents.

"Yet GOLD has been a misconceived store of wealth perhaps since the dawn of time. ... The invention of paper money in the West came in the United States in the colonial era because there was a shortage of coin. ... Once you understand it is the money that is the issue dictating the outcome of the entire future economically, you start to comprehend far too many people don't have a clue as to what the hell they are saying. ... What is money is the key to understanding what we are dealing with."
 

I agree wholeheartedly, but... in this part (all emphasis is found in the original), he seems to succumb to the same mistaken thinking that inflation (population increase, resource increase) is still necessary and that's why we should avoid a gold standard.

"MONEY is not gold.  It is the full and complete productive capacity of the people that constitute the nation.  GOLD is the free HEDGE against the mismanagement of the state.  It is NOT a hedge against inflation! ...  If we returned to the GOLD STANDARD today, then by fixing the price of GOLD, private assets must decline for if the money supply cannot grow, the value of that money will rise in proportion both to the economy and the population."
- http://www.scribd.com/doc/22417671/GOLD-5000-11-11-09

He doesn't understand that he hit the Sustainable Society nail right on the head.  Perpetual growth is NOT sustainable.  He goes on to say that the problem with fiat money is only "the integrity of the politicians".  I disagree.  I think the problem with our own fiat money system is that it's used within a framework of exponential debt creation.  We need a money supply that reflects the fundamental reality that perpetual growth is impossible.  We need to pierce this human blind spot by choosing a financial system that keeps this reality prominently in our minds.

Personal greed, which fuels the "free market economy", is in perpetual supply.  Real world wealth, however, is not.  I want people to realize that if they are confined to 10 acres of land, then if they keep having children and grandchildren then everybody gets less and less wealthy.  Perpetual growth is bad.  We have more than 10 acres to work with, but the unfortunate restrictions of reality still apply.

I repeat my call for a move to a real-world valuation of wealth.  Gold, beer, beans; I don't really care.

Comments

[dodecadragon.livejournal.com]

I still think Energy (calories) is the only sane basis for wealth.

1 calorie expended = 1 cent

Everyone should be paid based on how much energy was used.

This website gives a good start at determining how many calories certain activities cost to do. http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php

[mellowtigger]

I think it's a fair place to start for evaluating the value of work assignments, yes.

I still wonder, though, how this new "money" comes into existence (is new money assigned when people are born?) or is destroyed (when people die or fail to repay obligations).

hmmm...how about.

[dodecadragon.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the child is born in debt to the calories used to create it (procreation, pregnancy, labor, etc.), and further debt for it's upbringing (food, clothing, shelter, education, etc.), so of course, the child is implanted with a credit/debit chip which also keeps track of vitals and calories expended/consumed performing various activities. Then when they start doing chores, their debt gets paid off. They then learn the value of hard work. This debt of course would be interest-free until they move out on their own. Then they will start being charged a fixed rate of .1% APR (a little incentive to get out of debt ASAP).

I suppose if folk die before their debt is settled, then all debtors get the lessor of A) An equal share of the deceased's estate equal to the percentage of the deceased's total debt or B) Whatever they are owed. Any excess credit would be distributed according to the deceased's will or to their next of kin (unless of course the next of kin or beneficiaries are responsible for the deceased's death.

Of course, the implant might as well connect them to the world wide wireless web while we're at it. Everyone would have instant access to all knowledge. Maybe install a cam to record one's entire life experience as well.

Hmm...this sound like it could make an interesting novel or movie. :o)

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

the problem has traditionally been, if you take away interest, what incentive do holders of wealth have to lend their wealth to people without it?

[mellowtigger]

Which is part of why I like the idea of beans as wealth. They have a finite lifespan, therefore stockpiling is useful only up to a point. Money with an expiration date is an interesting concept. It provides an incentive to keep the flow of money going on, encouraging people to use the stored value.

Traditionally, pitchforks and guillotines have been effective means of separating people from their power (not necessarily wealth). These days, I think that inheritance tax and eminent domain would be preferable.

I'm continually amused by the realization that all of these concepts are equally applicable to online MMORPG economies. People talk about the necessity of "money sinks" to remove the excessive supply from circulation.

I prefer biological comparisons, though. Bone stores calcium. Liver stores B12. Fat stores "calories". The organism as a whole can then send hormonal signals that demand the release of these stores for the good of the whole. Conceptually, I suppose that would be like calling for an increase of taxes on the rich during wartime or economic downturns. Listen to the hollering at that idea though, ugh. (Socialism! Transfer of wealth!) But that's exactly what's needed to keep the system as a whole in good health. If that's the best solution that evolution has created within organisms, I see no particular reason that we should avoid copying it for our own complex systems.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

did you ever see "City of Lost Children" ? beans actually ARE a form of currency.

[mellowtigger]

No, but the youtube clips of it look good. I'll keep an eye out for it on cable tv.