printIs The “Fed Head.” The dubious honor Ben Bernanke has earned for counterfeiting more money than any other figure in the “history of the world”; for being more powerful than the president—who “at least has to come before Congress” every now and then when demanding funds—for enjoying complete freedom from any oversight, and for being an instrument of fiat, easy money, inflation and the business bubbles (or cycles).
Still, Ron Paul, that impish giant—also a “student of the Fed” and its most effective critic—remains positive, while insisting that Ben Bernanke is Time’s Man of the Year not because he saved us, but because he afflicted us with ever easier money and lower interest rates; doubled the money supply and has hastened the collapse of the dollar.
Update: Ron Paul again on the work of the Money Mafioso:
Legal tender laws force the people to become subject to this risk for the benefit of the rulers. Artificial demand for currency allows the authorities to create arbitrary amounts of it to pay for wasteful projects, like frivolous wars and an ever-expanding public sector. This saps the private economy of jobs and purchasing power, yet the temptation proves too great for politicians, time and time again. Our government is no different. Although our dollar has taken nearly a century to lose 98f its purchasing power, the fact that we are all obliged to participate in this slow burn of the economy on pain of imprisonment is anathema to the principles of liberty.
I introduced the Free Competition in Currency Act last week to free the people from these governmental threats. HR 4248 would repeal legal tender laws, prohibit taxation on certain coins and bullion, and repeal certain laws related to coinage. The prospect of people turning away from the dollar towards alternate currencies should provide incentive for Congress to regain control of the dollar and halt its downward spiral.
U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 17 Dec 2009 at 01:32:32 AM GMT is:
$ 1 2 , 1 3 9 , 4 0 6 , 7 5 7 , 0 8 6 . 3 3
The estimated population of the United States is 307,480,485
so each citizen’s share of this debt is $39,480.25.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.87 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
Concerned, why should we be- Ben’s in charge.
The signal feature of the current fashion in recognition, honors, and prizes, seems to be that it brings attention to the culprits – all well worth knowing – and indicting.
Unfortunately Ben is as much a victim of our politicized higher education as the next guy. He simply cannot think outside the current paradigm. Like most of the public who get all of their information from the controlled media outlets, his limited concepts of right, wrong, good, bad prevent him from going beyond his own self imposed boundaries for answers.