Wealth Battery

I've been wanting to create a visual representation of dollars to gold. Today, I've received my inspiration. Jacob G. Hornberger has written an article that I'm going to quote from that frames the picture at left is so perfectly. Image if you had saved a $10 gold coin in 1907. Today, the gold contained in that coin would be worth about $260. However, if you had first converted that gold coin into U.S. currency--face value $10--you'd only have about 4 cents. I hope you weren't planning on retiring on your savings!

 

Anyway, here's the quote (with a little emphasis added):

 

Given the rising price of gold and the fact that federal spending is totally out of control, the prospect of gold confiscation and criminalizing the private ownership of gold by federal authorities inevitably rears its ugly head.

 

There are few things that federal big spenders hate more than gold. Why? Because they know that, historically, gold has provided the best means by which people could protect themselves against the ravages of a rapidly depreciating currency.

 

The mainstream press often uses the term "inflation" to describe rising prices. That's incorrect. Actually, when the general price level is rising, that's a result of inflation, not inflation itself. Inflation is the process by which governments print up the money to pay for ever-increasing expenditures.

 

Why not instead simply increase taxes on people in order to get the money to pay for the soaring expenses? There's an obvious reason: Taxes make people angry at government officials. It's much easier and safer to simply print the money because then most people have absolutely no idea that the government is behind what is happening.

 

When prices of commodities, goods, and services start rising in response to the depreciating quality of the money, the average person is likely to blame those in the private sector, such as oil companies, speculators, and businessmen, for the woes.

 

Being unaware of economic principles, people will even demand that federal officials impose price controls and excess- profits taxes on the evil offenders, a demand that the authorities are often willing to oblige.

 

You can continue with Mr. Hornberger's excellent article by clicking here. U.S.currency, in case you hadn't noticed, is a lousy way to store wealth.