1/31/2012 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…
{Editor”s note: The following is the long awaited conclusion of the series “Of Money and Metals.” Please click here to view the Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV}
Free money also renders null and void any arguments as to what constitutes good or bad money, for this determination will be made on a daily basis by producers and consumers rather than a monetary authority who is acting on mere theory with severely limited data.
Absent the government declaration of what is money and how much said “money” is worth, there is no longer bad money driving out good money, as Gresham’s Law so perceptively observes. What remains, then, as the ultimate determinant of what is money and how much it is worth are the two parties to a transaction, who are generally in the best position to determine such matters.
“But this would destroy exchange as we know it!” comes the cry from apologists of legal tender laws. “No one will know what anything is worth, let alone how to pay for it!”
On the contrary, the free operation of the money supply would, by necessity, cause everyone engaging in exchange to be acutely aware of both what constitutes money and how much it is worth. It is legal tender laws which serve to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes as to the true value of money.
When seen through a different lens, that of the free operation of the money supply, the absurdity of legal tender laws becomes clear. Commodity (free) money is unhindered by the artificial restraint of existing debts and is constrained only by the productive will of society. Commodity (free) money is free to accurately reflect the price of goods and services in light of the perceived supply and productive capacity of both goods being exchanged, that being offered in exchange and that offered in payment as money.
Money, as most people instinctively understand it, is simply an ordinary good whose utility and value are greatly enhanced by its wide acceptance in trade. If one strives to remove the “cost” of producing money, as Adam Smith so nobly aspired to do, it is clear that the best way to do this is to allow the good which is acting as money to be produced in the most efficient way by the greatest number of artisans as are necessary to fulfill the present demand for money.
But how would all of these artisans, blindly creating all of this commodity money, know when to stop producing were it not for legal tender laws?
Here, there is no risk of oversimplifying the answer, for the answer is painfully simple. As persons competing in the free market who have chosen to produce money, they are likely to be the first to know when there is too much money in circulation, for their orders for new money will uncannily drop when the economy has enough money to function efficiently.
Further, any commodity that is only marginally used in the production of money will quickly and smoothly have its supply directed to other, more efficient uses as the incentive (realized margin) to use it as money is incrementally reduced as supply begins to overtake demand. Each producer is therefore free to choose his or her exit point.
Take the case of copper. If copper becomes monetized by the free will of the participants in the economy, it stands to reason that it could be demonetized by the same free market operation. Should economic activity slow to the point where the pace of saving and exchange no longer calls for copper to assume a role as money, as copper is demonetized those holding copper will find it more efficient to melt the copper that they have in monetary form and sell it as a consumer good.
The process of demonetization is simply a matter or free choice when something occurring in nature is used as money. It first moves to the fringes of use as money, as a Jeton or modern day casino chip is used in place of money. In time, the material will be demonetized completely.
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European Jeton from 1598 courtesy of Wikipedia.org
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Debt, when used as money, enjoys no such elasticity. By necessity, when debt is forced into a role as money, it causes an unnatural proliferation of credit, so that when the inverse of Gresham’s law begins to operate (good credits push bad credits out of circulation) the unnatural restriction on the money supply assures that even the best of credits will go bad, and the money supply along with them.
When debt is demonetized, usually by force, the result is more often than not a severe hyperinflation followed by war.
Legal tender laws, such as the modern laws which declare that debt is money, are futile at best and generally destructive. They do, however, permit a small group to reap the monetary margin that the artificial monopoly on money creation allows them for at time.
Accepting that an inanimate object is no longer worth what one thought it was can be disappointing, but at least one still has said inanimate object. In the case of debt, accepting that someone cannot deliver what they promised tends to create feelings of resentment and remorse which, depending upon the size of the failure, can lead to violence.
Soon, the world will learn that using debt as money is a dangerous violation of the very laws of nature. As with any violation of natural law, the consequences may be withheld for a time, but they are never avoided. The longer they are artificially withheld, the more swiftly and severely the consequences will be meted out when they can no longer be repressed.
For no man, or group of men, regardless of their number, clairvoyance, or special powers they profess to have, can suspend or accelerate the operation of natural law. The Creator alone reserves that power for himself.
There is a perfect balance in God’s creation. Yin and yang, male and female, mercy and justice, heat cold, money and debt. Calling one extreme the by the name of other is futile and leads only to confusion and destruction.
It is only a matter of time.
Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.
Stay Fresh!
Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com
P.S. For more ideas and commentary please check out The Mint at http://www.davidmint.com/
Key Indicators for January 31, 2012
Corn Price per Bushel: $6.39
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 1.80%
FED Target Rate: 0.09% ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 1.80%
FED Target Rate: 0.09% ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce: $1,737 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY
MINT Perceived Target Rate*: 1.50%
Unemployment Rate: 8.5%
Inflation Rate (CPI): 0.0%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,633
Unemployment Rate: 8.5%
Inflation Rate (CPI): 0.0%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,633
M1 Monetary Base: $2,152,800,000,000 RED ALERT!!! THE ANIMALS ARE LEAVING THE ZOO!!!
M2 Monetary Base: $9,782,800,000,000 YIKES UP $1 Trillion in one year!!!!!!!
M2 Monetary Base: $9,782,800,000,000 YIKES UP $1 Trillion in one year!!!!!!!
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