tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769829.post114262403962059591..comments2024-02-09T19:44:17.241+00:00Comments on AngloAustria: Faking ItJack Maturinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00903651577858853608noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769829.post-1143025741762557792006-03-22T11:09:00.000+00:002006-03-22T11:09:00.000+00:00What was the chance of that! Well, what Jack said ...What was the chance of that! Well, what Jack said too.cuthhyrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01968641875699995321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769829.post-1143025609315376092006-03-22T11:06:00.000+00:002006-03-22T11:06:00.000+00:00Is it not as simple as point out that inflation ne...Is it not as simple as point out that inflation never makes anyone richer? <BR/><BR/>What it does do is allow government to spend more in the short term, effectively borrowing against the country's future earnings without it actually showing up on the books as borrowing. So the people at the top of the inflation chain make short term gains, whilst those at the bottom (the general public) make a loss as their wages are devalued to compensate for the increased supply of money. <BR/><BR/>You are right, mechanisation, industrialisation, computerisation, etc. are the processes that have made us richer, however we would be richer still if the money we earnt was not continually devalued.<BR/><BR/>I'm sure Jack could explain it better than me and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think those are the general points.cuthhyrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01968641875699995321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769829.post-1143025162840941622006-03-22T10:59:00.000+00:002006-03-22T10:59:00.000+00:00Well, the market survives despite the predations o...Well, the market survives despite the predations of government. It is not <I>because</I> of government that we have grown wealthier, but <I>in spite</I> of government.<BR/><BR/>I'm currently running a conference in Dublin, so don't have time to write a decent answer. But you probably want to get hold of Hoppe's 'Democracy: The God that Failed'. For a taster in the general area you're interested in, go to this page:<BR/><BR/>http://www.mises.org/hoppeintro.asp<BR/><BR/>Read the whole thing, but you're probably most interested in the paragraph's starting:<BR/><BR/>While history will play an important role...<BR/><BR/>As to your friend, you'll notice that throughout the Victorian Age of the gold standard, average wealth rose incredibly. As soon as we came OFF the gold standard, we went straight into two world wars, a cold war, lived under the constant threat of MAD annihilation, the 1970s, and more financial booms and busts than you could shake a banana at, the worst being the 1930s, swiftly followed by the post-2000 Internet crash.<BR/><BR/>If that is success, compared to the never-ending growth of the Victorian age, then please give me failure. (And this was despite the British Victorian government deliberately trying to instigate wars, such as the hilarious Crimean War, in order to revive the Income Tax and government growth - Gold kept the buggers in check).<BR/><BR/>Gotta go, I'm afraid - Clients demanding service...Jack Maturinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00903651577858853608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769829.post-1143020331636883462006-03-22T09:38:00.000+00:002006-03-22T09:38:00.000+00:00Discussing this with a friend yesterday. I pointed...Discussing this with a friend yesterday. I pointed out how the currency unit was worth less than 2% of its value since H8ths time.<BR/><BR/>She said, yea but.. We are still an aweful lot more affluent today than then. Yes, there are the super rich, the Barons then and today, the King of Saudi or Warren Buffet for example. But the increase in wealth to most of the population appears to have occurred since the second world war. Just when inflationary policies really started to take off.<BR/><BR/>Is it possible to rebut the claim that the generally inflationary policies persued since 1945 are the cause of todays relitive affluence?<BR/><BR/>I mumbled something about cheap energy and greater automation (a higher degree of innovation) having more to do with our affluent circumstance than inflationary government policies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769829.post-1142862900617767022006-03-20T13:55:00.000+00:002006-03-20T13:55:00.000+00:00That's brilliant! You took me quite by surprise wi...That's brilliant! You took me quite by surprise with the new look coin - I imagine them coming out of ATMs like winnings on a Las Vegas slot machine!<BR/><BR/>Something I have wondered (but not really thought through), is what would be the result of the UK again adopting, say, the gold standard whilst everyone else continued on their merry fiat way? How would that affect money markets and so on?cuthhyrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01968641875699995321noreply@blogger.com