The Federal Reserve

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Even though I'm for an unbacked currency, I acknowledge that it is probably illegal for the federal government to print bills that are not backed by gold or silver coins (or some other metal).

Furthermore, because the Federal Reserve as an institution is not necessary for carrying into execution the power to coin money, it is probably illegal as well.

A constitutional amendment should be passed authorizing an unbacked currency. The Fed should be abolished, and a two thirds majority in both houses required to expand the money supply.

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If one day some Frenchmen "mined" $2 trillion out of the earth, how would you feel about that? They can now get $2 trillion dollars worth of productivity out of our economy without putting anything in! It's a scam!

Thankfully you can't "mine" dollar bills. You can, however, mine gold - and if you find gold, what you're getting away with is the equivalent of counterfeit. Not the moral equivalent, but the monetary equivalent: people's hard work and productivity in exchange for nothing.

I don't want people "counterfeiting" United States money. Gold can't be created, but what does that change when it appears out of nowhere. We, the People, cannot control how much gold is mined. Keep fundamental economics in mind also; we have to increase the money supply enough to keep pace with the number of goods and services. Under the gold standard, we the people are at the mercy of gold to do that for us.

Can gold do all that? I don't trust it, and I don't trust Congress; but do you trust Congress with the Constitution? In this country you need a two thirds majority to amend the Constitution. That's the ability to fundamentally change the way the country ticks.

Let's give the United States Dollar the same protection we gave those other important pieces of paper: a two thirds majority in our two chambers of Congress.

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I'm just illustrating a principle. Dollars only we can create, so you have to put work in to get work out.

The cure for inflation is the abolition of the Federal Reserve. When Congress wants to make money out of thin air, at least the Representatives and Senators in question will be accountable to the people and public scrutiny.

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But what is the point?

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What, in short, is the benefit?

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It's no more meaningless than government creating new money.

Also, government could just lower the amount of gold per dollar.

We need to have enough money to keep up with the goods and services, plus people shouldn't get productivity in exchange for a neat but useless metal.

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Finding gold is just as inflationary as creating pieces of paper.

Pieces of paper can be used to control the money supply to keep up with the exchange of goods and services, and this way you can't just "find" it. Countries with large amounts of gold won't get productivity for nothing.

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I want to abolish the Fed as much as everyone else, but creating money out of thin air is necessary to keep up with the number of goods and services. Or else the value of the currency would go up over time.

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In 1904, there are $5 billion in a country of 5 thousand people.

In 2004, there are $5 billion in a country of 5 million people.

You're trying to tell me that the dollar will not be worth more?

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All I get is a blank page.

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More gold was introduced over time.