My Archives: April 2008

My Archives: April 2008

Friday, April 4, 2008

Statement by the Libertarian Alliance on the Financial Crisis

Time to Return to Gold
The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and civil liberties policy institute, today issues the following statement on the present run of crises in the financial markets. This statement is prompted by the various calls made for closer regulation of the financial sector.
Libertarian Alliance Director, Dr Sean Gabb, says:
"The world may or may not be on the edge of financial collapse. But the present run of banking crises is only the latest consequence of the ending of the gold standard. Since 1914, and more particularly since 1971, the ability of governments to create unlimited amounts of fiat money has led to bubble after bubble, each one larger than before. Financial markets have become little more than casinos. Immense resources have been diverted into the promotion and management of speculation. All other economic activity has been subordinated to and therefore distorted by such speculation.

"The latest set of problems, brought on by fooling lending on property in America, is not a failure of the free market system. It is ultimately the effect of government monetary policies. The answer does not lie in some new set of regulations, which may prevent the next speculative frenzy.The true answer lies in the return to a more sensible and more honest set of monetary arrangements.

"We mean by this the return to a fully convertible gold standard.

"The Libertarian Alliance calls on the British Government to do the following:

* To order the conversion of all foreign currency reserves held by in the Bank of England into gold;
* To sell every reasonably marketable asset of the British State, to convert the proceeds into gold, and to lodge these at the Bank of England;
* To revalue the Pound, so that all claims on the Bank of England were equal to the gold reserve of the Bank of England:
* To impose on the Bank of England a legal obligation to pay all claims on it in gold, on demand and without limit:
* To impose on the Bank of England an obligation to do all within its ability, and nothing other than this, to maintain the new parity between the Pound and gold:
* To impose on all deposit receivers operating in the United Kingdom (unless explicitly exempted by contract) to pay all claims on them in gold, on demand and without limit;
* To make the directors or, if they are without the jurisdiction, the most senior management of all deposit receivers in the United Kingdom personally responsible for any failure to make such payments:
* To impress on any foreign government or central bank that might choose to fix a parity against the Pound that no assistance whatever would be given to maintain such a parity.

"We note that these measures would bring about first a severe devaluation of the Pound, and then a credit squeeze that deflated the value of real and financial assets. But this is what we seem already to be facing. A return to the gold standard would provide us with a stable financial system, and would tend to protect us against future bubbles, and would abolish the need for intrusive financial regulation.

"We also note that a fully convertible gold standard would make all money laundering laws unenforceable, and would severely limit the ability of the British State to finance its activities by the unlimited sale of bonds to the banking system. We would unreservedly welcome both these effects.

"We look forward to a Britain, and preferably a world, in which fiat money has become as unusual as state ownership of telephone networks, and in which paper and electronic money is a rare substitute for gold and silver and copper coins."

Posted by Christian Butterbach @ 01:07 AM GMT+1 [Link]
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

A Brand New Column By Jonathan David Morris! (or: A Cheap Ploy For JDM's Book)

By Jonathan David Morris
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
On Tuesday morning, August 27th, in the year 2007 of our Lord, I, Jonathan David Morris, suspended my popular weekly column for the first time in over six years.
Now I am back.
Well, I’m sort of back.
Okay, I’m not quite back, necessarily. More like dropping in.
I know you probably want me to say something clever about the election, but: (1) that’s not why I came here today; and (2) let’s face it: I’ve been gone a while. Everything clever has already been said.
No, instead of the usual politics, I would like to tell you about my book. That’s the reason I went on hiatus in the first place, as well as the reason God put me on Earth.
I knew there was no way I could write the book and the column simultaneously, but I don’t think I realized, way back in August, exactly why that was. Hindsight makes the decision much clearer. Not only did I not have time to write my column, but I didn’t have time for pretty much anything. It took six months and ten or more hours a day of writing to get this thing into some coherent form. On most days, I woke up several hours before the sun did. I didn’t get to bed till… well, I just never got to bed.
By my calculations, I must’ve put in at least one million hours of writing those six months. Maybe even more than a million. Maybe a billion. Maybe infinity. In the process, I managed to kill nine forests, just for the sheer amount of paper I used. So when you eventually read this thing, don’t just thank me—thank the forests for their sacrifice.
The good news is, after all my hard work, and after all that needless destruction of nature, the book you and I and the whole world have waited for is finally complete. The plot revolves around a serial sniper, but I don’t want to say much more.
The even better news is, the thing is freaking awesome. It’s also quite violent, insightful, and fun. By the time you get to the very last page, it’s safe to say you will understand existence. I can’t promise this novel will change your life forever, but it will.
Unfortunately, when there’s good news, that means there’s always bad news. And while the good news is the book is now finished, the bad news is you can’t buy it. Yet.
That’s where you come in, dear reader. Yes, JDM fans, I am asking for your help.
There’s a pivotal scene in the middle of this story where a guy tells a hooker we all have two choices. “We can either let history happen to us, or we can happen to history,” he says. I’ll let you guess what he’s referring to, but in the meantime I can tell you this: Now you can happen to history, too… by helping me happen to it.
Over the years, I’ve spoken with thousands of readers, with opinions as varied as the oceans are wide. I know for a fact there is something that unites them: They’re some of the coolest, most informed, and most loyal folks around. So before I start shopping this book to major publishers, I want to let those bigwigs know exactly who they’re dealing with. And that means you. Or us. Or we, the people. Whatever you want to call it.
If you want to read my book (and I’m hoping that you do), I want to make sure your voice is clearly heard. For that reason, a petition’s been established to make sure my novel hits store shelves. I’m asking all of my readers to sign this petition. Get your families and friends to sign it while you’re at it. Heck, clone yourself a hundred times over. I don’t care. Every signature counts.
To view and sign the Petition to Publish JDM’s Novel, simply visit the following online address:
http://www.petitiononline.com/readjdm/
While you’re there, be sure to leave a comment—and let the publishing world know you’re awaiting this book.
So that’s all for now, kind misters and mistresses. I’ll be back before you know it. But until then, I thank you.

Posted by Christian Butterbach @ 01:53 AM GMT+1 [Link]

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