Mr. Rawles,
I have been reading your blog, particularly the Economics and Investing section, daily for about a year. (I had been turned on to your blog site after reading your novel “Patriots“ [1]
I don’t think this information will change the fact that our current system is speeding toward a complete collapse but at least I think I understand better who caused it and how we might have avoided it long ago (now being beyond the point of no return).
I hope you find this film interesting. The full length documentary (nearly two hours long) is available free at YouTube.
Thank you for your wonderful blog and all that you do to help people educate themselves.
Kind regards, – Dan T.
JWR Replies: Mr. Still’s documentary makes some valid points, most notably that debt-based currency in effect makes us slaves to the bankers. But Mr. Still misses one key point: 100% redeemable precious metals backing for a currency effectively limits the quantity of paper money that is issued. This is an inherently better system that one in which politicians are entrusted to not to over-issue currency. A non-debt based currency issued by the government (not by bankers) and that is specie-backed is the best option. As our 20th President, James Garfield once wrote: “Whoever controls the volume of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce…when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate. ” Garfield was assassinated in 1881. OBTW, I recommend Mr. Still’s previous documentary film project: The Money Masters [3].