The massive bailouts by the federal government over the last several years have not only changed the way our nation conducted its fiscal policy, but its monetary policy also. The enormous amount of spending by our government -- at a pace that increases the deficit annually at a rate higher than our total debt a few decades ago -- has been breathtaking to observe.
As a result of such spending, government is mass producing money to pay its bills. The government loves this approach to solving its problems for several reasons. First of all, since the government prints the money and releases it first, it enjoys this "funny money" at its highest value. It is only after it circulates through the economy that it loses its spending power and reduces the value of all other dollars in the market. Inflation is defined as "too much money chasing too few goods." High prices is only one of the many symptoms of such a policy. In addition, inflation plays on the ignorance of a population who has no idea that these increases in prices are caused by the mass production of devalued dollars. Most voters will blame businesses for their "greed" and price raising, not the politicians who make such a phenomenon necessary. Simply put, every new dollar pumped into the economy takes away the value of all the dollars in the market, unless there is a comparable increase in productivity.
Recently I discussed this problem on a recent Price Point Edition video. In one day in 2009, the United States took a chapter out of Zimbabwe's playbook by pumping $1.2 trillion into the money supply in an attempt to pay off its bills. We know from the Weimar Republic in Pre-WWII Germany, that inflation can become so bad that it is like worthless trash blown in the streets. Many Americans have (rightly) been alarmed by the more than $1.5 trillion we have seen in bailouts. According to the Washington Post, these inflationary efforts have the potential of being much more far reaching, noting that "combined with the billions already deployed by the Fed, the new money dwarfs even the biggest government bailouts of financial companies."
Historically, this type of monetary policy leads to the kind of inflation that we have seen in history books, where it is cheaper to use money for wallpaper than to buy it or it requiring a barrel of money to buy a loaf of bread. Printing worthless money will not make our problems away, but make issues we never imagined.
The purpose of this inflation is to serve as a tax by taking away the value (rather than the actual dollars) of all the money we hold. This is, however, one tax we can fight against because Americans can reduce their "monetary tax" burden with every precious metal purchase they make. Gold, silver, and other precious metals are at an all time high because of the inflation we have suffered over the last two years. It is only expected to get worse. Precious metals are a tool for shoring up the value of money. As the money supply is inflated, those with gold or other precious metals will see their wealth enjoy a greater level of protection and their "monetary tax" burden greatly reduced. Those who do not move towards precious metals either do not fully appreciate our current economic crisis or are as apathetic as the millions of Americans who still sit on the sidelines rather than participate in the most important political battles of the day. People need to make a difference in the national economy through elections and their personal economies through precious metals.
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Kevin Price
Host
Price of Business on KTEK 1110, PriceofBusiness.com
Home of Bloomberg Radio on morning drive time.
Publisher and Editor in Chief, USDailyReview.com
Syndicated columnist whose articles appear on a variety of media outlets.
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