Ron Paul and HR 1098: Free Competition in Currencies

[pmbug]

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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have re-introduced legislation to “Audit the Fed,” after a similar effort stalled in the last Congress.

But such a proposal, which has been vocally opposed by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, may face its best odds ever of becoming law. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans long critical of the Fed’s policies, and President-elect Donald Trump has heaped scorn on the central bank since the beginning of his presidential campaign.

Paul specifically mentioned Trump in a statement about the bill Wednesday, making clear the measure’s proponents believe they have an ally in their cause coming to the White House.

“The U.S. House has responded to the American people by passing Audit the Fed multiple times, and President-elect Trump has stated his support for an audit. Let’s send him the bill this Congress,” said Paul.
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http://thehill.com/policy/finance/312662-audit-the-fed-bill-gets-new-push

 

[pmbug]

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Former Congressman Ron Paul said that Bitcoin is a form of money, and money should not be regulated.

"Right now, if you buy and sell gold, you get it taxed, they can do that. If you make a profit in Bitcoin, you read stories about people being taxed on it. You can't tax money, you don't tax it. If you bought a dollar a year ago and it went down 10%, you can't take a loss because your dollar lost value," Paul told Michelle Makori, editor-in-chief for Kitco News.

Governments will always try to suppress alternative forms of money, Paul noted, but it's important to let the free markets decide what's best instead of having the state intervene.

"I will argue more the case for the legalization of freedom of choice and the people should make a decision, not the government," he said. "And the market will finally determine that my goal is to help legalize the competition. And I think the people will sort it out, freedom of choice will sort it out."

Ron Paul: Bitcoin should be legalized as money, let it compete with Dollar

Unfortunately, I don't think the audience is listening any more. The Free Competition in Currency Act was originally introduced in Congress in 2007. It died and had been successively re-introduced session after session until 2013. If crypto re-awakens interest in this legislation, I would be amazed.

 

[pmbug]

The New York Times published a report on Venezuela:

A few years ago, Venezuela was experiencing such devastating food shortages that people stood for hours in lines just for a chance to buy basic staples. Venezuelans reported losing an average of 24 pounds in 2017. Today, such hard times feel like a distant nightmare.

People can now buy groceries, medications and other goods that for nearly a decade were impossible to find, thanks to the informal dollarization of the economy and the partial lifting of price controls and import tariffs by President Nicolás Maduro’s government. After years of deprivation, near economic collapse and political chaos, this shift has improved the quality of life for many people across Venezuela. Using the dollar instead of the local currency, the bolívar, has its drawbacks, but it has brought fragile stability, for now.
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More: https://www.nytimes.com/es/2021/09/06/opinion/venezuela-dollarization-maduro-guaido.html

The main lesson to draw from this is that when faced with a currency crisis, people need another option. One day America will wake up and learn this fundamental truth but I fear it will be through first hand experience while the lessons of history are ignored.

On a related note, El Savador is full steam ahead with integrating Bitcoin as a parallel legal tender to the US Dollar. They are setting up Bitcoin as a competing currency to the dollar. Time will tell if the idea spreads to other nations.

 

[Goldbrix]

I agree that Ron Paul is really the only candidate who could fix this mess our country is in. Even with Ron Paul, we would still go through a lot of a lot of turbulence and pain.

But, he gets it. Honest money. He is very truthful (by political standards anyway).

And he does not have any problems with liberty of owning gold, in fact he is aggressive in recognizing gold's roles as wealth protector and liberty protector.

Still, if he cannot win the nomination I would rather have a Romney or a Gingrich than the current president. But, I think that anybody BUT RP is more part of the problem than part of the solution.

That is the problem with Western World govs. They treat the people like five year olds, and far too many enjoy being treated like five year old.
As Margaret Thrasher spoke of Socialism " It's all fun and games until you run out of other people money".
Well, now we have plenty of money, money that won't buy anything. gb

Homage to R. Kipling's - The Gods of the Copybook Headings. ( When Europe went through this Fabian Socialism late 1800s- early 1900s. Aka Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it.)
Verses here: https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_copybook.htm

Nut up folks this is gonna hurt, but we all will be better for it.

 

[Goldhedge]

Homage to R. Kipling's - The Gods of the Copybook Headings.

Never read that before. Spot on!

 

[pmbug]

Won't go anywhere in D.C., but it's nice to see that some people still talk about it.

 

[Joe King]

Won't go anywhere in D.C.,

As long as the People keep electing idiots who do not actually represent the Peoples interests, how could it go anywhere?

 

[pmbug]

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Arizona bills aim to make Bitcoin legal tender

Arizona State Sen. Wendy Rogers introduced a set of bills designed to make Bitcoin legal tender and allow state agencies to accept BTC as a form of payment.

www.kitco.com

The Arizona bill to make Bitcoin legal tender in Arizona wouldn't survive a Constitutional challenge if it passed, but maybe it will help raise the issues with legal tender laws and competing currencies.

 

[Ensoniq]

A great idea but akin to asking a rapist to voluntarily cut their prized appendage off

inflation is a feature

 

[pmbug]

Is it a feature or a bug (EMDEs = emerging markets and developing economies)?

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In EMDEs, crypto-assets are relatively popular. The more popular they are, the more they could erode the effectiveness of domestic monetary policy. Because people may start preferring crypto-assets or stablecoins over domestic currencies.
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Steven Maijoor: Crypto-assets regulation - from patchwork to framework

Speech by Mr Steven Maijoor, Executive Director of Supervision of the Netherlands Bank, at the Digital Asset Symposium, hosted jointly by the Bank of England and the Financial Stability Board, London, 10 October 2023.

www.bis.org