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Bernanke is Wrong, Gold is Money

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today said that the Federal Reserve is prepared to act with an additional round of quantitative easing if there is any weakening of the U.S. economy and threat of deflation. Bernanke also said that the Fed could act in other ways to stimulate the economy, such as cutting the interest rate that the Fed pays to banks on their $1.5 trillion in excess reserves that they currently keep parked at the Fed. NIA believes this $1.5 trillion alone would multiply into $15 trillion once it circulates through the U.S. economy and if Bernanke on top of that unleashes any additional quantitative easing, it will just about guarantee hyperinflation. Bernanke has made it very clear that he is prepared to print money until the U.S. dollar becomes worthless and the incomes and savings of all U.S. citizens are destroyed.

Ron Paul today asked Bernanke whether or not he watches the price of gold and if he thinks gold is money. Although Bernanke admitted that he does watch the price of gold, Bernanke said that gold is not money, but it is only an asset. Bernanke explained that central banks only hold gold as a "tradition". The truth is, gold has been accepted as money throughout all civilizations over periods of thousands of years. Bernanke doesn't want U.S. citizens to wake up and realize that they can opt-out of the criminal Federal Reserve system if they get rid of their U.S. dollars and store all of their wealth in gold and silver. To see a video of Ron Paul's exchange today with Bernanke, simply visit our blog at: http://inflation.us/blog/2011/07/video-of-ron-paul-asking-bernanke-if-gold-is-money/

The U.S. Constitution defined gold as legal tender and the current fiat currency system we have today where Bernanke can steal from the purchasing power of the poor and middle-class and redistribute this wealth to his banker friends on Wall Street is unconstitutional, immoral, and illegal. The U.S. dollar originally only had purchasing power because it was backed by gold. Today, the U.S. dollar is a fiat currency that is backed by nothing. Any remaining purchasing power the U.S. dollar still has is just an illusion and will soon evaporate due to Bernanke's actions.

In order for an item to function as money, it should be liquid and easily tradable, easily transportable, and durable. It should be divisible into smaller units without destroying its value and should also be fungible, meaning one unit of equal weight must be equivalent to another (which is why diamonds can't be used as money). The item must also be a specific weight, measure, or size, so that it is easy to count. It must be long lasting, durable, and not perishable or subject to decay (which is why food items can't be used as money).

Money must be easily recognizable and most importantly, it must be difficult to counterfeit. The U.S. dollar simply isn't real money because Bernanke has been counterfeiting trillions of dollars out of thin air. Money shouldn't require a mark or image to be valuable, but it should just be valuable based on weight and measure. Gold is valuable based on its weight and measure, and fits all of these other qualities and characteristics as well. Never do people explore shipwrecks hoping to discover U.S. dollars, because dollars that Bernanke can print at will even if they could survive the corrosion of the ocean, simply won't have any purchasing power left by the time explorers can locate them. People explore shipwrecks for gold, because it will last underwater for thousands of years and always retain its value.

When Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe ordered their central bank to implement exactly the same monetary policies that Bernanke has been ordered to implement here in the U.S., the Zimbabwe dollar became worthless and Zimbabweans were forced to pan their rivers for gold. Citizens of Zimbabwe who were able to find 0.1 gram of gold after a long hard day's work of shifting through thousands of buckets full of mud, were able to take that 0.1 gram of gold and exchange it for a loaf of bread. Those who were too old or weak to pan for gold simply couldn't afford food and starved to death.

NIA recommends to all U.S. citizens that they read this eHow article about homemade gold panning: http://www.ehow.com/how_7763218_homemade-gold-panning.html This is a skill all Americans will need to have in order to survive hyperinflation. Unfortunately, unlike in Zimbabwe, most gold in U.S. rivers has already been explored for, so Americans might not be as lucky as Zimbabweans.

In order for an asset to be considered money, its supply must be kept scarce. Bernanke has spent a total of $4.7 trillion since the financial crisis of late-2008, which has flooded the world with excess liquidity of U.S. dollars and led to massive inflation in the prices of food and energy, the two items that Americans need most to live and survive. The inflation problems in China are a direct result of their currency peg to the U.S. dollar and willingness to accept the dollars we print in return for the real goods they produce. As soon as the Chinese central bank decides to end their currency peg, China's currency will increase in purchasing power and all of the monetary inflation the U.S. has exported to them will flow back to the U.S. like a giant tsunami.

Ron Paul today pointed out exactly what we said in our last article. Since the last Presidential election about three years ago, the U.S. dollar has lost about half of its purchasing power priced in gold. Although the U.S. government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported only 2% annual price inflation over the past three years, when you account for how the U.S. government used to calculate price inflation before the implementation of hedonics and quantitative easing, annual price inflation has actually been closer to 9%. Soon when price inflation begins spiraling out of control, Bernanke will be forced to raise the Fed Funds Rate north of 10%, which will cause our interest payments on the national debt to soar to over $1 trillion per year. The U.S. government will then need to immediately end Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all other entitlement programs, to have any chance of survival.