Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Libertarian Belief That Fractional Reserve Banking is Flawed Does Not Reflect Responsible Journalism

  1.  The m0 of the United States exceeds the m1, AND the m0 and m1 are almost identical (~$2.7T : $2.42T  is a 112% reserve ratio! This shows it a little more clearly.)
  2. The total financial asset value of the United States is $131T. We are a RICH, RICH nation. If there's a country on this entire planet where it makes sense for the citizens to have no poverty or economic deficiencies, it's definitely the United States.
  3. Here is an example of misinformation by Libertarian sources. It's about Ron Paul claiming that the Federal Reserve has destroyed 98% of the value of the dollar since 1913. This calculation holds no merit whatsoever, and is a blatant misinterpretation of this source of information by leaving out the fact that people historically were earning less and less money the farther back in time you go. (for instance- in 1933 the minimum wage was less than a thirtieth of what it is today, which is completely ignored when claiming that this is 'evidence' of the destruction of the purchasing power of the dollar.) In fact- since 1913, the dollar buys things that people in 1913 could never have dreamed of: cell-phones, sex toys, video games, computers, affordable GPS technology for their tractors, etc. The likelihood of someone being able to afford a 12 dollar steak dinner in 2013 matches the likelihood of a person in 1920 being able to afford a 1 dollar steak, which is really what it boils down to- the reality of all the context that governs one time period's citizens' financial standings vs that of the present era.
  4. YES- Conspiracy theory is REAL. Here is what I would show anyone, regardless of whether or not they believe or disbelieve, in order to prove beyond reasonable doubt that conspiracy theory is definitely legitimate. But if people are becoming conspiracy theory empathists because of Ron Paul (cough Tila Tequila), then we all end up looking like a bunch of bigoted buffoons. Conspiracy theory should be removed from a political party affiliation, in my opinion, simply because it's about good journalism. Journalists should always select the parts of any political ideology that are correct, and abstain from any loss of their sense of humor and political flexibility. In short- indoctrination and journalism do not and should not go hand in hand as they do when it comes to libertarianism and conspiracy theory journalism.
Update: OK technically the version of 'm0' that I'm using is actually "monetary base", but it's not like federal reserve deposits aren't reserves that actually back the m1 or anything. It's just a technicality, and it only confuses things if you're approaching the question from how you'd learn about it as a student.

My wall of shame for various libertarian blogs that are spouting complete bullshit lies and propaganda (will update this on a continual basis, but keep in mind that it's too depressing to find these jewels of insanity on reddit "buried" amongst the top comments on all the most ignorant sub-reddits):
  1. This ignorant fool thinks that somehow $32B is backing $7.4T (I have no idea wtf kinda evidence there is for that, but I know the article does not explain it at all.)
  2. This example of propaganda shows how m0 and m1 are confused for the federal deficit in relation to america's financial assets. The 1:9 ratio does not show up in the actual m0 and m1 values at all, but these people don't care and think they know everything about how "fractional reserve banking is insanity". 
  3. Here is another example of propaganda claiming that the present day economy's money is worthless in comparison to the money of the past. The incomes of the people living in 1913 are never mentioned, so you're forced to assume that people in 1913 must've been getting EXTREMELY cheap prices on things, as if opening your wallet in today's economy is the same as opening your wallet in a 1913 economy. People in 1913 didn't have money in their wallets, and if they did, it was a direct reflection of the CPI for that era, as would be normally translated by what you'd expect as rational in today's economy.
  4. This example shows the "truth" that Libertarians want to believe. It's completely misleading and does not reflect any actual understanding of what m0 and m1 actually are.

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