on PolicyMic
Barry Lyndon Dear Senator Paul, Since 2008 this Great Recession has destroyed countless livelihoods and jeopardized the future of a generation Millennials. At the same time, many people are waking up to the key role that monetary policy plays in the economy, particularly its causative role in the boom/bust cycle. Ideas like returning to the gold standard, transitioning to digital currencies like Bitcoin and putting an end to fractional reserve banking have never been so popular. What is your vision for a stable, decentralized monetary policy worthy of the libertarian tradition and fit for the 21st century?
Barry Lyndon Thanks for clarifying, that makes sense. Here in Europe "pro-growth" is code for full on New Deal style government spending projects like digging holes and filling them back in again- Roosevelt/Keynesian politics to the max. I disagree with Keynes at the best of times, but I give him credit for the fact that he advocated that the state should run surpluses and save in the good times to spend in the bad. But in America, with 16T debt and an exhausted dollar that is simply not an option on the table.
Barry Lyndon Benjamin, do you mean growth of the economy or growth of the state? I ask because in my experience those who call themselves "pro-growth" seem always to prefer the latter. The truth is the economy heals itself but only if the right conditions are there to do it.
Barry Lyndon Rand has always been pro-Israel, as was Ron Paul by the way. What he is saying is that he wants Israel to be self-sufficient and to end aid to Israel's enemies, and that he would only support war if there was an "all-out attack" on Israel- and then only if congress authorized it. What is wrong with that position?
Barry Lyndon I think you are misrepresenting his position. His actual statement made clear that it would only an "all-out attack" on Israel would be treated as an attack on the US. He also made clear in such statements that he would only go to war if the congress authorized it, as the constitution demands and as he has been campaigning for. But he has certainly never been anti-Israel so to call this a "flip-flop" is totally wrong. Rand wants Israel to be an independent, self-sufficient nation and wants to stop giving aid to nations that burn the US flag. I think Senator Paul is being smart here.
Barry Lyndon Wow, I think you need to wash the sand out of your mangina here. E.L. James? Pussy Riot? The bar must be pretty low if these women are considered benchmarks for genuine female achievement, in either literature or politics.
Barry Lyndon The crimes of one individual should not be conferred onto a whole generation. It is unfair in my opinion to claim that all Millenials (including you and me) are somehow corporately responsible for the actions of a lone wolf. I believe in free will and personal responsibility. The use of the mystical "we" dilutes the essential fact that only individuals can make choices and commit crimes not "we" and certainly not whole generations. The issue of mental illness and society is a conversation that needs to happen. America can be a hard society at times and individuals need to have greater kindness and sensitivity to each other. However gun control doesn't work.
Barry Lyndon Actually that makes sense. Big government has become the orthodox, both for Democrats and Republicans. Those who want to get reduce government are the real rebels- everyone else wants to grow it.
Barry Lyndon Oh, I can't vote since I'm Irish, but if I were I'd probably vote for Tony Soprano. That desk...
Barry Lyndon Great article Sarah. From my point of view it highlights one important fact- voters really do make split second judgements on political candidates. It's a natural human instinct. They pretty much have always done since the Kennedy/Nixon debate appeared on TV. Even before then it would be things like how powerful an orator you were over the radio or in person. In fact go back to the Romans and it was who killed the most men on the battlefield! Considering the situation in the US where it appears Obama has decidedly lost the magic of 2008 and the only other choice is the Rombot, to me it shows the futilityof entrusting so much power and responsibility over hundreds of millions of lives on one single fallible individual.
Barry Lyndon I have absolutely no doubt of her merit- I'm sure a company as prestigious (even formerly) as Yahoo would not choose less than the best. Just I'm sure those other particular publicity/PR handles don't hurt ;)
Barry Lyndon I know this is cynical, but if Yahoo wants to be successful they want people talking about them. And what better way to get people talking about Yahoo than hiring an attractive, pregnant woman as the new CEO? It's worked by the looks of it...
Barry Lyndon To be honest, having known many Mormons, I can vouch that while some may disagree with their philosophy and practises, as people and as a community they are actually quite nice and very commonly misunderstood. There is nothing in their practise that can be seen as any worse than anything out of Catholicism for example. Scientology on other hand has a history of violence, repression, imprisonment, stalking and high-grade swindling. I also know an ex-scientologist who had to go into hiding in Europe after he escaped and later wrote a book about his experiences. I wouldn't really equate the two of them- Mormonism may be weird but it's pretty harmless.
Barry Lyndon I know Kevin, and he is not interested in using the politics to change society. Though some of the arguments he uses in places could do with being a little more intellectually rigorous in my own opinion, I have no doubt he is a libertarian. Sinn Fein on the other hand combine nationalism with lefty socialism. They want One Ireland along with huge economic redistribution. Also many of their members have and would use violence to achieve their aims, which is antithetical to the libertarian non-aggression principle. I would count myself as a patriot but not a nationalist. The two are different. Nationalism is political, patriotism is cultural. Nationalism kills, whereas patriotism motivates, inspires and doesn't hurt anybody.
Barry Lyndon Inflation, even price stability inflation is unsustainable and creates distortions that lead to bubbles and busts. What you need is a return to density: low prices, resource backed currency, maximum purchasing power. That is better social policy too because it means the poor will be able to afford a higher quality of living. It doesn't make any difference if wages are affected, because it will be overcome after a period of correction by the increase in production.
Barry Lyndon Hello J., As an interview, this is the opinion of Kevin not my own. Myself I personally think deflation is what is supposed to happen in an economy. I know businessmen don't like it, but if you think about it that's the way it used to be. Most business owners and bankers would take an income which would bear some relationship to reality; the constant inflationary rise (price stability is a hoax- if in a natural state of affairs there would have been 5% deflation, and fiat activity kept inflation at 1%, that would be 6% inflation just unseen). Deflation is a good thing. As for currency I think the simplest thing would be to have private issuers of resource based money, unrelated to nationality or how much gold is in the central bank.
Barry Lyndon Hello Steven, thanks for your comment but I'm a little confused by you being worried about it being a cult- especially if it stands for free expression, individual liberty and the eradication of tyranny from society. Or are you working on a different definition of the word?
Barry Lyndon Great article- you'd make a pretty good guru!
Barry Lyndon o_O ?
Barry Lyndon Gotta love the totally random insertion of Ron Paul's name into the title for the sake of SEO :P
Barry Lyndon This is ridiculous, politically-correct hogwash. Not denigrating him or his<br>disability, but how on Earth can you quantify whether his leg-replacements give him an<br>unfair advantage/disadvantage to the other competitors? Doesn't he now have a weight<br>advantage? It's also probably going to ruin the competitive spirit because the other<br>runners will probably feel guilty and deliberately let him win or something. Disabled<br>people should not be allowed to compete with able-bodied athletes- it is totally<br>absurd not to mention unfair on both sides.
Barry Lyndon Great article Jeanne, just one minor correction- the European rate is called EURIBOR<br>rather than ERIBOR. Maybe just ask the editors to tweak it slightly :)
Barry Lyndon Right on!
Barry Lyndon Tim Thomas. No words.
Barry Lyndon Good point. I put that in but forgot to complete the point, that it's actually part of a story arc. But point taken. I actually like the Richard Dreyfuss character, especially the scene where he's singing with Quint and Quint talks about his time on the USS Indianapolis. One of my favourite scenes in the film.
on PolicyMic
Barry Lyndon Dear Senator Paul, Since 2008 this Great Recession has destroyed countless livelihoods and jeopardized the future of a generation Millennials. At the same time, many people are waking up to the key role that monetary policy plays in the economy, particularly its causative role in the boom/bust cycle. Ideas like returning to the gold standard, transitioning to digital currencies like Bitcoin and putting an end to fractional reserve banking have never been so popular. What is your vision for a stable, decentralized monetary policy worthy of the libertarian tradition and fit for the 21st century?
Barry Lyndon Thanks for clarifying, that makes sense. Here in Europe "pro-growth" is code for full on New Deal style government spending projects like digging holes and filling them back in again- Roosevelt/Keynesian politics to the max. I disagree with Keynes at the best of times, but I give him credit for the fact that he advocated that the state should run surpluses and save in the good times to spend in the bad. But in America, with 16T debt and an exhausted dollar that is simply not an option on the table.
Barry Lyndon Benjamin, do you mean growth of the economy or growth of the state? I ask because in my experience those who call themselves "pro-growth" seem always to prefer the latter. The truth is the economy heals itself but only if the right conditions are there to do it.
Barry Lyndon Rand has always been pro-Israel, as was Ron Paul by the way. What he is saying is that he wants Israel to be self-sufficient and to end aid to Israel's enemies, and that he would only support war if there was an "all-out attack" on Israel- and then only if congress authorized it. What is wrong with that position?
Barry Lyndon I think you are misrepresenting his position. His actual statement made clear that it would only an "all-out attack" on Israel would be treated as an attack on the US. He also made clear in such statements that he would only go to war if the congress authorized it, as the constitution demands and as he has been campaigning for. But he has certainly never been anti-Israel so to call this a "flip-flop" is totally wrong. Rand wants Israel to be an independent, self-sufficient nation and wants to stop giving aid to nations that burn the US flag. I think Senator Paul is being smart here.
Barry Lyndon Wow, I think you need to wash the sand out of your mangina here. E.L. James? Pussy Riot? The bar must be pretty low if these women are considered benchmarks for genuine female achievement, in either literature or politics.
Barry Lyndon The crimes of one individual should not be conferred onto a whole generation. It is unfair in my opinion to claim that all Millenials (including you and me) are somehow corporately responsible for the actions of a lone wolf. I believe in free will and personal responsibility. The use of the mystical "we" dilutes the essential fact that only individuals can make choices and commit crimes not "we" and certainly not whole generations. The issue of mental illness and society is a conversation that needs to happen. America can be a hard society at times and individuals need to have greater kindness and sensitivity to each other. However gun control doesn't work.
Barry Lyndon Actually that makes sense. Big government has become the orthodox, both for Democrats and Republicans. Those who want to get reduce government are the real rebels- everyone else wants to grow it.
Barry Lyndon Oh, I can't vote since I'm Irish, but if I were I'd probably vote for Tony Soprano. That desk...
Barry Lyndon Great article Sarah. From my point of view it highlights one important fact- voters really do make split second judgements on political candidates. It's a natural human instinct. They pretty much have always done since the Kennedy/Nixon debate appeared on TV. Even before then it would be things like how powerful an orator you were over the radio or in person. In fact go back to the Romans and it was who killed the most men on the battlefield! Considering the situation in the US where it appears Obama has decidedly lost the magic of 2008 and the only other choice is the Rombot, to me it shows the futilityof entrusting so much power and responsibility over hundreds of millions of lives on one single fallible individual.
Barry Lyndon I have absolutely no doubt of her merit- I'm sure a company as prestigious (even formerly) as Yahoo would not choose less than the best. Just I'm sure those other particular publicity/PR handles don't hurt ;)
Barry Lyndon I know this is cynical, but if Yahoo wants to be successful they want people talking about them. And what better way to get people talking about Yahoo than hiring an attractive, pregnant woman as the new CEO? It's worked by the looks of it...
Barry Lyndon To be honest, having known many Mormons, I can vouch that while some may disagree with their philosophy and practises, as people and as a community they are actually quite nice and very commonly misunderstood. There is nothing in their practise that can be seen as any worse than anything out of Catholicism for example. Scientology on other hand has a history of violence, repression, imprisonment, stalking and high-grade swindling. I also know an ex-scientologist who had to go into hiding in Europe after he escaped and later wrote a book about his experiences. I wouldn't really equate the two of them- Mormonism may be weird but it's pretty harmless.
Barry Lyndon I know Kevin, and he is not interested in using the politics to change society. Though some of the arguments he uses in places could do with being a little more intellectually rigorous in my own opinion, I have no doubt he is a libertarian. Sinn Fein on the other hand combine nationalism with lefty socialism. They want One Ireland along with huge economic redistribution. Also many of their members have and would use violence to achieve their aims, which is antithetical to the libertarian non-aggression principle. I would count myself as a patriot but not a nationalist. The two are different. Nationalism is political, patriotism is cultural. Nationalism kills, whereas patriotism motivates, inspires and doesn't hurt anybody.
Barry Lyndon Inflation, even price stability inflation is unsustainable and creates distortions that lead to bubbles and busts. What you need is a return to density: low prices, resource backed currency, maximum purchasing power. That is better social policy too because it means the poor will be able to afford a higher quality of living. It doesn't make any difference if wages are affected, because it will be overcome after a period of correction by the increase in production.
Barry Lyndon Hello J., As an interview, this is the opinion of Kevin not my own. Myself I personally think deflation is what is supposed to happen in an economy. I know businessmen don't like it, but if you think about it that's the way it used to be. Most business owners and bankers would take an income which would bear some relationship to reality; the constant inflationary rise (price stability is a hoax- if in a natural state of affairs there would have been 5% deflation, and fiat activity kept inflation at 1%, that would be 6% inflation just unseen). Deflation is a good thing. As for currency I think the simplest thing would be to have private issuers of resource based money, unrelated to nationality or how much gold is in the central bank.
Barry Lyndon Hello Steven, thanks for your comment but I'm a little confused by you being worried about it being a cult- especially if it stands for free expression, individual liberty and the eradication of tyranny from society. Or are you working on a different definition of the word?
Barry Lyndon Great article- you'd make a pretty good guru!
Barry Lyndon o_O ?
Barry Lyndon Gotta love the totally random insertion of Ron Paul's name into the title for the sake of SEO :P
Barry Lyndon This is ridiculous, politically-correct hogwash. Not denigrating him or his<br>disability, but how on Earth can you quantify whether his leg-replacements give him an<br>unfair advantage/disadvantage to the other competitors? Doesn't he now have a weight<br>advantage? It's also probably going to ruin the competitive spirit because the other<br>runners will probably feel guilty and deliberately let him win or something. Disabled<br>people should not be allowed to compete with able-bodied athletes- it is totally<br>absurd not to mention unfair on both sides.
Barry Lyndon Great article Jeanne, just one minor correction- the European rate is called EURIBOR<br>rather than ERIBOR. Maybe just ask the editors to tweak it slightly :)
Barry Lyndon Right on!
Barry Lyndon Tim Thomas. No words.
Barry Lyndon Good point. I put that in but forgot to complete the point, that it's actually part of a story arc. But point taken. I actually like the Richard Dreyfuss character, especially the scene where he's singing with Quint and Quint talks about his time on the USS Indianapolis. One of my favourite scenes in the film.