To question money-printing as the one-size-fits-all solution to every economic problem is to question the power structure of the status quo.
It is tiresomely obvious that we live in an era dominated by the idea that virtually all economic difficulties can be fixed by printing more money. There are various means of distributing the new money, but the dominant ideology is really very simple:whatever the problem might be, the solution is to print more money and/or issue more credit.
If the problem persists, clearly, we didn’t print enough money/credit.
That such a simplistic formula might not work cannot be questioned, as money-printing is the source of all political and financial power. To question money-printing as the one-size-fits-all solution to every economic problem is to question the power structure of the status quo.
And that, of course, is not allowed.
Today’s essay on money-printing and power was written by longtime contributor/essayist Jeff W. Jeff titled his commentary How You Can Tell If You Are Living under the Rule of Money Printers.
How You Can Tell If You Are Living under the Rule of Money Printers
by Jeff W.
“In most of human history, people have lived under the rule of taxing authorities. The way a taxation system works is easy for anyone to understand. Businesses and individuals pay taxes to the state, and the state spends that tax money on armies, road construction, police, courts and jails, education, propaganda, lavish lifestyles for the top dogs, etc.
But what if you live under a regime of people who obtain their wealth not through taxation but through money printing? The money printers will not tell you that they are in power over you.Â
Money printers always go to considerable lengths to disguise their money printing. The money they print in today’s world doesn’t just roll off government printing presses; it is loaned into existence by a central bank or other banks, which makes the whole process of money creation much more difficult for citizens to understand. So without them telling you that they rule over you, how can you know?
In this discussion, I shall list some of the ways a money printing regime behaves differently from a taxation regime. You can then identify a money printing regime by its actions.
A taxation regime prospers when its tax haul increases. Thus an intelligently-managed taxation-funded regime will take actions to promote the general welfare, as the U.S. Constitution calls it. This regime wants businesses and individuals to prosper so that it can obtain a larger tax haul from them. Thus the interests of the people and of the taxation regime are aligned. They become partners, so to speak, in desiring increased prosperity, and they share in that increased prosperity if it comes.
In a well-managed taxation regime, the state incentives entrepreneurs and workers by allowing them to keep a large share of their earnings. Taxation regimes make management mistakes all the time, setting taxes too high or allowing corruption to seep into their administrations, but under an honest and intelligent taxation regime, the state and the people can work together to achieve success.
