Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes
BOOK REVIEW: WHAT HAS GOVERNMENT DONE TO OUR MONEY
On 25 June 2009 I was invited to the Cafe Libertalia to speak at a book club where I was given the latitude to choose the book for discussion. I picked What Has Government Done To Our Money And The Case For A 100% Gold Dollar by Murray Rothbard. This book is an easy to read foundation for the student of the Austrian school of economics. Therefore, I think everyone should get and read a copy.
What Has Government Done To Our Money is 119 pages while The Case For A 100% Gold Dollar is 61 pages. It is printed on archival quality acid-free paper and has a sleek cover. This book makes a great addition to any library.
WHAT HAS GOVERNMENT DONE TO OUR MONEY
This is a well done objective monetary history. It discusses how money developed, the rise of fractional reserve banking and the constant meddling by government in money and currency. A key reason governments meddle in the money and currency markets is because it is a source of funding.
The reader learns some some basics of history, government and economics such as the development of monetary names, benefits of money, a short discussion on legal tender application and an entire part on The Monetary Breakdown of the West.
THE CASE FOR A 100% GOLD DOLLAR
This is a persuasive essay on why a 100% gold Dollar should be adopted. This essay originally appeared in the out of print and hard to find In Search Of A Monetary Constitution by Leland Yeager and published in 1962 by the Harvard University Press. While the arguments Rothbard makes are sound; I do not really agree because of advances in information technology and monetary evolution over the past 47 years.
Four and a half decades ago there was no Fandango, online checkin for airplane flights, etc. So likewise there have been advances made in monetary application and I am of the opinion that private digital commodity currencies, like GoldMoney, provide the most efficient solution to the monetary chaos the world has found itself in.
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
What Has Government Done To Our Money And The Case For A 100% Gold Dollar by Murray Rothbard is a quick and easy read divided into two main portions. I think the objective presentation of monetary history is a good read for anybody. The persuasive essay is a good read for anyone who wants to stimulate their analytical capacities; but keep in mind the essay is obsolete. Therefore, I think everyone should get and read a copy of this book.
You can get a free digital copy from the Mises Institute or purchase a physical copy from Amazon.
What Has Government Done To Our MoneyRELATED POSTS:
- The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson
- What Is Money
- Gold Religion and Government
- Inflation With Gary North Or Deflation With Mish
- Physical Gold In The Hands Of The People
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Tracy,
You’ve got to be kidding. If “advances in information technology and monetary evolution over the pase 47 years” are so much more important that a gold/silver based money system, then why is the economy in the tank? I’ll tell you why, decades of increases in suppy of money caused by the by the Government BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ON A GOLD/SILVER STANDARD.
47 years of advances in information technology and monetary evolution (ha ha) vs. 3,4 or 5,000 years of stable economies on the gold standard (well – stable as long as they STAYED on the gold standard). You can keep todays “modern” system…I’ll take the gold standard any day.
John OHare
I must agree with Mr. OHare. The PRINCIPLES of a gold standard are as immutable as gold itself.
Goldmoney Dot, is only an modern means of transferring right, title and interest, to a certain amount of physical gold to another party; but there are now 3 parties involved, which permits counterparty risk.
I’m still with Murray.
Jim,
There is a difference between counter-party and performance risk. Bullion held in trust via GoldMoney is not subject to counter-party risk but is subject to performance risk. The key distinguishing feature is the financial ability of the counter-party. Of course, gold in the hand removes even this layer of performance risk. Keep in mind the Internet just turned 40 and did not even exist when Rothbard wrote the book.
With our advanced economy, the speed of transactions and need for divisibility the feasibility of using physical gold in ordinary daily transactions without a third party like GoldMoney is extremely inefficient and arguably even more inefficient than the current fiat currency and fractional reserve banking system. As the motor was to transportation so likewise is the Internet to monetary instruments.
The reason the economy is in the tank is because the monetary instruments being used such as checks, credit cards, etc. are like ‘horseless carriages’ and it is the digital commodity currencies that are the next stages of evolution like automobiles and governmental interference in the market is stifling monetary evolution through bailouts of the current monopoly and various laws to protect market share (28% rate gain tax, anti-money laundering laws, legal tender laws, etc.). It is a three hundred year old money substitute and now illusion based system that is being cobbled together like a horseless carriage with duck tape.
It may be a while before ‘Porsches’ show up on the monetary scene but they will come and you can be rest assured that they will be more efficient than any of the various gold standards.
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