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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNASA head enorses Globe theory, questions Earth Flat claims
The head of NASA did not actually feel obliged to defend the idea that the Earth is spherical and politely question the theories of flat-earth proponants.
The head of the US central bank did, however, feel obliged to waste time out of his life to address the merits of the gold standard, which is pretty much the same thing.
Bernanke says gold standard wouldn't solve problems
WASHINGTON | Tue Mar 20, 2012 4:55pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday took aim at proponents of the gold standard, saying that such a system handicaps the government's ability to address economic conditions.
Bernanke spoke in the first of a series of four public lectures at George Washington University that is the central bank's latest effort to counter a raft of negative public sentiment that has arisen from its handling of the financial crisis. The former Princeton economics professor delivers a second lecture on Thursday and two more next week.
"Since the gold standard determines the money supply, there is not much scope for the central bank to use monetary policy to stabilize the economy," Bernanke said. "Under a gold standard, typically the money supply goes up and interest rates go down in a period of strong economic activity - so that's the reverse of what a central bank would normally do today."
Embodied by Texas congressman and Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul, a loud minority advocates the closure of the central bank and a return to a gold standard where every dollar issued must be backed with equivalent reserves of precious metal.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/20/us-usa-fed-gold-idUSBRE82J17A20120320
WASHINGTON | Tue Mar 20, 2012 4:55pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday took aim at proponents of the gold standard, saying that such a system handicaps the government's ability to address economic conditions.
Bernanke spoke in the first of a series of four public lectures at George Washington University that is the central bank's latest effort to counter a raft of negative public sentiment that has arisen from its handling of the financial crisis. The former Princeton economics professor delivers a second lecture on Thursday and two more next week.
"Since the gold standard determines the money supply, there is not much scope for the central bank to use monetary policy to stabilize the economy," Bernanke said. "Under a gold standard, typically the money supply goes up and interest rates go down in a period of strong economic activity - so that's the reverse of what a central bank would normally do today."
Embodied by Texas congressman and Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul, a loud minority advocates the closure of the central bank and a return to a gold standard where every dollar issued must be backed with equivalent reserves of precious metal.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/20/us-usa-fed-gold-idUSBRE82J17A20120320
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NASA head enorses Globe theory, questions Earth Flat claims (Original Post)
cthulu2016
Mar 2012
OP
SamG
(535 posts)1. 90% of Americans would not...
be able to figure out this and make sense of it and see the humor in it.
Yavin4
(35,445 posts)2. A Pure Gold Standard Would Not Be Smart. However....
allowing the Fed (which is nothing more than the banksters) to control the money supply gives them power over our lives, and is the true reason for the 1% / 99% split.