Thread: Hitler's Greenbacks

Originally Posted by denmason

The US government does not control the US currency. The Federal Reserve does. The "Federal Reserve" is not a government agency believe it or not. It's like Federal Express... it's just a name. Pretty tricky eh? Fools many people. The Federal Reserve took control of printing our money back in 1913 and is owned and run by bankers, who in turn run our government through the control of our currency.

I would like to say that I appreciate your bringing these things up. The problem is that, once you start looking into the way things are actually structured and reinterpreting past historical events in the light of who actually benefited, you are forced to Henry Ford's conclusion that "history is bunk," and you are left with a lot of opinions that can't be expressed in polite company because they are illegal.

Originally Posted by denmason

The US government does not control the US currency. The Federal Reserve does. The "Federal Reserve" is not a government agency believe it or not. It's like Federal Express... it's just a name. Pretty tricky eh? Fools many people. The Federal Reserve took control of printing our money back in 1913 and is owned and run by bankers, who in turn run our government through the control of our currency.

That is not exactly true either. The Federal Reserve is very different from Federal Express! Last time I checked the governors of the federal reserve were appointed by the President of the United States. It is a hybrid between private and public, where the private banks advise the public officials and can influence the policy this way, but the notion that the private bankers run the government is just false. The government officials regulate the banking system.
And even in democratic countries with a very centralized banking system politicians don't have a total control of the banking sector. I knew a banker back in my country who just told the prime minister that what he requested is not going to happen because it's impossible. Also within few months of that the banking system collapsed (most banks went bankrupt) and the government fell as well. Ever since the government has had very limited power on what they can do as the country entered a currency board - not so much different from what you describe.

Originally Posted by denmason

One billion non-inflationary bills of exchange, called Labor Treasury Certificates, were then issued against this cost. Millions of people were put to work on these projects, and the workers were paid with the Treasury Certificates. This government-issued money wasn't backed by gold, but it was backed by something of real value. It was essentially a receipt for labor and materials delivered to the government. Hitler said, "for every mark that was issued we required the equivalent of a mark's worth of work done or goods produced." The workers then spent the Certificates on other goods and services, creating more jobs for more people.

This only works if the government freezes the prices of every possible product, service or labor involved. Otherwise it would only lead to more inflation. In fact, this is the whole idea behind a central guided economy, such as installed in the former USSR, China, and Cuba. It actually works for a while, till the black market kicks in and takes over half or more of the economy. Unless the government takes draconian measures to prevent that. A practice that usually only leads to major corruption.
It strikes me as very ironical, that Hitler, the great protector against Communism, made use of communistic principles to give the German economy a much needed boost.

Personally, I like "benefit based economics". It's sad that the "profit based economies" have always responded with fear and hostility to any experiments in that direction. For the same reason the contents of the original post in this thread is carefully kept out of schools history books.

Bart.