Who Are the Revolutionaries in a Free Market Revolution?
George F. Smith
2012-11-05 01:00
Column by George F. Smith.
Exclusive to STR
On the dedication page of Ron Paul’s The Revolution: A Manifesto, we find these words:
"To my supporters: I have never been more humbled and honored than by your selfless devotion to freedom and the Constitution."
The modifier “selfless” is intended as a moral tribute. Imagine instead if he had written “selfish...
Measure 2's Measure of Common Sense
George F. Smith
2012-06-08 00:00
Column by George F. Smith.
Exclusive to STR
Measure 2 is a proposal to amend the North Dakota constitution to eliminate property taxes. According to polls, most people oppose Measure 2 because it would require legislators to replace lost revenues from other sources. K-12 school funding would be heavily impacted. A vote on June 12, 2012 will decide its fate.
Measure 2...
The Triumph of the Bankers
George F. Smith
2011-05-25 00:00
Column by George F. Smith.
Exclusive to STR
In spite of its success in bestowing wealth on some men while funding an unnecessary war, [1] the National Banking System proved unsatisfactory to financial leaders. Even with laws discouraging or restricting redemption, crises still occurred, and banks had to contract and deflate to survive. They were unable to inflate their way out of...
Who Paid for the Civil War?
George F. Smith
2011-05-20 00:00
Column by George F. Smith.
When war broke out in 1861, the federal government was without its own money machine, though that would soon change. As expenses from the war mounted, the U.S. government once again issued Treasury Notes to help finance it. The Act of July 17, 1861 authorized Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to issue notes at 7.30%, a rate chosen to make...
Wildcat Inflation Fighters
George F. Smith
2011-05-16 00:00
Column by George F. Smith
Exclusive to STR
Summary: Though banking and government have had a corrupt relationship throughout history, the Suffolk Bank and Independent Treasury System, both of which were prominent during the “wildcat banking” era of the 19th Century, represent significant efforts at reform.
In his 1994 book, Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History,...
The Revolution's Paper Money Legacy
George F. Smith
2009-07-16 16:00
Exclusive to STR
July 17, 2008
After Lexington and Concord, Congress had a war on their hands and needed a way to finance it. The Americans were in large measure tax rebels, so taxation of their own would have to wait. After giving some thought to borrowing, Congress decided instead to call upon their old friend, the printing press.
The Ghost of Dred Scott
George F. Smith
2009-04-12 16:00
'The government gives [blacks] the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America .' No, no, no, God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human.' [198]
Such were the words of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright as he addressed the congregation of the mostly black Trinity United Church of Christ in southside Chicago on April 13th 2003...
A Juggernaut of Destruction
George F. Smith
2009-02-19 17:00
Exclusive to STR
February 20, 2009
Nature is stingy; the things we need to sustain life above a primitive level are scarce. Fresh tomatoes, iPods, and rotator cuff surgery do not come forth as easily as the air we breathe, and thus man had to discover on his own how to produce or acquire them.
The 'Something' Government Should Do
George F. Smith
2008-10-29 17:00
Exclusive to STR
October 30, 2008
Sometime soon George Bush may want to review Herbert Hoover's 1932 acceptance speech and pluck phrases from it that might calm angry Americans. In rationalizing his interventionism, Hoover said:
Not to Worry, They're on Our Side
George F. Smith
2008-08-24 16:00
Exclusive to STR
August 25, 2008
Less than three months from now either Obama or McCain will be the president-elect. Should we be concerned? Not whatsoever. Here's why:
A government too big to fail
Are You a Deathbed Libertarian?
George F. Smith
2008-08-19 16:00
Exclusive to STR
Recent medical problems have left me wondering what I might write if I were on my deathbed, assuming I still had the ability to put words down. Would I repudiate any of my deepest held convictions, as if they were good for the living but not for the dying? Would I write what I normally write, as if life went on forever? Would I not write a thing, but spend all the time I could...
Jim Rogers' Ultimate Road Trip
George F. Smith
2008-08-05 16:00
Exclusive to STR
August 6, 2008
Anyone who publicly calls for the abolition of the Fed gets my attention. Add to his resume the fact that he rode a motorcycle across China once, circled the planet on the ground twice (the second time with his beautiful bride), ran the New York City marathon three times, and is one of the world's most successful investors as well as a best-selling author, and I'...
A Colonial Radical in King Bernanke's Court
George F. Smith
2008-05-04 16:00
Exclusive to STR
May 5, 2008
Thomas Paine made the case for freedom in 1776, and ten years later made the case for freedom's money, gold and silver. [1] If we had followed his advice on the latter, we would still possess a good measure of the former.
The Sacred Cow of Inflation
George F. Smith
2008-04-15 16:00
Exclusive to STR
April 16, 2008
No one has ever died from inflation directly, yet it constitutes a serious threat to our existence. By 'inflation' I mean a policy of increasing the money supply, the root cause of the booms that inevitably go bust. Using this traditional idea of inflation--which, it should be mentioned, is regarded as contrived by most economists today--in what sense can it be...
Who Does the Fed Serve?
George F. Smith
2008-04-07 16:00
Exclusive to STR
In testimony last week, Ben Bernanke told Ron Paul that the government created the Federal Reserve in 1913 to stop the "periodic financial crises" that erupted in the 19th Century and again in 1907. Bernanke, evidently, was counting on Paul holding the accepted view of the Fed's origins, the one untainted by Wall Street-government conspiracy -- not the view...
What's Wrong With the Markets?
George F. Smith
2008-03-04 17:00
Exclusive to STR
March 5, 2008
'The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States , provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable monetary and financial system.' ~ Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
'WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH' ~ 1984 quote hidden in Apple's February keyboard update
Gold, Ron Paul and Prosperity
George F. Smith
2007-11-14 17:00
Exclusive to STR
November 15, 2007
Candidate Ron Paul understands inflation as the creation of money out of thin air. While this view depicts a disturbing state of affairs and has a distinguished history, it is not in the least popular. For one thing, it tends to incriminate the money creators.
If inflation is defined as price increases, by coincidence the guilt falls on those who raise...
The State Drops Its Mask
George F. Smith
2007-08-26 16:00
Exclusive to STR
August 27, 2007
'So things aren't quite adding up the way they used to, huh? Some of your myths are a little shaky these days.'
'My myths? They're not'"
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