I mentioned this book previously. Bought any gas lately? How about food? Do you think prices are going up by only a few percent per year?
Consider this, from page 144:
…the “inflation rate” itself, which is tracked using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), tends to be measured in a misleading way. Ask the average American if he thinks prices are going up by only a few percent per year, as the official figures would have it. So-called core inflation figures do not include food or energy, whose prices have been rising rapidly. (emphasis mine)
Do you own any gold? I’m considering looking into it. With the Fed cutting rates even more today, I don’t think the dollar will be worth much in the future.
Think about this, and please, refute it if you can:
When the Fed artificially lowers rates, it misrepresents economic conditions and misleads people into making unsound investments. Investments that would not have been profitable beforehand suddenly seem attractive in light of the lower interest rates…In the short run, a false prosperity takes root. Business expands. New construction is everywhere. People feel wealthier. This is why there is always such political pressure on the Fed to lower rates around election time: the prosperity comes in the short run, and the painful correction comes much later, well after people have cast their votes. (145, emphasis mine)
This is the sort of thing that makes me want to be an economics major. Then I’d be able to say whether this is true with some authority and judgment. For now, I have to rely on what I learned in high school, college introductory microeconomics, and intuition. And all of what I know indicates that Ron Paul is right. It’s scary… but if it’s true, the only way out is to stop the Fed from manipulating the money supply. Read the rest of this entry »
