The Eyre Affair

A Post Entitled Thoughts on ‘End the Fed’ by Ron Paul

∞ posted 2 years ago in ron paul, ron paul revolution, fiat currency, pete eyre, commodity-backed currency, economics, end the fed federal reserve murray rothbard gold welfare-warfare state free markets spontaneous order voluntary interactions contains 2 notes

When at MHD’s Minneapolis meetup earlier this month my Aunt Kathy, who lives in neighboring St. Paul, handed me a copy of Ron Paul’s newest book - End the Fed. Though I was initially thinking about passing it along to someone that hasn’t yet been exposed to the harms caused by the Fed I decided to first read it myself.

My main motivation was to gauge the level of arguments proffered by Dr. Paul as this book - like most of his other recent books - are aimed at an audience of people interested but not-yet experts.

As I do with many books, I dog-eared many of my favorite quotes and thought-provoking points. And, after Dr. Paul responded positively when questioned about his thoughts on self-government when we interviewed him back on Mother’s Day, I was especially interested to read his comments on black markets.

Thought-provoking points:

I always assumed that the IRS would never accept for tax purposes true exchange at the face value of new coins. [U.S. Mint had made silver coins with dollar amounts - less than the value of the metal itself - stamped onto them] But some enterprising and brave constitionalists challenged this law in Las Vegas and paid the employees in silver and gold coins, and taxes were reported at the much lower level. Many paid no tax due to the lower minimum wage. As expected, it was challenged in court, and miraculously, litigants ‘won’ their case in a hung jury (pg. 78).

That is one thing they [politicians/bureaucrats/the Fed] are not interested in: irrelevancy. Politicians must justify their existence in managing the affairs of the state. They first create the problems and then they are delighted with all the activity in expanding government and solving the very problems they created (pg. 110).

The Federal Reserve should be abolished because it is immoral, unconstitutional, impractical, promotes bad economics, and undermines liberty. Its destructive nature makes it a tool of tyrannical government (pg. 141).

Few understand or decry the immorality of the redistribution of wealth through government force. The fact that many merely desire to help the helpless and create an economically ‘fair and equitable’ society should be irrelevant (pg. 153).

The failure of the economy and the loss of the moral foundation have now set the stage for nationalization (pg. 160).

If we are not vigilant, we will see fascism thrive while liberty is sacrificed (pg. 163).

Fear, misinformation, and ignorance allowed government to ram bad policies down the throats of the American people (pg. 170).

… absent such change, we should be prepared for hyperinflation and a great deal of poverty with a depression and possible street violence as well. The worse the problem, the greater the chance a war will erupt, especially as protectionist sentiments around the world grow (pgs. 207-208).

Agorism-inclined quotes:

Our disastrous tax code has contributed substantially to the need for the underground economy. This need will surely grow as the economy further deteriorates. In economic terms, all this activity is beneficial in the underground, despite politicians’ cries that the government is cheated out of hundreds of billions of dollars in tax revenue. If the market quits functioning, the underground economy will expand exponentially. In some other countries the underground market is responsible for keeping the economy afloat (p. 37).

Defying market forces can only work temporarily. The market, or the black market if necessary, will always set the real prices of everything (p. 49).

There is another force that cannot be ignored: the market. It can overrule even the power of central bankers and government agencies. If nothing else, once the system brought on by the central banks becomes dysfunctional, the underground (real) economy always grows (pg. 118).

I felt like I already had a pretty decent grasp on the issue and the arguments after reading related books by Rothbard and others (I’d even had a chance to tour the Fed in DC when a Cato intern back in the spring of ‘05, which, with its amble use of astrological-laden light fixtures and wall murals, underscored to me that its operations were not based on objective science but the whims of a handful of men), but after finishing End the Fed, I was glad that I took the time to read it and would encourage others to pick up their own copy. Especially insightful about just how unaccountable the Fed really is are the chapters entitled “Conversations with Greenspan” and “Conversations with Bernanke.”

I think it’s fair to say that Dr. Paul has done more than anyone to advance the freedom movement in recent history and if he’s talking about black markets being a good thing it could help move some who were active in his campaign/Revolution (aka politics) to reject the violence of the State entirely and start self-describing as Agorists.