L. Frank Baum claimed to have written The Wonderful Wizard of Oz “solely to pleasure the children” of his day, but scholars have found enough parallels between Dorothy’s yellow-brick odyssey and the politics of 1890s Populism to suggest otherwise. Did Baum intend to pen a subtle political satire on monetary reform?
“[T]he welfare statists were quick to recognize that if they wished to retain political power, the amount of taxation had to be limited and they had to resort to programs of massive deficit spending, i.e., they had to borrow money, by issuing government bonds, to finance welfare expenditures on a large scale.”
The many parallels between 1924 Germany and present-day United States are cause for concern. Though the U.S. has not yet reached the depths to which Germany descended in that era, few can look at the constant depreciation of the dollar since the early 1970's and fail to be alarmed. It seems contemporary America differs from 1924 Germany only in the duration between cause and effect. While the German experience was compressed over a few short years, the effects of the American inflation have been more drawn out.
Much has been offered in the way of opinion on the matter of a potential gold confiscation, but too little of it is well-researched, well-informed, and grounded in a true understanding of the laws and regulations involved. Herein the author, a prominent New York City attorney who specializes in numismatic and precious metals’ law and is often called upon by Congress to offer testimony in this regard, unravels past legal precedent and offers practical suggestions on a course of action for those concerned with the possibility of a contemporary confiscation.
There is an old saying that not all that glitters is gold — as in the gold coins many of you have held in your hands. There is another kind of gold that inhabits the practical wisdom of the ages. In today’s “go-get-’em,” “read-it-and-forget-it” world of everyday web browsing, it can be a challenge to separate the run of the mill from the meaningful.
In this speech before the House of Commons, June 16, 1999, Sir Peter Tapsell argued vigorously to keep the government from selling off over half of the country’s gold reserves. It remains one of the most eloquent speeches ever made on the merits of gold ownership for nation-states and individuals alike.
The Congressional exchanges with Ron Paul Here we spotlight Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s remarkable and extended dialogue with Representative Dr. Ron Paul from 1997 – 2005 before the Congressional Committee on Financial Services.
Delivered at the Palais de l’Élysée in 1965, Charles DeGaulle’s “Criterion” speech remains perhaps the most eloquent short discourse ever delivered on gold’s historical role as the final arbiter of value.
The famous study on the late 1700s runaway inflation in France. White reveals toward the end of the essay how those who had the wisdom to keep their savings in gold weathered the inflationary storm.
We include this remarkable study with an agenda. If the rising generations now receiving their education, or even their more jaded elders, find application in their own investment philosophy, then the purpose of this Gilded Opinion entry has been served. Complicated and timelessly revealing, here you will find examples of herd behavior, delusion, mania, craftiness, and financial loss and gain.
Gold is a controversial, anti-establishment investment. Therefore, do not rely on conventional financial media and brokerage house commentary. In this area, such commentary is even more misleading and ill-informed than usual.
Only in a supernova is it possible to create atoms with 30 protons, 40 protons, 50 protons, or even 60 protons. Nature prefers even numbers for stability…Gold is a rare, odd-numbered atom with 79 protons.
Gresham’s Law is not a statement about static conditions; it is a statement about a dynamic process. “Good money drives out bad if they exchange for the same price” is an acceptable expression of Gresham’s Law. But a better statement of it is that “Cheap money drives out dear if they exchange for the same price.”
This five-part infographic on gold will educate and delight prospective and experienced gold owners alike. Not the stuff of dry economics, it reveals in roughly 15-minutes viewing time how gold came to be mankind’s most revered form of money and safe-haven asset, and why it is likely to remain so for a long time to come.
Gold confiscation remains the subject of much debate. We view confiscation as a possibility, rather than a probability, and see pre-1933 gold coins as an important hedge for those interested in addressing those concerns within their gold holdings. This memorandum documents the special treatment accorded pre-1933 gold coins under U.S. law – a chronicle that began in 1933 when the newly elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a presidential order confiscating gold bullion followed by an additional order exempting gold coins "having a recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coin." A subsequent Treasury Department regulation (1954), as shown in this memorandum, broadened that definition to include all gold coins minted before 1933 – a classification which clarified the exemption and established precedent for similar treatment in the event of a future of gold confiscation.
