I.O.U.S.A - Addison Wiggin [28]
“ I think the mood of the country was willing to accept action, which ten years earlier they wouldn ’ t have been willing to accept, ” he told us. “ And once the country got caught up in an anti - infl ationary effort, while they were diffi cult years, I think there was a certain acceptance of a willingness to take, among other things, very high interest rates and eventually a rather severe recession, [because]
One of the lessons of the early
there was this underlying core that
1980s is don’t let infl ation get
the country had not been on the
started because once it gets
right path economically and that it
momentum it’s very diffi cult to deal
with, but it’s also destructive for
needed to be shaken up, in a sense,
economic growth and prosperity.
to restore stability. And that faith not
If that happens—and right now it
only sustained me, it sustained the
seems like there is a little fl avor of
country.
it—we will all fi nd ourselves back
“ One of the lessons of the early
in the days of stagfl ation and unac-
1980s is don ’ t let infl ation get started
ceptable economic performance.
because once it gets momentum it ’ s
—PAUL VOLCKER
very diffi cult to deal with, but it ’ s also destructive for economic growth and prosperity. If that happens — and right now it seems like there is a little fl avor of it — we will all fi nd ourselves back in the days of stagfl ation and unacceptable economic performance. ”
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Chapter 3 The Savings Defi cit 51
As Dr. Volcker suggested, current economic indicators show we ’ re entering a similar cycle in the economy. In the second half of 2008, American
’ s infl ation expectations
have jumped to their highest level since 1981, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. Not only that, but growing concerns over the country ’ s two largest buyers of U.S. home loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, drag down the already hurting U.S. stocks; the price of crude oil hits a new high every day; and consumers are seeing their grocery and energy bills grow by leaps and bounds.
“ With respect to the fi scal crisis looming out there in the future, ” says Paul Volcker, “ We ’ ll see whether a democracy can deal with an obvious problem that ’ s going to be present in not too many years. The earlier we take action to deal with it, the better. ”
The First Panacea
“ The fi rst panacea for a mismanaged nation, ” the writer Ernest Hemingway once famously said, “ is infl ation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists. ” As the lessons Dr. Volcker shared with us show, infl ation can ravage an economy.
“ Infl ation is very simple, ” explains the Honorable Dr. Ron Infl ation:
Paul. “ It ’ s when government arbitrarily prints money — creates An increase in the money and credit — out of thin air. When I talk to many teen- amount of currency agers, grade - schoolers, they seem to have no problem com- in circulation, resulting in a
prehending the fact that if you just create a lot of money it will relatively sharp and be like monopoly money and won ’ t have value. ”
sudden fall in its
Dr. Ron Paul has had a long and checkered career within value and a rise in the U.S. government, including two presidential campaigns. prices.
When the United States went off the Bretton Woods System in 1971, Dr. Paul, a student of the Austrian school of economics, was inspired to run for Congress on a platform of a return back to “ sound money. ” He is incredulous of the United States ’ current paper money system, and believes that c03.indd 51
8/26/08 8:43:54 PM
52 The
Mission
a currency based on faith alone, that can be printed at a push of a button, is set up to fail.
He believes that America
’ s system discourages people
from saving, because as the dollar depreciates in value, the consumer can ’ t keep up.
“ A negative savings rate is very, very detrimental,