Gold and Economic Freedom

Here is a nice little article written by Alan Greenspan in 1966, waaaay before he became Chairman of the Federal Reserve (and irreparably corrupt).

Its a hell of an article, and I can't recommend it enough. I know Murray Rothbard remarked - upon Greenspan's appointment as Chairman of the Federal Reserve - that power really does corrupt (citing this article), but the sheer mendacity of Alan Greenspan's Federal Reserve leadership in light of reading this essay is very, very disheartening.

Anyway, despite the fact that Greenspan's Fed played a central role (get it?) in the current economic recession and his embrace of power in lieu of principle, this article really shows off just how keen his mind is (or was). In addition to explaining how a gold standard restricts government spending, Greenspan drops knowledge rocks on gold's relation to banking, how commodities have been used throughout human history as mediums of exchange, how a gold standard (or free banking system) restricts the individual's ability to finance new ventures without first being able to pay the bills (i.e. prevents artificial bubbles in an economy), and, among other things, explains how politics is inevitably intertwined with central banking policy.

Speaking of central banks and the political process, another argument which attracts me to libertarian thought is the attention it brings to a subtle but oh-so-obvious connection between a central bank and a state's military. This is a good article that helps shed light on the heinous connection between the two, and also provides insight on how to go about bringing down (peacefully and legally) such a nefarious establishment.

Oh, and Franklin Roosevelt was a fascist! More on this later, though....