hi jaro,

i agree largely with what you are saying. one counter argument that i've heard a lot regarding why we cannot return to a gold standard is that the same folks that run the governments and central banks also own the vast majority of the world's gold supply, and so they would still be in a position to manipulate the economy.

hi simon ,

yes, the leading financial groups who 'decide' about the financial + economic markets probably own also the vast majority of the world's gold ... but: is there any better solution than the gold/silver standard?

maybe a world completely without money, who knows? i cannot imagine a world without money myself and it's already 20 years ago, but in that time socialist czechoslovakia there was a vision/motto for a (communist) future: everyone contributes what he/she can and gets what he/she needs ... that could be a world without both gold standard and (money) printing press ;-)))

but this way didn't work in practise as there was no competition allowed, no performance honored and the political decisions were seldom economicaly wise ...

btw, i've forgotten the major motto of socialistic life of that time! i believe the 1st part was the same, but i'm not sure anymore what should the socialist people get ... and in reality they really got nothing

thanX + bye,
j.

hi folks,

are there any other opinions/suggestions for alternatives to the gold/silver standard?

;o)))


thanX,
j.

Hi Jaro,

In my opinion (which was formed through many discussions with someone very knowledgeable on this subject) I think that the best solution is not one fiat currency nor the gold standard but a competitive market for currencies.

In other words if I could spend USD, Euros, CAD, NZD, AUD or start my own currency if I wanted and spend that at the store then I am going to use and hold whichever currency I think is the strongest (most competitive).

In my opinion the problem with fiat currencies arises just as much from the fact that there is a lack of competition competition (ie yes I can trade currencies which is competitive but if I live in the US I pretty much have to spend US Dollars) than it does from the fact that they are fiat.

Allowing people to spend whatever they want and to even start their own currencies would bring the compatitive elimant that is currently missing from today's model and all the benifits of a competitive market to currencies, even if some or all of them were fiat.

While this may not have been logistically possible before the internet, with most people carring electronic money in the form of credit cards now, the logistics of implementing a model where people could spend whatever currency they wanted should be much easier than the logistics of changing over to the gold standard.

Best Regards,
Dave

hi dave,

there is already a somehow similar model implemented by e-gold.com and goldmoney.com:

their clients (i think both private & business) can pay bills to each other in gramms of gold/silver instead of USD, Euros, CAD, NZD, AUD or 'your' new currency :-). they can also withdraw paper money from usual bancomats in whatever currency they want to, etc.

the major difference is that these accounts are kept in gramms / ounces of precious metals (~ the 'new' currency) instead of usd, euros, ...

j.

One word.

Self-control.

Hey Jaro,

Yep I have heard of these but only know a little about them. Can I have a debit card linked to my egold account that I can use anywhere?

Best Regards,
Dave

hi dave :-),

an e-gold debit card which could be used anywhere? how do you define 'anywhere'?

in most (= civilized?) countries for sure, zimbabwe could be a problem... and please do not ask how i define 'civilized' .

i'm not a www.e-gold.com customer yet, but there is a lot of information on the respective websites about all possible services and (usually very low) fees. there is also a smooth difference between the 'way of ownership' of your gold. james turk of www.goldmoney.com said/wrote somewhere in the web that @goldmoney is your gold more secure than @e-gold, but i'm not completely sure why .

well, we should never forget james tobin and we should never put all eggs in one basket . who knows if one day some governments again confiscate gold of their citizens?

regards ,
j.

Very interesting jaro thanks for that. I think that the internet and technology in general creates the ability to do a lot more things like this so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Best Regards,
Dave

hi dave,

i hope you've managed to open an account for your surplus dollars @ www.e-gold.com or www.goldmoney.com or both BEFORE today's dollar decline :-). it fell like a stone, doesn't it?

bye ;o),
j.