U.S. Rep. Ron Paul | as good as gold |
as good as gold
The Indonesia Crisis
22 May 1998 1998 Ron Paul 54:16
The Indonesian Government had one idea worth considering under these very difficult circumstances. They wanted to replace their central bank with a currency board. It’s not as good as gold standard, but it would have been a wise choice under current conditions. But the United States and the IMF insisted that in order to qualify for IMF funding this idea had to be rejected outright and the new central bank for Indonesia had to be patterned after the Federal Reserve with, I’m sure, ties to it for directions from Federal Reserve Board Governor Alan Greenspan and company. A currency board would allow a close linkage of the rupiah to the dollar, with its value controlled by market forces, and would have prevented domestic Indonesia monetary inflation — the principle cause of the economic bubble now collapsed. The shortcoming of a currency board tied to the U.S. dollar is that the Indonesian currency and economy would be dependent on dollar stability which is far from guaranteed.
as good as gold
A Republic, If You Can Keep It
31 January 2000 2000 Ron Paul 2:90
The authors of the Constitution were well aware of the dangers of inflation, having seen the harm associated with the destruction of the Continental currency. They never wanted to see another system that ended with the slogan, “it’s not worth a Continental.” They much preferred sound as a dollar, or as good as gold, as a description of our currency.
as good as gold
A Republic, If You Can Keep It
31 January 2000 2000 Ron Paul 2:91
Unfortunately, their concerns as they were reflected in the Constitution have been ignored and as this century closes we do not have a sound dollar as good as gold. The changes to our monetary system are by far the most significant economic events of the 20th Century. The gold dollar of 1900 is now nothing more than a Federal Reserve note with a promise by untrustworthy politicians and the central bankers to pay nothing for it.
as good as gold
CHALLENGE TO AMERICA: A CURRENT ASSESSMENT OF OUR REPUBLIC —
February 07, 2001 2001 Ron Paul 7:49
There is one remnant of the Bretton Woods gold-exchange standard that has aided US dominance over the past 30 years. Gold was once the reserve all central banks held to back up their currencies. After World War II, the world central banks were satisfied to hold dollars, still considered to be as good as gold since internationally the dollar could still be exchanged for gold at $35 an ounce. When the system broke down in 1971, and we defaulted on our promises to pay in gold, chaos broke out. By default the dollar maintained its status as the reserve currency of the world.
as good as gold
CHALLENGE TO AMERICA: A CURRENT ASSESSMENT OF OUR REPUBLIC —
February 07, 2001 2001 Ron Paul 7:55
During the past 30 years in the post-Bretton Woods era, worldwide sentiment has permitted us to inflate our money supply and get others to accept the dollar as if it were as good as gold. This convenient arrangement has discouraged savings, which are now at an historic low. Savings in a capitalist economy are crucial for furnishing capital and establishing market interest rates. With negative savings and with the FED fixing rates by creating credit out of thin air and calling it capital, we have abandoned a necessary part of free-market capitalism, without which a smooth and growing economy is sustainable.
as good as gold
The US Dollar and the World Economy
September 6, 2001 2001 Ron Paul 75:48
There are no other options if we hope to remain a free and prosperous nation. Economic and monetary meddling undermines the principles of a free society. A free society and sound money maximize production and minimize poverty. The responsibility of Congress is clear: avoid the meddling so engrained in our system and assume the responsibility, all but forgotten, to maintain a free society while making the dollar once again as good as gold.
as good as gold
Abolishing The Federal Reserve
10 September 2002 2002 Ron Paul 86:21
He was right. Gold and freedom go together. Gold money is both the result of freedom and its leading protector. When money is as good as gold, the government cannot manipulate the supply for its own purposes. Just as the rule of law puts limits on the despotic use of police power, a gold standard puts extreme limits on the government’s ability to spend, borrow, and otherwise create crazy unworkable programs. It is forced to raise its revenue through taxation, not inflation, and generally keep its house in order.
as good as gold
The Hidden Cost of War
June 14, 2005 2005 Ron Paul 58:30
Being the issuer of the world’s premier currency allows for a lot more abuse than a country would have otherwise. World businesses, governments, and central banks accept our dollars as if they are as good as gold. This is a remnant of a time when the dollar was as good as gold. That is no longer the case. The trust is still there, but it’s a misplaced trust. Since the dollar is simply a paper currency without real value, someday confidence will be lost and our goose will no longer be able to lay the golden egg. That’s when reality will set in and the real cost of our extravagance, both domestic and foreign, will be felt by all Americans. We will no longer be able to finance our war machine through willing foreigners, who now gladly take our newly printed dollars for their newly produced goods and then loan them back to us at below market interest rates to support our standard of living and our war effort.
as good as gold
The End Of Dollar Hegemony
15 February 2006 2006 Ron Paul 3:20
The dollar was said to be as good as gold and convertible to all foreign banks at that rate. For American citizens, however, it remained illegal to own. This was a gold exchange standard that from inception was doomed to fail.
as good as gold
The End Of Dollar Hegemony
15 February 2006 2006 Ron Paul 3:31
Increasing gold prices historically are viewed as an indicator of distrust in paper currency. This recent effort was not a whole lot different than the U.S. Treasury selling gold at $35 an ounce in the 1960s in an attempt to convince the world the dollar was as sound and as good as gold.
as good as gold
Gold And The U.S. Dollar
25 April 2006 2006 Ron Paul 23:44
Economic strength and military power contributes to the trust in a currency. In today’s world trust in the U.S. dollar is not earned, and, therefore, fragile. The history of the dollar, being as good as gold up until 1971, is helpful in maintaining an artificially higher value for the dollar than deserved.
as good as gold
Gold And The U.S. Dollar
25 April 2006 2006 Ron Paul 23:50
Historically paper money never has lasted for long periods of time, while gold has survived thousands of years of attacks by political interests and big government. In time the world once again will restore trust in the monetary system by making some currency as good as gold.
as good as gold
HONORING JACK KEMP
May 6, 2009 2009 Ron Paul 53:2
Jack is probably best known for the key role he played in the “supply side revolution” that led to the tax rate reductions of the early eighties. However, what I most remember about Jack was that he was one of the few politicians I have met who understood how fiat money harms Americans. Jack was passionate about reforming monetary policy so America would again have, as Jack memorably put it, a “dollar as good as gold.” It was largely due to Jack’s efforts that the Republican Party platform of 1980 endorsed a return to the gold standard. Jack’s support was instrumental in me being named to the U.S. Gold Commission in 1982. While I was not always in total agreement with Jack’s views on monetary policy, I always appreciated his interest in the issue.
Texas Straight Talk from 20 December 1996 to 23 June 2008 (573 editions) are included in this Concordance. Texas Straight Talk after 23 June 2008 is in blog form on Rep. Paul’s Congressional website and is not included in this Concordance.
Remember, not everything in the concordance is Ron Paul’s words. Some things he quoted, and he added some newspaper and magazine articles to the Congressional Record. Check the original speech to see.