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malinvestment Credit Union Membership Access Act 1 April 1998 1998 Ron Paul 33:8 In addition to all of the problems associated with the obligations and requirements that the government regulations impose on the productive, private sectors of the economy, the regulations amount to a government credit allocation scheme. As Ludwig von Mises explained well in the Theory of Money and Credit in 1912, governmental credit allocation is a misdirection of credit which leads to malinvestment and contributes to an artificial boom and bust cycle. Nobel laureate Frederick A. Hayek and Murray Rothbard expounded on this idea. malinvestment Worldwide Financial Crisis 10 September 1998 1998 Ron Paul 97:2 All financial bubbles are currency driven. When central banks generously create credit out of thin air speculation, debt, and malinvestment result. Early on the stimulative effect is welcomed and applauded as the boom part of the cycle progresses. But illusions of wealth brought about by artificial wealth creation end when the predictable correction arrives. Then we see the panic and disappointment as wealth is wiped off the books. malinvestment Worldwide Financial Crisis 10 September 1998 1998 Ron Paul 97:7 A crisis brought on by monetary inflation cannot be aborted by more monetary inflation or the IMF bailouts favored by the American taxpayer. It may at times delay the inevitable, but eventually, the market will demand liquidation of the malinvestment, excessive debt, and correction of speculative high prices as we have seen in the financial markets. malinvestment World Financial Markets 1 October 1998 1998 Ron Paul 104:2 The mess we are witnessing in the world today was a predictable event. Artificially low interest rates and easy credit causes malinvestment, overcapacity, excessive borrowing and uncontrolled speculation. malinvestment A Republic, If You Can Keep It 31 January 2000 2000 Ron Paul 2:108 The stage has been set. Rampant monetary growth has led to historic high asset inflation, massive speculation, overcapacity, malinvestment, excessive debt, a negative savings rate and a current account deficit of huge proportions. These conditions dictate a painful adjustment, something that would have never occurred under a gold standard. malinvestment CONGRESS IGNORES ITS CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY REGARDING MONETARY POLICY October 11, 2000 2000 Ron Paul 84:4 It should surprise no one that our financial markets are getting more volatile every day. Inflating a currency and causing artificially low interest rates always leads to malinvestment, overcapacity, excessive debt, speculation, and dangerous trade imbalances. We now live in a world awash in a sea of fiat currencies, with the dollar, the yen, and the Euro leading the way. The inevitable unwinding of the wild speculation, as reflected in the derivatives market, is now beginning. malinvestment Beware Dollar Weakness June 5, 2002 2002 Ron Paul 52:10 Trust in paper is difficult to measure and anticipate, but long-term value in gold is dependable and more reliably assessed. Printing money and creating artificial credit may temporarily lower interest rates, but it also causes the distortions of malinvestment, overcapacity, excessive debt and speculation. These conditions cause instability, and market forces eventually overrule the intentions of the central bankers. That is when the apparent benefits of the easy money disappear, such as we dramatically have seen with the crash of the dot-coms and the Enrons and many other stocks. malinvestment Introduction Of The Sunshine In Monetary Policy Act 7 March 2006 2006 Ron Paul 10:4 Whatever lack of interest policymakers are currently displaying in M3 is no doubt related to the mistaken perception that the Federal Reserve Board has finally figured out how to effectively manage a fiat currency. This illusion exists largely because the effects of the Fed’s inflationary polices are concentrated in malinvestments in specific sectors of the economy, leading to “bubbles” such as the one that occurred in the stock market in the late nineties and the bubble that many believe is occurring in the current real estate market. When monetary inflation is reflected in sector- specific bubbles, it is easier to pretend that the bubbles are caused by problems specific to those sectors, instead of reflecting the problems inherent in a fiat currency system. Once the damage to our economy done by our reliance on fiat currency becomes clear, I am certain that policymakers will once again take more interest in M3. malinvestment Introduction Of The Sunshine In Monetary Policy Act 15 June 2007 2007 Ron Paul 66:4 Whatever lack of interest policymakers are currently displaying, in M3 is no doubt related to the mistaken perception that the Federal Reserve Board has finally figured out how to effectively manage a fiat currency. This illusion exists largely because the effects of the Fed’s inflationary polices are concentrated in malinvestments in specific sectors of the economy, leading to “bubbles” such as the one that occurred in the stock market in the late nineties and the bubble that many believe is occurring in the current real estate market. When monetary inflation is reflected in sector- specific bubbles, it is easier to pretend that the bubbles are caused by problems specific to those sectors, instead of reflecting the problems inherent in a fiat currency system. Once the damage to our economy done by our reliance on fiat currency becomes clear, I am certain that policymakers will once again take more interest in M3. malinvestment Opening Statement Committee on Financial Services Paulson Hearing 20 June 2007 2007 Ron Paul 71:8 Accurate money supply growth rates are vital in anticipating future price levels, the degree of malinvestment, and chances for financial bubbles to form. Since March of 2006 M3 reports have been discontinued. Private sources now report that M3 is increasing at a significantly high 13% rate. malinvestment “Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy” February 27, 2008 2008 Ron Paul 9:5 What all of these proposed bailouts fail to mention is the moral hazard to which bailouts lead. If the federal government bails out banks, investors, or homeowners, the lessons of sound investment and fiscal discipline will not take hold. We can see this in the financial markets in the boom and bust of the business cycle. The Fed’s manipulation of interest rates results in malinvestment which, when it is discovered, leads to economic contraction and liquidation of malinvested resources. But the Fed never allows a complete shakeout, so that before a return to a sound market can occur, the Fed has already bailed out numerous market participants by undertaking another bout of loose money before the effects of the last business cycle have worked their way through the economy. malinvestment Foreign Government Investment in the U.S. Economy and Financial Sector March 5, 2008 2008 Ron Paul 11:2 The two major types of sovereign wealth funds are those which are funded by proceeds from natural resources sales, and those funded by accumulation of foreign exchange. The former category includes sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE. Flush with dollars due to the high price of oil, they are looking for opportunities to make that money work for them. The high price of oil is due in large part to our inflationary monetary policy. We have literally exported inflation across the globe, spurring malinvestment and a subsequent commodities boom. malinvestment Hearing on “The Economic Outlook” April 2, 2008 2008 Ron Paul 18:7 The business cycle, contrary to what Secretary Paulson and others seem to believe, is not endemic to the free market. It is always and everywhere the result of monetary inflation and subsequent malinvestment, which when it is discovered must of necessity be liquidated in order for a true recovery to occur. Delaying the liquidation will only prolong the crisis and ensure that the next crisis will be more severe. malinvestment “The Bailout” September 29, 2008 2008 Ron Paul 65:11 For 37 years the world built a financial system based on the dollar as the reserve currency of the world in an attempt to make the dollar serve as the new standard of value. However since 1971, the dollar has had no intrinsic value, as it is not tied to gold. The dollar is simply a fiat currency, which has fluctuated in value on a daily, if not hourly, bias. This worked to some degree until the market realized that too much debt and malinvestment existed and a correction was required. malinvestment Bailout January 14, 2009 2009 Ron Paul 8:5 I do want to address the subject more specifically about moral hazard and why the system was so deeply flawed. That is, when a Federal Reserve system and a central bank create easy money and easy credit and they have interest rates lower than they should be, businesspeople do the wrong things. They make mistakes. Its called malinvestments, and weve been doing it for a long time. It causes financial bubbles, and they have to be corrected. malinvestment Bailout January 14, 2009 2009 Ron Paul 8:9 Then with the assumption that were all going to be bailed out, which were endorsing by bailing everybody out, people say, Well, no sweat because, if there is a mistake, the government will come to our rescue. Thats part of the system of the FDIC. Now, nobody can conceive of the notion that we could live without an FDIC, but the truth is that a private FDIC would never permit this massive malinvestment. There would be regulations done in the marketplace, and there would not be this distortion that weve ended up with. malinvestment LIVING BENEATH OUR MEANS January 21, 2009 2009 Ron Paul 10:5 Todays middle class and poor are suffering and the elite are being bailed out, and all the while the Federal Reserve refuses to tell the Congress exactly who has benefitted by its largesse. The beneficial corrections that come with a recession, of debt liquidation and removing the malinvestment, are delayed by government bailouts. This strategy proved in the late 1930s to transform a recession into a Great Depression and will surely do so again. malinvestment MISTAKES: JUST A FEW! June 3, 2009 2009 Ron Paul 63:5 This has entailed taxpayers being forced to buy worthless assets, propping up malinvestments, not allowing the liquidation of bad debt, bailing out privileged banking, Wall Street and corporate elites. We promote artificially low interest rates which eliminates information that only the market can provide. Steadily sacrificing economic and personal liberty is accepted as good policy. Socializing American industry offers little hope that prosperity will soon return. malinvestment High Risk Credit 20 August 2007 Texas Straight Talk 20 August 2007 verse 5 ... Cached The truth is that business involves risk, and businesses that miscalculate risk should be liquidated, so their assets can be reallocated to businesses that correctly judge risk and make profits. Instead, the Fed has injected $64 billion into the jittery markets, effectively amounting to a bailout that keeps these malinvestments afloat, but eventually they will become the undoing of our economy. malinvestment Legislative Forecast for 2008 13 January 2008 Texas Straight Talk 13 January 2008 verse 4 ... Cached This leads me to my next forecast of more federal bailouts for the housing sector. Efforts by the Federal Reserve to stave off recession will have the net effect of only blowing the bubble bigger, making the crash that much more painful when it inevitably comes. The malinvestments caused by easy credit in the housing industry will be prolonged by more easy credit. New programs and laws will be enacted to prop up housing, all with a falling dollar, devalued by continued foreign interventions. The crisis in the housing market will spread and I’m afraid we are in for some rough economic times. malinvestment On Money, Inflation and Government 30 March 2008 Texas Straight Talk 30 March 2008 verse 6 ... Cached The Federal Reserve, a quasi-government entity, should not be creating money or determining interest rates, as this causes malinvestment and excessive debt to accumulate. Centrally planned, government manipulated economies always fail eventually. The collapse of communism and the failure of socialism should have made this apparent. Even the most educated, well-intentioned central planners cannot plan the market better than the market itself. Those that understand economics best, understand this reality. malinvestment Bailing Out Banks 13 April 2008 Texas Straight Talk 13 April 2008 verse 3 ... Cached The current market crisis began because of Federal Reserve monetary policy during the early 2000s in which the Fed lowered the interest rate to a below-market rate. The artificially low rates led to overinvestment in housing and other malinvestments. When the first indications of market trouble began back in August of 2007, instead of holding back and allowing bad decision-makers to suffer the consequences of their actions, the Federal Reserve took aggressive, inflationary action to ensure that large Wall Street firms would not lose money. It began by lowering the discount rates, the rates of interest charged to banks who borrow directly from the Fed, and lengthening the terms of such loans. This eliminated much of the stigma from discount window borrowing and enabled troubled banks to come to the Fed directly for funding, pay only a slightly higher interest rate but also secure these loans for a period longer than just overnight. 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. Pauls Congressional website and is not included in this Concordance. Remember, not everything in the concordance is Ron Pauls words. Some things he quoted, and he added some newspaper and magazine articles to the Congressional Record. Check the original speech to see. |