I havent seen RP's response. If it was in the article i quoted i missed it.

bernanke's response which you considered 'lol pwnt lol' begins around the 3:50 mark.

what do you think about ron's response to him?

They aren't widely available and people are still using them. For example, the bitcoin dollar exchange rate is $5/BTC right now. And bitcoins aren't backed by anything except for an algorithm that says their quantity is going to grow at a fixed schedule until some point when it maxes out.

LOL I'm not sure you quite get my issue here.

Libertarians: "If alternative currencies were available they'd outcompete worthless FRN fiatbucks for sure!"

Growed Up: "Err, there are dozens, hundreds, thousands of alternative currencies, why haven't they outcompeted FRNs?"

Libertarian: (note, this is instead of admitting that they were misinformed about alternative currencies) "The government would shut them down if they did!"

Your speculation about how the government would hypothetically respond to competing currencies is kind of skipping a step, how come the government hasn't had to do that already? The currencies exist, the market is not choosing them, maybe commodity backing isn't so great after all?

So can I pay my taxes in alternative currencies?

all,

what do you think about EPI coming in at 8%? nothing worth really considering?

cbs news- inflation: not as low as you think

american institute for economic research report: 8% epi vs. 3.1% cpi

thoughts?

It has. Just passing laws which threaten action is enough of a response in most cases.

Well, except I didn't say that at all. If you think paul is some sort of gold trivia savant you can make that case...but all i asked for was asked for clarification on a statement you made.

Including fuel which afaik is the biggest difference is the dumbest thing ever because of how volatile it is.

If nothing else you surely realise its a dumb thing to judge a government's macroeconomic performance on.

Calling facts dumb is a very solid argument.

Sick burn to all the Romney fans that don't post here?

The man who asked Bernanke if gold was money just said that Euros and Yen wasnt money. Thanks for that snaggle, i didnt realise just how senile Ron had gotten recently.

The rest of it seems to have been covered itt on this page where there are competing currencies. The reason people use the fiat dollar in things like lawsuit settlements is because people want the fiat dollar as its the most accepted method of money. But like i say you are perfectly free to buy and sell goods for shiny beads or just barter and trade without money at all if you wish.

The reality is competing currencies exist right now but the market has chosen overwhelmingly to use the single fiat dollar.

phill,

what do you think about sales taxes on gold and silver coins?

what do you think about capital gains taxes on gold and silver coins?

how do you think that both of those things effect the use of gold and silver as money?

I'm not even sure what to think about that video. RP sounds half crazy. Then Bernanke says sure he'd be more than happy to sit down and talk about Ron Paul's concerns at the end. RP PWNS ALL!

I think i dont care because the gold standard is the dumbest idea ever and this is a pointless discussion route. If people and businesses were crying out to use gold and silver as money then the sales taxes would go away. They arent.

Exactly. Phil is very ignorant. Not only are competing currencies not in existence but they are highly illegal in the US.

None of the obvious competing currency choices are given the same treatment as the fiat currency in place and so they are not really given the opportunity to function as competing currencies.

i knew id get in trouble for the hasty post but it oddly worked out because i got the gist of it out of you without investigating

i remember there being something more scandalous about the liberty dollar but never really looked at the details. anyways, paul still has a point on the cap gains tax and legal tender issues relating to metals. id be curious as well for evidence of people being criminally prosecuted for trying to use metals as an alternative money. i mean the legal tender and taxes stuff makes it more difficult to use gold as money, but i dont see how that translates into people being arrested for trying to use it as money (fraud aside).

phill,

those are 3 very simple, straightforward and pertinent questions to this discussion. can you actually answer them?

your last few posts have been pretty embarrassing and ignorant, even by phill standards, so you might want to salvage a small bit dignity

I have answered all 3 questions. My answer is the same for all of them.

lol ok

fly,

what is your take on those 3 questions?

or do you agree with phill's response of
?

also curious of your thoughts on the 8% epi if you are really in the mood to type.

Long winded stream of consciousness rants are standard for committee meetings.

In upstate NY, it is customary for businesses to accept Canadian coins at parity with American coins. They are accepting a currency competing with the American dollar. To my knowledge, no one has gone to jail for this "highly illegal" action.

hah I was just thinking about this. When he speaks it's like he's a super excited kid trying to get his point across before the other kid starts talking or mom tells him to shutup. He starts out all reasonable then his mouth can't keep up with his thoughts or something.

How do these questions even affect your life? Does your retirement portfolio consist entirely of doubloons? Are you trying to buy a latte with pieces o' eight?

zikzak,

they are germane to the 'lol u can do whatevs u want right now with gold lolzzzzz' and 'oh snapppp bernanke just owned senile ol ron paul!' lines of thought that have been presented by numerous posters above.

but yes, i do own physical gold and silver, i did pay sales tax on it, and i do pay capital gains taxes as well.

anyway, would you like to answer them? wookie? fly?