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www.fame.org
11/09/02 Interview  Real Audio  MP3
recorded on 11/06/02
Transcription
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Mr. Greenspan is the most brilliant of anyone who has ever served at the
Federal Reserve. I have found some of his speeches, especially those
given out of the country, to be extraordinarily candid about the
perils—such as possible systemic collapse—of our
irredeemable-paper-ticket-checkbook (fiat) money system and,
alternatively, the benefits of the gold standard.
Mr. Greenspan is careful with his language. Sometimes he makes
straightforward assertions that he believes to be true. Interspersed
with these are statements that he qualifies with words such as
“presumably,” “possibly as a consequence,” and so on. In these
cases, I believe he is signaling that he does not share this position.
Otherwise, he would leave out the qualifier.
The position he holds as Federal Reserve Chairman constrains his
language. At the end of his speech, he says that he has to operate
within the “context of his political environment.” I take this to
mean that he does not see himself as someone who can boldly oppose or
overtly criticize the current system. However, he is doing us a huge
service by repeatedly emphasizing the disaster that awaits us with our
present fiat monetary system and the benefits that we would enjoy with
gold-as-money.
Mr. Greenspan has pointed the way. It is up to us to use the
intellectual ammunition he has provided. It’s a mystery to me why the
press and others are not paying more attention to what he’s been
saying repeatedly for the past three years or more. Perhaps the reason
lies with his arcane language.
To help explain how our monetary system works and make Mr. Greenspan’s
views more easily understood, I have: (1) translated his FedSpeak
terminology into plain English; (2) added critical comments; and, (3)
suggested areas where further explanation ought to be forthcoming. Where
I believe he is mistaken, I say so.
In effect, by
enlarging upon Mr. Greenspan’s statements, I have constructed a primer
about how our monetary system works to transfer wealth from poorer
people (ordinary taxpayers) to richer people (bankers and those with a
stake in Wall Street firms).
About the
Author:
Lawrence Parks is the Executive Director of the Foundation for the
Advancement of Monetary Education (FAME). He has broad experience in
academia, in business, and in finance. He
holds a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the Polytechnic University.
Dr. Parks has studied the money issue for more than thirty years. His
writings have appeared in Pensions & Investments, The
Economist, The Washington Times, The Freeman, The Free Market,
American Outlook, The United States Congressional Record, National
Review, and others. He
is an active member of many civic and social organizations, a member of
The United Association for Labor Education, The National Writer’s
Union, UAW 1981, AFL-CIO, and he is a frequent speaker on the Fight for
Honest Monetary Weights and Measures. His
focus is on how our present fiat monetary system operates to destroy
savings, pensions and jobs and what to do about it.
Referenced
speech in the interview:
Remarks by
Chairman Alan Greenspan
At the Catholic University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
January 14, 1997 "Central
Banking and Global Finance"
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