On March 4, 1933, millions of Americans sat beside their radios listening to Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivering his first inaugural address, in which he famously declared that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
The U.S. government this week reported a 0.8% rise in November retail sales, yet our country's largest electronics retailer Best Buy just reported third quarter same store sales down 3.3% from one year ago!
Only a desperate government would consider debasing its own currency. The resulting inflation will be an insidious tax on every American who will suffer as wages lag behind increasing prices. It is doubtful countries like China will react favorably to the precipitous drop in the value of the debt owed to them.
The interesting parallel to today is the ancient regimes’ use of “intellectuals” as court propagandists. The same model exists today. The propagandists who led our country to its current dismal state, it seems to me, are economists. Today’s metaphysicians are called economic advisers. The Keynesian model is their tool for increased and activist government.