by The Euthanasia of Widows and Orphans Sound money also looks better than the government’s scrip! In my testimony in support of the gold legal tender bill this year, I discussed failing pension funds. Retirees who count on their pension checks are being told that their monthly check will be reduced by up to 60%. This is devastating to them, obviously. What isn’t obvious is the cause. In the news coverage of this, the angry pensioners are blaming the union, the fund manager, and Wall Street in general. The 10 year US treasury note yield since 1962 The incomes of all those dependent on fixed income has eroded enormously over the past few decades. This forces people to take extraordinary and often entirely inappropriate risks if they want to survive on their hard-earned savings. The 10 year US treasury note yield since 1962 – click to enlarge. None of them point the finger where it needs to be pointed. The Fed has centrally planned our interest rate downwards, ever downwards, for 35 years. Now a 10-year bond pays a mere 1.7 percent interest. Pension funds are designed to invest and earn a real return on the money collected from workers’ paychecks. This breaks down when the interest rate collapses. There is no cure for zero interest rates (and negative in Europe and Japan).
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The Euthanasia of Widows and Orphans
Sound money also looks better than the government’s scrip!
In my testimony in support of the gold legal tender bill this year, I discussed failing pension funds. Retirees who count on their pension checks are being told that their monthly check will be reduced by up to 60%.
This is devastating to them, obviously. What isn’t obvious is the cause. In the news coverage of this, the angry pensioners are blaming the union, the fund manager, and Wall Street in general.
The 10 year US treasury note yield since 1962The incomes of all those dependent on fixed income has eroded enormously over the past few decades. This forces people to take extraordinary and often entirely inappropriate risks if they want to survive on their hard-earned savings. |
The 10 year US treasury note yield since 1962 – click to enlarge. |
None of them point the finger where it needs to be pointed. The Fed has centrally planned our interest rate downwards, ever downwards, for 35 years. Now a 10-year bond pays a mere 1.7 percent interest. Pension funds are designed to invest and earn a real return on the money collected from workers’ paychecks. This breaks down when the interest rate collapses.
There is no cure for zero interest rates (and negative in Europe and Japan). The central banks have created a monster, a Frankenstein that is now ravaging the economy and especially those who depend on fixed income. It is no longer possible to earn a yield on paper money, without taking undue risk of precisely the sort that retirement funds should not take.
The Antidote
The only antidote to zero yield on paper is a positive yield on gold. I explained to the legislators that this bill would not fix the problem in itself. It is a necessary but not sufficient step.
Arizona governor Doug Ducey – shooting down gold for the second time Photo credit: Rob Schumacher / The Republic
I made a different argument to Governor Ducey. Most legislation creates winners and losers. Those who will be hurt by a new law of course lobby against it, and may become enemies of the governor for signing it.
This bill created no losers. No one would be hurt by recognizing gold as money. It would have been good for the state, adding jobs, and even tax revenue.
Unpersuaded by either the plight of the pensioners or the prospect of business growth in Arizona, Ducey vetoed gold. This is his second time to shoot down gold.
I have just two points to make about this. One, let’s stop perpetuating the myth that Republicans—or even pro-business Republicans as Ducey brands himself—are for gold. This is a big reason cited by Democrats for why they are against gold.
Two, Governor Ducey knew he could get away with this veto because few people care. While our monetary system drowns under zero interest and runaway debt, people are worried about the Kardashians and the gender of Bruce-now-Caitlyn Jenner.
You had better start letting your government know that you want to start removing the roadblocks and start moving towards the only honest money: gold. No one knows how much time you have, but it is not that long.
Chart by: StockCharts
Chart and image captions by PT
Dr. Keith Weiner is the president of the Gold Standard Institute USA, and CEO of Monetary Metals. Keith is a leading authority in the areas of gold, money, and credit and has made important contributions to the development of trading techniques founded upon the analysis of bid-ask spreads. Keith is a sought after speaker and regularly writes on economics. He is an Objectivist, and has his PhD from the New Austrian School of Economics. He lives with his wife near Phoenix, Arizona.
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