The End of Money

[OneBlueSky]

The End of Money
by Chris Martenson

this article is from "Center Post, An Occasional Journal of the Rowe Camp and Conference Center" in Rowe, Massachusetts . . . to access the article, follow the link and click on "Center Post" near the bottom of the left hand column . . . the article is in the Autumn, 2007 issue . . .

http://www.rowecenter.org

(snip)

Our monetary system must continually expand, forever.

Which means it has a math problem in the same way that a beached whale has a breathing problem. In each case we have a massive organism that was optimized for a very different set of conditions than those in which it currently finds itself.

Our monetary system was conceived when the earth seemed limitless, so nobody gave it much thought. We designed it so that every single dollar in circulation would be loaned into existence by a bank, with interest. In fact, most thought it a terribly modern concept and most probably still do. Let’s not talk now about whether the earth is limitless or not, and simply talk about the mathematical evidence that our monetary system is now entering a stage of explosive, exponential growth.

Consider these data:

1. Money supply growth has gone parabolic. It took us from 1620 until 1974 to create the first $1 trillion of US money stock. Every road, bridge, school, factory, and house built, every unit of economic transaction that ever took place over those first 350 years required the creation of $1 trillion in money stock. But it only took 10 months to create the most recent $1 trillion and I don’t recall seeing an entire continent of factories, schools, and bridges built during that time.

2. Household debt has doubled in only 6 years. Think about that for a minute.

3. Total credit market debt (that’s everything) was about $5 trillion in 1975. It increased by $5 trillion in just 2 years, and is now over $51 trillion.

4. The wealth gap between the super-wealthy and everybody else is widening at a furious pace.

What’s going on here? Could it be that the US economy is so robust that it requires monetary and credit growth to double every 6-7 years? Are US households expecting a huge surge in wages to be able to pay off all that debt? Are wealthy people really that much more productive than the rest of us? If not, then what’s going on?

The key to understanding this situation was snuck in a few paragraphs ago; every single dollar in circulation is loaned into existence by a bank, with interest.

- much more . . .

http://www.rowecenter.org

to access the article, follow the link and click on "Center Post" near the bottom of the left hand column . . . the article is in the Autumn, 2007 issue . . .

[Karenina]

1. Good piece!

K&R!!! :kick:

[SoCalDem]

2. Our monetary system ... pictured below

[flashl]

3. Interesting read. Please explain impact of Pentagon losing trillions

The War On Waste

More money for the Pentagon, CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, while its own auditors admit the military cannot account for 25 percent of what it spends.

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld admitted.

$2.3 trillion — that's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. To understand how the Pentagon can lose track of trillions, consider the case of one military accountant who tried to find out what happened to a mere $300 million.

"We know it's gone. But we don't know what they spent it on," said Jim Minnery, Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

Folks always advise, "follow the money trail".

What happens within the monetary system when money disappears and leaves no trail?

[Karenina]

6. Add another 1.2 Billion to that...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2115882

[zbdent]

4. "God" doesn't appear on my credit card, my paycheck, my checks ...

I guess that the only time "God" appears on what I use for "money" these days are the bits of metal or paper which can be "under the radar" ...

[The Stranger]

5. Holy fuck that is a great article in many ways. May we live in interesting times, indeed.

Global monetary policy failing, global climate change inevitably killing, and Neocon war, war, war.

And whoever is driving that train is high on cocaine . . .