On 9/15/06, Juan Garofalo wrote: > Anybody talking about prices must of course use logic. So the first > logical step is to take a closer look at the tool used to measure prices. > That tool is money. I'll let you come up with a logical analysis of money. I > do hope you realize that fiat money is not logical, that fiat money is a > wrong premise, and that conculsions based on a wrong premise are invalid. Fraud: 1) A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain. 2) A piece of trickery; a trick. Fiat currency: Money that enjoys legal tender status derived from a declaratory fiat or an authoritative order of the government. I don't believe fiat money to be a fraud, but that is a subjective measure. You could certainly come up with all sorts of ways that you believe fiat money allows others unlawful gain where commodity money would not. I'd be interested in an example, but since it's so subjective I doubt we can argue logically about how fiat money is/isn't a fraud. What I'm trying to understand here is what abou fiat money you find so distasteful? I trade my time and expertise for some form of "payment." I trade my "payment" for other goods and services, or I loan it out (invest) and collect interest on it. The _only_ thing that commodity money does is artifically tie currency to a "thing." But the reality is that even that "thing" varies in value relative to other things. Even the most stable "thing" changes over time. The only downsides of fiat money that I can see are 1) inflation can more easily occur and 2) if the governement that declared it legal tender collapses then it becomes valueless. But the reality is that if the government collapses with commodity money, you're still in the same boat unless you've actually got your own stockpile of "thing" because the government tied the money to the "thing" and it becomes untied (ie, you won't be able to get "thing" with your now-valueless commodity money). Therefore the second problem really doesn't change even if you switch systems. The only thing you can do to protect yourself from the second issue is by never accepting nor using money, and always bartering for your time/services/goods/investments. You can do that under a fiat money system already, but most retailers arent set up to accept gold, chickens, etc as payment. I find it easier to simply allow money to be it's own "thing." It's a tool, or a medium of exchange. But I am interested in hearing other problems associated with fiat money. I only have basic economics knowledge though, so you might need to explain things more thouroughly. -Adam -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist