You cannot have a growing economy without savings and investment. There is nothing wrong with an increasing money supply, it is need for a growing economy. Unless you would prefer a stagnant economy or a shrinking economy.
Exactly, but that money supply is essentially controlled by a financial elite, and they wants to create even more money through financial speculation. That’s why, as Pope Francis points out, they’d rather make higher and quick profits from the stock market than through providing work for people.
Financial speculation is not caused by an increasing money supply. It is caused by the Fed pumping excess credit into the economy, keeping interest rates low, and bailing out financial institutions. The government is also complicit in the guilt.
It is for painfully obvious reasons.
Again, most credit isn’t created by the Fed but by private banks.
Private banks and the financial elite want low interest rates because that allows them to borrow cheaply and then profit from the stock market and commodities. People also want low interest rates because they get to borrow money to buy houses and other middle class conveniences.
Thus, it’s not just the government but generally everyone wanted the same thing. That’s why people voted for one administration after another that promised deregulation, low interest rates, more freedom for Wall Street to play, etc., since the early 1980s.
And, not surprisingly, similar things were taking place in other parts of the world, as seen in asset bubbles in China.
As I said, it’s all part of free market capitalism.
We can do something about it by getting rid of the Federal Reserve and other central banks.
Again, most money is created not by central banks or the Fed but by private banks. The same private banks want central banks and the Fed to ensure a regime of low interest rates so that there will be lots of borrowing and spending. Businesses want the same because that allows for more sales and higher profits. The financial elite want the same because they can borrow cheaply and gamble heavily in other financial vehicles. The government is voted to power by households that want easy credit and are supported by businesses and the financial elite that want higher money supply.
It doesn’t matter if the central bank is controlled by the government or not. If it controls the money supply, interest rates, and the banking system then it is a central bank.
That’s right, and free market capitalism thrives on low interest rates. In addition, the financial elite can use a central bank that they control to bail themselves out if they get into trouble.
If there was no Federal Reserve then the financial elite would not control the money supply.
Or it is inevitable for a financial elite to form something like the Federal Reserve and then take over. Which is exactly what happened.
Yes, the Fed is different. It is more powerful.
The power lies not in the Fed but in what constitutes the Fed. That is, powerful private banks and partners, including multinational mega-corporations.
My feelings on fractional reserve banking are mixed but there is nothing inherently wrong with it.
It is the source of the money multiplier.
That doesn’t make any sense. The money multiplier doesn’t exist.
It exists, as seen in M2.
The reason M2 is not dwindling is because banks do not need to rely on depositor’s savings anymore. They can just borrow interest free money from the Fed and loan that out instead. That is not real savings. M2 would not be so high if banks had to depend on their depositor’s savings.
Actually, it involves more than just borrowing money from the Fed. Read the article I shared to find out why.