The Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin solution to the Debt Ceiling dilemma has been causing quite a controversy lately. What is interesting is that it does point out (between the lines) just how ludicrous the whole Federal Reserve system really is.
Chris Hayes’ Explanation Of Money Is One Of The Best Things We’ve Ever Seen On TV
I was fortunate enough to be invited onto Up W/ Chris Hayes this morning to talk about, yes, the trillion dollar coin.
I’m not going to be so arrogant as to say that I said anything brilliant, but Chris’ introduction to the whole discussion was marvelous.
In addition to a crystal clear explanation of the politics and mechanics of the idea that a platinum coin could avert the debt ceiling crisis, Chris did something that we’ve never seen done before: Peel back the curtain a little bit and talk substantively about the fact that money is an artificial creation of government, and that this has profound implications.
He showed a cartoon that was made by Abraham Lincoln’s critics, showing him creating cash with a magic money machine, that looks so much like a lot of the anti-Bernanke stuff you see online today.
Abraham Lincoln Money Machine
The point being: Governments are always finding novel ways to fund themselves, and there’s a long history of critics thinking it’s dangerous magic.
You can watch Chris’ whole intro here. It’s all great, although the discussion about the nature of money itself comes at the 5:25 mark.
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