>Joe Biden mocks Trump says he can declassify anything.
That would make my year if Joeboy followed through on that, spazzed out and declassified everything all at once and then yelled "NO TAKEBACKS!"
I just saw this on Anonymous Conservative's blog:
The United States of America intends to assign a special name to the military mission in Ukraine, put an active American general at its head, and switch to direct intervention, which may also mean the transfer of American military contingent to Ukraine in order to conduct special military operations.
https://theinteldrop.com/2022/08/26/wsj-us-is-preparing-for-a-special-military-mission-in-ukraine/
I do not know if this is true or not or if this source is sound or not, but one analyst I saw claimed that the Biden White House is terrified of seeing Kiev fall before the midterms, and is willing to do anything to prevent that from happening, since they think that would be political death for the democrats.
Wish I had a link to that analyst. That sound awfully plausible at this stage.
Diggin' it.
Money Does Matter: The End of the Gold Standard Led to a Lower Standard of Living
On August 15, 1971, Richard Nixon announced that the US dollar (USD) would no longer be redeemable in gold. This was supposed to be temporary. And yet, fifty-one years later, here we are. The gold standard was gradually destroyed in the twentieth century. Now people are experiencing the consequences: less purchasing power, more economic cycles, and a weaker economy.
In the chapter 4 of his book What Has Government Done to Our Money?, Murray Rothbard goes over the steps the government took to end the gold standard over the twentieth century, from the end of the classical gold standard to the closing of the gold window in 1971.
The Classical Gold Standard (1815–1914)
The classical gold standard tended to prevent the government from running budget deficits and going into debt, as it could not easily create inflation. In 1913, the Federal Reserve (Fed) was born. When the US entered the World War I, US dollars were printed at an excess of the gold reserves. At this point, the US got off the classical gold standard and this money printing contributed to the depression of 1920–21.
The Gold Exchange Standard (1926–31)
In this regime, the USD and the pound sterling (GBP) were the two currencies of reference (“key currencies”). The US went back to the classical gold standard (converting USD into gold). GBP and other currencies were not convertible into gold (except for large bars). The Great Britain converted GBP to USD and the other European countries converted their currencies to GBP. So, the Great Britain inflated GBP and the other European countries did the same with their respective currencies (a “pyramiding” of GBP on USD and of other European currencies on GBP). Consequently, as Rothbard stated:
Britain and Europe were permitted to inflate unchecked, and British deficits could pile up unrestrained by the market discipline of the gold standard…. Britain was able to induce the United States to inflate dollars so as not to lose many dollar reserves or gold to the United States. As sterling balances piled up in France, the United States, and elsewhere, the slightest loss of confidence in the … inflationary structure was bound to lead to general collapse. This is precisely what happened in 1931; the failure of inflated banks throughout Europe, and the attempt of “hard money” France to cash in its sterling balances for gold, led Britain to go off the gold standard completely. Britain was soon followed by the other countries of Europe.
Fluctuating Fiat Currencies (1931–45)
In 1933–34 the US abandoned the classical gold standard once again. The USD was defined as 1/35 of an ounce of gold and only foreign governments and central banks could convert it into gold. So, there was a certain link to gold, but the US was in a floating exchange rate regime. As Rothbard stated, by cutting the ties to gold, this regime
leave[s] the absolute control of each national currency in the hands of its … government [which can] allow its currency to fluctuate freely with respect to all other fiat currencies … [The flaw] is to hand total control of the money supply to [the government], and then to … expect that it will refrain from using that power.
the disastrous experience of … the 1930s world of fiat paper and economic warfare, led the United States authorities to [aim] the restoration of a viable international monetary order.
https://mises.org/wire/money-does-matter-end-gold-standard-led-lower-standard-living