Some republican congressman just straight up quoted Mises from money and credit. He was "debating" some idiot Clinton advisor about the role of "speculators" in futures markets. Needless to say, the liberal idiot got murdered. Unfortunately it doesn't matter, the government will eliminate the role of traders; they need to conceal their inflationary destructive policies.
"If we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion."
The government does not just want to conceal their inflationary policies, the government wants to protect their stolen wealth from speculators who can gamble on government policy and earn the money before the government can steal it.
People for the most part through the Indoctrination Camps called Public Schools are taught incorrect economic principals that defy common sense. Then they are taught that the aggressive monopoly call government really is their big brother and is the source of all goodness. From this propaganda the government has adopted policies that give them and their friends the ability to legally steal money from the productive parts of society. It is speculators who identify the effects of these policies and then bet on the performance of securities. The results is that these bets effectively extract the money the government was going to steal. For example there were people who short selled (Even if it is illegal you can construct a set of options contracts to mimic a short sell) GM and Chrysler. These folks earned the equity that investors would have given to the government in the illegal bankruptcy.
Bogart:From this propaganda the government has adopted policies that give them and their friends the ability to legally steal money from the productive parts of society. It is speculators who identify the effects of these policies and then bet on the performance of securities. The results is that these bets effectively extract the money the government was going to steal.
No. Speculators don't set prices, and they certainly don't "steal." They merely take the given price and try to predict what the price is going to be. Speculators provide real time information for market actors, which allows them to better understand the current economic condition. The socialist blames the "speculator" because the speculator exposes the ramifications of failed policies. The government must inflate, and doing so will trigger a "bull market." The speculator will expose the inflation before it fully sets in. The government blames the "greedy capitalist" because he's afraid of being exposed. Inflation makes it possible to divert the fury of the people to the 'speculators' and 'profiteers'.
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I never said in the response that speculators steal money. In fact in the first paragraph speculators EARN money and later on I said speculators extract money. I did not say steal. ONLY government can legally steal money.
I never said speculators set prices. I stated that speculators gamble or make educated guess as to the effects of government policy. It is government and its monopoly on violence and aggression that steals money and gives it to its friends.
Do you know which Congressman? I can't think of any current Congressmen who are Austrian besides Ron Paul. Was it Dick Armey? He used to be a Congressman and he was an Austrian of sorts.
Political Atheists Blog
I think it was Dick Armey. Some economics professor from Texas.
Yup, that's Dick Armey. He's a pretty good guy. Good on the economic issues, okay on other issues.