Did the Fed's Gold Policies cause the Great Depression?

"The result was that gold. seeking a haven. flowed into the United States - $175 million in 1929 and $280 million the next year. If the Federal Reserve had followed the old gold standard rules, this would have increased money available to banks and citizens. But George Harrison at the New York Fed and others believed in the inflation theory, and thought that more cash would exacerbate inflation. The Fed therefore veered from the old gold standard tradition. It sterilized the effect of all that new money by selling bonds - in effect, soaking up money from the economy to offset the money expansion."

So the Fed did not follow it's own traditions because some unelected experts thought they knew better. How did that work out?

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Nebraska ends taxes on gold and silver while outlawing CBDC's in the state.

- Love stories like this

- Senator Bob Menendez' latest corruption trial this one about gold bar bribes about to begin.

- Culling for Climate. It's always ben a hoax.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Paul Rueben gone far too soon. Still haven't bought my Pee Wee Herman biking suit. And on a more serious note.

- Interesting: what countries produce the most precious metals. (HT Newmark's Door)

- Distributors don't see Bud Light ever recovering from Dylan Mulvaney debacle. I've moved on to Coors Light - sorry not sorry.

- The Daily Coach: Sean Peyton and Standing In Front

Interesting Economic Theory

Another example of why I'm enjoying the book Americana so much:

Without the Gold Rush, industrial economies would have been forced to turn to more sophisticated forms of central banking to keep up with advances in technology, production, and science, just as legal frameworks governing eminent domain, patents, copyrights, bond indentures, and the limited liability of corporations had propelled economic progress. Instead, due to this accidental discovery, banking for the industrial age would be continue to be based on metals found in the ground until the next century.

Makes you think (which is the mark of a great book).

Hard to Argue Against the Point

I've heard this same point made before but in terms of Corvettes not the minimum wage. The cost of a new Corvette in 1953 was $3,490 when the price of gold was $39.50 an ounce. So you could buy a new Corvette in 1953 for 88.35 ounces of gold. That same amount of gold today would be worth $165,000 which is more than enough to pay for a new 2022 top of the line Corvette.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

A lot of new movies and shows coming to Netflix in November. And a lot of movies and shows are being taken out of the library including favorites Serenity and Broadcast News. Plan your day accordingly... Fan favorite Kevin Youkilis has decided to retire. The Greek God of Walks saw 292 3-0 counts in his career (according to MLB Stats) and never swung at a single one of those pitches... 36-years ago yesterday the single greatest holiday episode of any show ever aired. As God as my witness I thought turkeys could fly... I have to wonder if Youkilis will spend part of his retirement taking the wife to follow brother-in-law Tom Brady's games on the road. My mind can easily picture Youkilis in a Winnebago... Heh heh - "Draw me like one of your French girls"... Can't stop thinking that in the next Avengers movie they are in effect fighting the Fox Sports robot... Very interesting story - the gentleman thief of Venice... The Steelers are retiring Mean Joe Greene's number this Sunday. How is it possible his number hasn't been retired already?... Speaking of Kevin Youkilis' brother-in-law, last Sunday Brady accomplished something only one QB in NFL history had previously accomplished. Brady had 85 percent completions (30-35), over 350 yards passing and 5 TD's with no INT's. The only other QB to accomplish this? Tom Brady... Interesting - India holds more gold than the governments of the US, Germany and Switzerland combined...