Gold, Peace, and Prosperity
by Ron Paul
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ron PaulEdition: Paperback
Published: 2007
ISBN: N/A
Publisher: Mises Institute
Book Reviews of Gold, Peace, and Prosperity
Book Review: This is the book that changed the way I looked at the world
Summary: 5 Stars
As a university-trained and licensed financial professional, I fully accepted the monetary status quo. Like most people, I probably would have never given the Federal Reserve System a second thought if I had not been drawn into libertarian political philosophy, based in large part by my appreciation for what I considered "the free market."
When I first encountered anti-Fed arguments, it did not make me abandon the views of the Wall Street Journal (to which I faithfully subscribed) or Kudlow & Company (which was set on "Season Pass" on my TiVo), but rather, I steadfastly defended the Fed in the face of largely baseless and inaccurate attacks by people who had watched Freedom to Fascism and skimmed through The Creature from Jekyll Island. These people were so irrational and so flat-out wrong, that I dismissed Ron Paul's monetary views as crankery and thought he was a good candidate "in spite" of his monetary views.
I doubt I ever would have read this book if not for the fact I was contracted to write a series of articles about gold and silver, one of which was to be about Ron Paul's monetary-policy views.
I read this book in one sitting and it was like a kick in the stomach. It is a very odd experience to realize that everything you believed was horribly wrong in a matter of two hours or so.
What makes this concise little book so excellent is that (1) it doesn't deal in conspiracy theories, and (2) it is backed up by solid free-market economic principles. Ron Paul's view at the time was to instate a gold-coin standard, but he was also open to free-market money and free banking. Now, he's pretty much dropped the former and instead argues exclusively for the latter. He never, as Aaron Russo does in Freedom to Fascism, advocates greater government (as opposed to Fed) control of the printing presses -- the nightmare scenario that's causing 12-million-percent inflation in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. This was my main hang-up when I was defending the Fed -- I thought the alternative was greater government control, which is what many of the right-wing conspiracy kooks advocate!
Secondly, this book -- in a little over 50 pages -- answers all of the objections to monetary gold that I had (and most university-brainwashed finance students will have), such as the ridiculous (I see now) idea that moderate inflation promotes economic growth and a stable money supply is deflationary. A third great thing about the book: It gives a very brief, but informative, history of money and banking in the United States.
The only negative thing I can say about the book is that Ron Paul's predictions at the time this was written, turned out to be way off. Thus, this book would be easily "discredited" by neocons and liberals and used to defend the inflationary system, since the ills Dr. Paul saw in the future did not come to pass in the 80's. But 2008 is a lot different from 1978, what with China and the euro and another thirty years of monetary expansion. I think Ron Paul will, sadly, be proved right in his dire predictions, even if his timing was off by three decades.
Summary of Gold, Peace, and Prosperity
Ron Paul has been the leading champion of sound money in the Congress. Here he explains why sound money means a new gold standard. The monograph is written in the clearest possible terms with the goal of explaining the basics of paper money and its effects of inflation, business cycles, and government growth. He maps out a plan to bring about a dollar that is as good as gold, one that would be protected against manipulation by government and central bankers. Part of that strategy is the minting of a new gold one but the more far-reaching plan involves a redefinition of the dollar and complete monetary competition. This monograph first appeared in 1981, and it has been in wide distribution ever since. Henry Hazlitt writes the introduction, and Murray Rothbard writes the preface. 57 pages, 6" x 9", paperbackBook Subjects
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