re: Is there anyone here who supports fiat curreny/the Federal Reserve?

Because the fed determines it's value by setting, in effect, the bank returns on their supply of dollars.

Oh it trades, and the trades are not regulated but the returns on dollar are and that dramatically impacts it's value.

It is similar to when cotton was a quota crop and prices were guaranteed to farmers. It traded every day. There was no reason for a farmer to sell below a quota price. Today there is no reason from a yield standpoint for anyone to trade dollars---all other things held equal---for euros that yield less than the fed rate since the dollars can be deposited into the fed for that return.

The other thing it would accomplish is it would rob from the Fed the low cost funds it has to buy the treasury debt. We wouldn't be spending near as much money today IMHO if we had to pay the rates the world would demand for the quantity of debt we are issuing. The Fed, in an amazing ponzi scheme, was the largest purchaser of treasury debt. If the debt the fed bought the last two years had to be sold on the market interest rates would soar and Congress would think twice about their spending.

Dollars that are not accompanied by a guaranteed yield would trade freely. It would accomplish what the gold back people want---a market device to limit government expansion and a dependable currency that allows accurate measurement of wealth.

nice

Ironically Freidman was one of the leading proponents of abandoning the gold standard. He did not forsee the meddling the fed would undertake to control interest rates.

He is quite clear in this 1996 interview on his feelings on the fed.

LINK

He is often criticized for supporting the abolishment of the gold standard and the empowerment of the fed. That criticism is off base. He wanted a free trading currency ABSENT of a fed that could manipulate supply and yields. That didn't happen.

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It's the way you interact, the way you dismiss things that aren't convenient to your beliefs, it's the way you degrade the crap out of people and destroy dialogue with your tactics.

Your character is just overall disgusting.

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Have I ever accused you of being "overall disgusting," mo?

You invite criticism when you post non-sensical statements and then make personal attacks when you're challenged on them. Just so you know......

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If you need to ask then you're being dishonest.

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Dazzle me with your insight.

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Iraq switched to selling oil in euro's

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Of course they did. The economic sanctions by the US meant no one could legally buy or sell dollars from or to them. Forgot that, did you?

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During the oil-for-food program over 53 billion dollars in Iraqi oil was sold on the world market.

Iraq's decision to switch from the dollar to the euro was an act of defiance.

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You see how incoherent your posts are? You claim Iraq sold their oil for euros in defiance at the same time you say they sold their oil for food for dollars.

In any case, you are ignoring the fact that the economic sanctions the US imposed on Iraq prohibited Iraq from easily trading US dollars on foreign exchange markets. Any US bank caught accepting or exchanging dollars risked the government fining them for violating the sanctions. Therefore Iraq was forced to resort to other currencies.

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Back to the larger picture, you know the truth, you just enjoy dismissing things that go against a system that has benefited you. There is really no sensible way to deny that military force has been used to keep the dollar as the primary oil exchange currency.

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All I asked you to do was to support your claim that the US has threatened countries with military attacks if those countries don't use US dollars for trading. I asked you to provide the name of just ONE country who uses US dollars to avoid being attacked.

If you can't do that, just admit it. Otherwise your claim is unsupportable.

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Are you honestly denying that military force does not play a vital role in the dollar being the primary currency for oil exchange?

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Not in the way you are implying. US military force plays a role in domestic and world stability. To the extent the dollar trades on stability, the military plays a "role". OTOH intimating Europeans would invite and support US military intervention in places like Libya to preserve the petrodollar is just bizarre.

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We attacked Iraq because they had a bunch of weapons of mass destruction scattered all over the place just waiting to be used. They were a world threat to everyone including their dogs and children. And everybody knows it.

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Disclaimer: I have no problem with the federal reserve system so I'm not going to get into that.

But, this seems like a naive view on the Iraq war at best. They certainly weren't a threat to us for damn sure.