The Federal Reserve Does Not Own Gold \ stacker news ~econ

The Federal Reserve Does Not Own Gold mises.org/power-market/federal-reserve-does-not-own-gold

381 sats \ 15 comments \ @Undisciplined 19 Aug econ

By Ryan McMaken

The Fed has owned no gold since 1934, when the Fed handed over all its gold in exchange for gold certificates.

This is quite interesting.

It is possible to imagine that the Fed could start buying gold, but it’s hard to see why the Fed would be motivated to do so.

Moreover, given that the Fed’s gold certificates have essentially no connection to the actual market price of gold, changes in the price of gold have virtually no effect on the value of the Fed’s assets.

55 sats \ 5 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 19 Aug

I was surprised that this never came up during all of Ron Paul's hearings with Bernanke. The impression I had from then was that the Fed did hold gold as a financial asset.

36 sats \ 4 replies \ @kepford 19 Aug

Yeah, it was news to me.

That said, a few years ago I thought all these gold bugs actually held gold. And I mean had self custody or at least put in a bank. Gold stocks and ETFs are represented as gold. What is really surprising to me about this article is that the certificates aren't redeemable in gold and the value is set by decree not the market price.

I shouldn't be surprised at this point but what can I say. There is no bottom to the rigged nature of these public/private partnerships like the Fed and the Treasury.

55 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 19 Aug

I remember that issue of statutory value coming up with the Liberty Coin guys. There were stories about business owners paying their employees in legal tender silver coins, which caused an enormous mismatch between taxable income and the real wages. Now those guys are in jail for domestic terrorism.

25 sats \ 2 replies \ @kepford 19 Aug

The Liberty Coin guys doesn't ring a bell for me.

110 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined OP 19 Aug

They were trying to make silver and gold coins catch on again during the Ron Paul Revolution. The details are a bit fuzzy, but I do recall they were prosecuted for domestic terrorism for undermining the US monetary system.

30 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 19 Aug

Wow.

I recall a story of Ron Paul being stopped in an airport because his campaign manager had so much in cash donations.

These people are sociopaths. They want to account for every dollar and everything we do. I think most people have no idea how evil it all is. Americans are far to trusting. I would say naive.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 20 Aug

"Moreover, the Fed is presently concerned with purchasing more dollar-denominated government debt to keep interest rates low on the Federal government’s huge deficits." This is what bothers me about the government. Only covering their own asses in the short term. They arent even thinking about the long term repercussions.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @16d86e9daa 19 Aug

Actually, the Federal Reserve does hold a significant amount of gold, primarily through the U.S. Treasury and other government accounts

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @oliverweiss 19 Aug

The Treasury could then simply sell off all the gold to Wall Street banks in exchange for dollars that would go to luxury hotels for illegal immigrants or more bombs for the State of Israel.

Totally unnecessary, pointless and stupid. OMG.

40 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 19 Aug

Yeah, I think that line takes away from the article. Weakens it IMO.

Granted, I agree that money should not be stolen by the state and sent to other governments or paid to hotels to house people. But if a reader is very pro Israel government or pro social safety net they will only remember those parts.

That's a weakness in the reader. And maybe that's why he puts stuff like that in there. If one can't read something like this article and value it even if it also says a few things you don't agree with you the reader are lost. That's a huge handicap many have.

I NEVER would have learned half of what I know if I wasn't able to listen to smart people I disagreed with. This is what separates most people. Most people aren't capable of doing this.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @oliverweiss 19 Aug

Well, I think this last sentence says a lot about the author. The article was ok, factual, there was no need to close it like this.

I see your points. Not sure I would call it a weakness of the reader though. Nor blame the reader for what he takes from the article.