06-02-2016, 01:13 AM
(06-01-2016, 08:46 PM)Kinser79 Wrote:(06-01-2016, 12:31 PM)Mikebert Wrote: [Kinser] If one has a silver certificate for 10 dollars then yes you can go to the bank and get 10 dollars worth of silver. Pretty simple really.
[Mike] Um no, you could not go to your local bank, “the silver certificates could only be redeemed in person at the New York or San Francisco Assay Offices”.
Individual citizens redemption of currency for specie was not a major route through which the gold standard worked. Most of the action was by institutions and occurred at the Federal Reserve level.
Immaterial. The fact is that one could take their silver certificate and get silver for it. You're not seeing the forest for the goddamned trees as usual Mike.
(06-01-2016, 02:33 PM)Mikebert Wrote: [Kinser]That being said, one has to recognize that there hasn't been silver coinage in this country since 1964. I find it interesting though that if one takes the minimum wage from 1964 ($1.25 per hour) or 5 silver quarters, one would come out with just slightly less than a troy ounce of silver (all silver coinage is debased with some content of copper for wear purposes). Furthermore that this would be in the 15 dollar range, the very wage so many seem to be demanding for minimum wage workers.
[Mike]What would a wage of 1.25 silver dollars look like over the 1970-2015 period based on current silver prices adjusted to today’s dollars. Obviously no employer in 1980 was going to pay the equivalent today of $46 wages to unskilled workers. Clearly the minimum wage would have to be abolished or reduced. Suppose it was lowered to 0.30 silver dollars per hour ($11.2 in today’s money) and then kept there. After 1989 wages would fluctuate between $1.60 and $4.70 in today’s money. Can you see how the huge volatility of the silver market makes this untenable?
The volatility in the silver market is due to the fact that currency is not defined in terms of silver. When the Dollar was defined as 3/4ths of a troy ounce of silver the dollar was worth exactly that. 27g of silver would always be a dollar. You're interpreting speculation based in fiat currency for the value of money based on a commodity.
You have it exactly right. That spike in 1980 was the Hunt brothers trying to corner the silver market which wouldn't have happened under a gold or silver coin standard. My personal take is that they thought the excessive inflation of the Carter years was going to get worse. It would have except for Volcker jacking up interest rates and Reagan's willingness to suffer through a very sharp recession.
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. -- H.L. Mencken
If one rejects laissez faire on account of man's fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action. -- Ludwig von Mises
If one rejects laissez faire on account of man's fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action. -- Ludwig von Mises