There was an article posted on LewRockwell.com by Allan Stevo.  Actually, it is an excerpt out of a new book called How to Win America for Ron Paul and the Cause of Freedom in 2012.  The author is obviously a huge Ron Paul supporter and is a big supporter of liberty.  From that, I don’t want to step on his toes and make an enemy out of someone who shares a similar philosophical outlook.  However, I do respectfully disagree with much of what he has said.

Stevo starts out (in this excerpt) by trying to motivate Ron Paul supporters.  He does it in an over-the-top way.  He says, “Working half-heartedly or ineffectively in these times that so matter is simply not enough, because victory is so close for a candidate who is so threatening to the forces that oppose freedom.”

The author goes on to say that “Simply sharing links of Facebook and getting into online debates will do little to make Ron Paul president”.  He is saying that Ron Paul supporters need to branch outside of the internet to be effective.  Perhaps he is partially correct here.

Then he really goes over-the-top.  He says that if you are staying online or just waving signs, then those actions are entirely ineffective in winning a campaign.  He says, “Do them and you are just as bad as any neo-con – because you have a chance to effectively fight for liberty, yet you do nothing.”  A few sentences later, Stevo writes, “In fact, I’d say you’re even worse than a neo-con, because a neo-con doesn’t get it.”

First, this is completely insulting.  I understand he is trying to motivate people, but you don’t do it by throwing insults.  They are ridiculous insults too.  If someone is open-minded enough to come around to Ron Paul’s viewpoints, you are going to say he is the villain just because he doesn’t do everything you say he should do in campaigning?  This is absurdity.

Later in this excerpt, the author does some math.  He says that now 2 or 3 voters out of 20 trust Ron Paul.  Then he gets back to his attempts at motivation by barking orders at his fellow supporters.  He says, “If you are reading this right now, you need to personally deliver 10 votes for Ron Paul on election day.  You need to personally bring in 10 voters who otherwise wouldn’t have voted for Ron Paul.”

And what if I don’t bring in 10 voters?  Am I a villain?  Are you going to steal Christmas from me?

The author makes it sound like it is quite feasible as long as you put in the time and effort.  But does he understand how hard it is to convince someone to vote for someone, particularly someone like Ron Paul who is completely different than the typical candidate?  If someone is familiar with Ron Paul and understands a little bit of his philosophy, what makes Stevo thinks that someone’s mind can be changed so easily?  If the person is on the margin and already leans libertarian, perhaps it can be done.  But most people are not there yet.  And when they get there, it will be because of their own internal motivations.

As I’ve said before, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink.  If someone is familiar with Ron Paul and his message and has access to all of the material on the internet that is out there, how much more can I do?  Am I going to call the person every day?  That will just be annoying and turn the person off.

If it were easy to bring 10 new voters for Ron Paul, then a lot of people would be doing it.  But it is very difficult.  It is naive to think that someone can just talk to people and bring them over to the libertarian side in the matter of weeks or days.  The people who are having online debates (who Stevo criticizes) are trying to do this very thing.

Here is the big thing with this excerpt and probably his new book.  Stevo’s main goal is to win the presidency for Ron Paul.  That is actually not my main goal.  It is putting the cart before the horse.  You have to educate people on the benefits of liberty.  You have to persuade people that liberty is moral and that it leads to the most peace and prosperity for everyone.  You cannot skip this step.

Ron Paul could become president tomorrow, but if it was not the result of a change in the hearts and minds of the American people, then it would almost be pointless.  For long-term change in favor of liberty, there has to be a change in the mindset of Americans.  People have to stop believing that government is necessary to run their lives.  Only then can we have smaller government and more freedom.

I believe it is necessary to review the adjusted monetary base on occasion.  The money supply is a major factor in determining what happens in the economy and, therefore, your investments.  While it shouldn’t be this way, that is the reality that we live in.

The money supply measure that the Federal Reserve controls is the adjusted monetary base.  You can view the latest short-term chart here:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/usfd/page3.pdf

You can also view a longer-term picture here:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BASE

You can see the large spike that took place in the fall of 2008.

Since QE2 ended last June, the monetary base has been pretty flat.  The Fed has not been doing much for the last 8 months.  However, in the last few weeks, you can see on the short-term chart that it has gone up and has even surpassed the mark from last June/ July.

We will have to see if this trend holds.  The Fed has not announced any official QE3 (yet).

Another interesting chart to look at is the excess reserves held by commercial banks.  The chart is here:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/EXCRESNS

It has basically copied the monetary base since late 2008.  So while the Fed has more than tripled the money supply, most of this new money has gone into excess reserves with the banks.  This has kept the federal funds rate near zero because banks have no need to borrow overnight money.  Since the excess reserves are so high, most banks do not fall below the minimum reserve requirement that would require them to borrow.

The huge excess reserves has also helped keep a lid on price inflation.

The most important thing to remember is that all of this monetary inflation is not without a big price.  While we haven’t seen huge price inflation to this point, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t severe damage being done.  All of that monetary inflation causes more misallocations.  Resources are not being put to their best use because of the distortion.  This is hurting savings and investment and it is the main reason for the struggling economy.

Until the Fed stops the monetary inflation and allows a severe correction to occur, the economy will continue to be damaged and will continue to struggle.  My best guess is that the Fed will not stop the monetary inflation until we see higher price inflation.

Ben Bernanke spoke today and markets reacted.  As this article notes, “Bernanke’s comments suggest that the Fed has made no decisions about another round of quantitative easing – sure to be nicknamed QE3.”  The price of gold tumbled.  The gold ETF (symbol: GLD) fell $9.20, which translates to about a $92 decline in the metal.  Gold is now around $1,700 per ounce after several weeks of steady gains.

The most amazing thing about this is how sensitive the price of gold is (in terms of the dollar) when Bernanke speaks.  It just shows the power of one person (or one committee).  There is no reason it should be this way.

This also shows that the price of gold in terms of dollars is not only a reflection of past monetary policy, but also a reflection of expectations for future monetary policy.

This is where gold is really different from consumer prices.  Consumer prices such as food and clothing are more likely to rise because of past increases in the money supply.  Gold on the other hand is more likely to rise because of expectations of a coming increase in the money supply.  It is not to say that food and clothing do not take the future into account, but just that it does not seem to be as great of a factor as it is for gold.

These roller coaster rides in the price of gold will likely continue.  I still think that as long as the economy does not drop off a cliff, then the gold price will likely go higher.

The federal government is in major trouble.  The debt-to-GDP ratio is now over the 100% mark.  The yearly deficits are over one trillion dollars and it is only going to get worse with the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and Social Security.  The government is going to try to default through inflation first.

I just don’t see the Fed saying “no” to the government right now.  If the U.S. government needs someone to buy its debt, then the Fed will buy.  If the Fed doesn’t buy, then interest rates will rise and the government will be forced to severely cut spending.  That is why the Fed will say “yes”.

There will eventually come a time when the Fed says “no”.  It will be when the dollar is threatened.  It will be when we see double digit price inflation as we did in the 1970’s.  At that point, I expect the Fed to stop buying U.S. government debt for a while.  That is when you will see a severe cut in spending.  That is when you will see a depression.  That is when you want to sell some of your gold investments and take your profits.