Newstopia - Micallef on the Reserve Bank and Inflation

[iinspectra]

You left out the best bit: there's a final cross to Tony later in the episode, and Tony's hung himself.

[randoolymiester]

Hang on, I recall one more cross over, and Tony was hanging by a rope.

[Setzer]

You're right money isn't worth anything...can I have all of yours then?

[00Billy]

To keep my self sane I have to watch this video until i laugh.....

The worlds problems summed up in satire all too easily..."sorry , no compensation" is another...wow

[bechaa01]

ha my entire economics degree summarised by Shaun in three minutes. Genuis.

[xTheDarkPilgrimx]

Cunt... CLASSIC!!!

[daspoooop]

sean rocks.. this show was awesome.. too smart for the general australian i think.. shame :(

[gazeff]

@daspoooop Some would not realize it's a send-up. I met one dear old lady some years ago who contended that Norman Gunston wasn't as good as Don Lane. She was serious and was from Tamworth. Enough said?

[john1230]

Money is "worth" something, only because you expect you can get something in return.

But basically, it's worth nothing.

[feeknocks]

if it isn't backed by gold, that is.

[john1230]

Correct.

And these days no money on earth is backed by gold.

[feeknocks]

well there are some local level currencies that use gold or commodities as monetary backings. of course, america's government and federal reserve wouldn't want any of that nonsense going on.

[john1230]

If they want 3% growth every year, they have to keep print money.

That  is 3% the first year. And the 2nd year over the money they started with + the 3 % from last year and so on.

This isn´t endless.

Someday the system fails.

[BTPossum]

Hello and welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to 'someday'.

What you said is true. I call it 'Compound Clusterfuck'

[kuroshashu]

@john1230: I don't get it; so inflation gradually reduces the value of a dollar to that of a cent. Aside from the bother of printing new $10000 notes, what's the harm?

[john1230]

@kuroshashu

You might think inflation is as old as there is money, but it's not.

It's caused by creating money.

If you got a rare valuable stamp, of which only exists one in the entire world, you would not be very happy to hear someone makes perfect forgeries.

Your stamp would be worthless.

Same with todays money.

Government and banks doesn't have to work for it (when they ever did).

They simply print it.

Much easier. But all of our money loses value.

That is why it's important to buy gold.

[kuroshashu]

@john1230: The difference is that money, unlike stamps, is stored in banks, which means that they attract interest which is sufficient to negate the effects of inflation on the individual.

A similar mechanism protects the value of the worker's paycheque by scaling it up over time.

[john1230]

@kuroshashu

More interest than inflation was in the good ol' times.

And, where I live, above a certain amount, I would pay more taxes than I would get interest.

It's a game of deception. And we didn't read the rules before participating.

No curecy is safe these days.

That is why I bought gold for my savings.

No banks for me. Ever.

[kuroshashu]

@john1230: Well, yes, of course you have to pay taxes, but that's nothing to do with this. We were discussing have inflation is supposed to be a great scam or something.

[john1230]

@kuroshashu

Of course it's a scam.

But not only the banks, but also governments have a part in this.

It's all about keeping the sheeple under control.

Would there be inflation if we had money based on gold?

We would live in a totally different world.

But government and banks couldn't control us anymore.

[kuroshashu]

@john1230: What? I'm still confused; what's the harm in inflation? You either have your money in assets and investments, which're immune to inflation, or you have your money in banks were interest counter-acts inflation. What is the harm?

[john1230]

@kuroshashu

In Europe, where I live, we have an inflation of aprox 2 %, per month.

Once it used to be 2 % per year.

Inflation is your money getting worth less when you keep it in you wallet.

In fact it is a hidden tax.

How many interest do you get on your savings account these days?

And how high is the inflation now?

No investments in any company you can think of can save your money now.

Only gold or silver can.

That used to be real money. With no inflation.

[kuroshashu]

@john1230: I get 2.5% per annum, which is equal to the inflation rate.

You do know that the value of gold and silver change with time right? A metal dollar will also change in value over time.

Besides that, let's say it is a hidden tax. So what? What happens if it's abolished? Do you think global governments will be happy to take a cut in revenue or do you think they'll increase the overt tax rates? I know what my bet is.

[john1230]

@kuroshashu

The real value of gold and silver doesn't change much over time.

Paper fiat money looses value, so you need more of it to buy gold and silver.

What is money worth when you have a machine which makes it for you?

In history, and in every culture, gold was used as money for over 6000 years.

Every year global government will cost a lot of money.

Guess who is going to pay that.

Right, the consumer, the taxpayer, and the working man.

A nickel Dollar will loose value, but not a gold one.

[kuroshashu]

@john1230: Even adjusting for inflation, the value of gold does fluctuate quite a bit. In any case, money, including gold, is only worth exactly what we say it is.

The more you type, the more it appears that your real issue is with paying taxes and I can't imagine why that might be. No sense in having a broke government.

Also, global government? I don't know where that came from but since you mention it; I'm not overly sure I think it's a bad idea. Some problems are just too big.

[john1230]

@kuroshashu

You're right. But they can't make gold.

Some tried in ancient times, they all died :)

Governments of all countries are as good as broke.

And the more money is printed, the deeper they / we get in deep shit.

Wondering why so many people buy gold?

They don't trust sheets of paper with a number on it.

There are many problems in this world.

All created by governments.

To name some... wars, unemployment or food shortages, and almost any other problem is governments fault.

[kuroshashu]

@john1230: Wait, what? Now we're on government?

I don't get how they can be broke just become there's no metal in their banks. Just as one example; infrastructure can be maintained by giving the workers the money that we gave the government. That system works fine. What would the government have to buy with gold?

War is sometimes justified; the problem is bad government . Fortunately, we're dealing with that.

Unemployment? Surely unemployment is a byproduct of mechanisation.

[john1230]

@kuroshashu Europe is broke. Amerika is broke too. Governments cost you more than you get in return. They give themselves a good paycheck too, you know? No crisis for them! Why has the government give the workers the money we gave them? I can give it themselves. War is never justified as long as no foreign troops enter your country. There is NO free market. Everything is gov regulated and highly taxed. That causes unemployment. Ok. End of discussion.

[kuroshashu]

@john1230: This is just a list of baseless assertions. You clearly hold these points dogmatically and so perhaps you're right: I should quit wasting my keystrokes on a fundamentalist.

[goodiebadie]

Great! This explains the supply-demand confusion back in my college Economics class