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The nation itself should ALWAYS maintain control of it's own currency. The country's fiscal policy and politicians are ultimately what determine the strength of their currency. Our country was sunk the day we established the Federal Reserve in 1913, and I will provide the proof as best I can though I am no expert. Please do not flag this article and say it doesn't fit the topic, because it sure does and the connection will be apparent well before the end of the article.

In order to illustrate a point before I try to explain and clarify, I would like to talk to you about the hyperinflation that devastated Germany in the early 20th century. According to http://www.usagold.com/germann ightmare.html, the hyperinflation began in the late 1910's, and early 1920's. The wholesale price index being 1 in 1914, so it is the 1914's value of the Mark that is used as a benchmark for comparison of purchasing power. By 1919, it took 2.6 Marks of 1919 money to equal 1 mark from 1914. By July 1923, it took 194,000 Marks to equal the value that 1 mark had in 1914. By November 1923, it took 726,000,000,000 marks to equal the value of 1 mark in 1914. Yes folks, that is 726 BILLION MARKS. It cost around 200 million marks to buy a loaf of bread late in '23!

The real problem with this is of course, suppose you had a very good wealth of say 10,000 marks in 1914 or even 1919. You only lost half of your purchasing power from 1914 to 1919, so not to worry, right? It is possible to have maybe invested wisely enough and kept for the most part, up to speed with inflation. But in 1923, how much wealth have you lost because of inflation? That 10,000 marks isn't even worth toilet paper. It was cheaper to burn money in a wood stove than it was to buy wood with the money!

If you want to read the whole story, just visit the link. But basically, inflation destroys the value of money. If inflation is 10% one year, and the bank pays you 2%, you have LOST 8%! And guess what? Bank interest and dividends are taxed as capital gains, yet inflation is not deductible! So you actually lose more than the 8%! But even in this country, have your bank accounts given you as much interest as say, the price of fuel or the cost of living has gone up, percentage wise? No? Then you haven't beat inflation and have lost wealth.

All of you would agree Gas is expensive right? I have to disagree. Gasoline has not increased in cost, if it has, only very slightly over the past decades. Why do I say this? Because of inflation,

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