Congressman Ron Paul: Current Monetary System Coming To An End
The Texas Republican says the bailout’s infusion of government money will lead to inflation, that our current monetary system is coming to end, and the market, not politicians, can best solve the economic crisis.
Kiran Chetry: The last time you were with us you explained why you were against the government’s bailout plan, why you were voting against it, and you didn’t believe focusing on buying these troubled assets was the smart thing to do. Since then, they’ve tweaked it and decided to buy stakes in some U.S. banks. Do you think that’s a better strategy to help heal the economy?
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul: They tweaked it up. It started out as a three-page document and went up to 450 pages. Instead of $700 billion it’s up to $850 billion. Reuters had a story out today. They estimate it’s going to cost the American taxpayer about $5 trillion. It’s tweaking in the wrong direction, and I don’t think it’s going to do any good whatsoever.
Chetry: The credit markets are starting to loosen up a bit, at least from what we’ve seen this week. Is that a sign that maybe it is working?
Paul: Maybe to some degree in the short run, but that just means we’ll have more inflation. You can’t create $5 trillion out of thin air and not expect inflation. So although the dollar may be up a little bit right now because the markets are a little calmer, this just means that in time we’re going to all suffer and pay for this, and we’re going to pay for it with higher prices. Video Watch Ron Paul warn of bitter economic times ahead »
This is the serious problem. It’s the attack on the dollar system. They’re trying to save the dollar, but this system that we’ve had since 1971 is nonviable, and it’s coming to an end. That’s what this whole story is about, the end of a monetary system that we’ve had since 1971.
Something has to give. You just can’t create more money out of thin air and propping up everybody. It’s an immoral system. You’re asking the poor people to bail out the rich. You’re asking the innocent people to bail out the guilty. You’re asking people to just totally defy the Constitution because there’s no place in the Constitution that says that we can do these things.
Besides, economically, it’s a disaster. This is going to cause a great deal of harm. It’s like a drug addict taking a strong fix, and he feels better for a day or two, but believe me, we’re going to kill the patient. And the patient here is the dollar system and our entire world economy. I would say let’s get off this addiction.
