May 6

Written by:
5/6/2010 8:41 AM 

Last Fall Vashon had a close encounter with money of a third kind when Bill Moyer entertained at a local sushi house. The combined result of speaker Tom Greco’s competence, John Browne Jr’s music and Bill’s enthusiasm was brisk sales of Greco’s latest book, The End of Money. Since then interest in his book has waned, in part because it is badly edited. The main reason though is that none of us wants to live on bread and water, wear sackcloth, or write everything by hand. Even so we would be well advised to compare those hardships with getting tear-gassed by Greek police. Contemplate over your sushi this excerpt via Lew Rockwell:

The Euro Is Screwed

by Kevin Brekke and David Galland

“This is all just part and parcel of the secular trend that will lead to the end of the fiat currency experiment as the world wakes up to the full implications of the institutionalized monetary abuse engendered by a fiat system. As is so clearly evidenced in the drama now playing out in Greece, when a government is forced to solve its debt problem by issuing more debt, the end is nigh.”

I had to look up “fiat currency”. It’s iron pyrite, fool’s gold, credit default swaps. That accomplished, is this end of keystroke money the end Greco speaks of? Apparently not. Whereas Brekke and Galland imply that something like gold is needed, Greco’s local currency is essentially created by the fiat of local trading. Well, Vashon, shall we try to sort out Greece and Greco? It’d be nice to do that before the oil slick gets into the Gulf Stream and the world stage set is changed for the next act.