Did the US government "steal" people's gold? The answer is yes and no. If it was stealing per se, people would have got $0 instead of $20 for the ounces they handed in. It was an exchange albeit forced.
However, and I may be wrong, most people held coins (I am not sure jewellery was forced to be handed in) and those coins unless foreign were the property of the US government? What the holder of the coin had was the right to $20 for a double eagle and so on.
As to simply defying the executive order, some who had more than 5oz per person may well have buried their gold. My only question was how they exchanged their gold for cash without getting arrested?
How much was the dollar devalued by? I guess 60% since gold was still the means of international exchange between countries even if it had now disappeared from public transactions. One would also need to look at exchange rates between other currencies which would further obscure the picture since I suspect some of them went through similar gold devaluations.
I can see this issue exemplifies a larger and more important issue - The State versus The People. I used to write for Lew Rockwell - a free market libertarian. I still hold many of those views regarding small government. What we see today is the price of democracy. People will vote away their liberties if it fills their bellies. The pendulum has swung too far to the side of big government but while people can drive their cars, watch TV and eat to their hearts' content at relative peace with their neighbour, they will say "Who cares?".
That is why a gold standard is useless, government will just drop it at the first inconvenience. What is needed is free market money - competing local currencies which the people can vote for via their wallets. Unfortunately, control of the money supply is the last thing government will ever give up to the people.
Looks like some of you guys misread my 5 ounce subplot. I am not saying you get to keep only 5oz under a presumed new confiscation, who knows what will happen. But the allocation was 5oz PER PERSON, be it your wife, kids, granny, etc. All depends how much you trust your extended family.
Besides, what's the gripe? If the government goes back to a gold standard and calls in gold to back up the dollar - isn't that what many gold holders want - so called honest money? Would some of you sacrifice your gold stash for what you in principle have wanted the government to do for years? If you can redeem your dollars for X oz of gold, what's the problem?
The Myth of Gold Confiscation [View article]
However, and I may be wrong, most people held coins (I am not sure jewellery was forced to be handed in) and those coins unless foreign were the property of the US government? What the holder of the coin had was the right to $20 for a double eagle and so on.
As to simply defying the executive order, some who had more than 5oz per person may well have buried their gold. My only question was how they exchanged their gold for cash without getting arrested?
How much was the dollar devalued by? I guess 60% since gold was still the means of international exchange between countries even if it had now disappeared from public transactions. One would also need to look at exchange rates between other currencies which would further obscure the picture since I suspect some of them went through similar gold devaluations.
The Myth of Gold Confiscation [View article]
That is why a gold standard is useless, government will just drop it at the first inconvenience. What is needed is free market money - competing local currencies which the people can vote for via their wallets. Unfortunately, control of the money supply is the last thing government will ever give up to the people.
The Myth of Gold Confiscation [View article]
Besides, what's the gripe? If the government goes back to a gold standard and calls in gold to back up the dollar - isn't that what many gold holders want - so called honest money? Would some of you sacrifice your gold stash for what you in principle have wanted the government to do for years? If you can redeem your dollars for X oz of gold, what's the problem?
Not that I think a gold standard would work ...