Books Gold, Peace, and Prosperity
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - This is the book that changed the way I looked at the world
As a university-trained and licensed financial professional, I fully accepted the monetary status quo. Like most people, I probably would have never given the Federal Reserve System a second thought if I had not been drawn into libertarian political philosophy, based in large part by my appreciation for what I considered "the free market."

When I first encountered anti-Fed arguments, it did not make me abandon the views of the Wall Street Journal (to which I faithfully subscribed) or Kudlow & Company (which was set on "Season Pass" on my TiVo), but rather, I steadfastly defended the Fed in the face of largely baseless and inaccurate attacks by people who had watched Freedom to Fascism and skimmed through The Creature from Jekyll Island. These people were so irrational and so flat-out wrong, that I dismissed Ron Paul's monetary views as crankery and thought he was a good candidate "in spite" of his monetary views.

I doubt I ever would have read this book if not for the fact I was contracted to write a series of articles about gold and silver, one of which was to be about Ron Paul's monetary-policy views.

I read this book in one sitting and it was like a kick in the stomach. It is a very odd experience to realize that everything you believed was horribly wrong in a matter of two hours or so.

What makes this concise little book so excellent is that (1) it doesn't deal in conspiracy theories, and (2) it is backed up by solid free-market economic principles. Ron Paul's view at the time was to instate a gold-coin standard, but he was also open to free-market money and free banking. Now, he's pretty much dropped the former and instead argues exclusively for the latter. He never, as Aaron Russo does in Freedom to Fascism, advocates greater government (as opposed to Fed) control of the printing presses -- the nightmare scenario that's causing 12-million-percent inflation in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. This was my main hang-up when I was defending the Fed -- I thought the alternative was greater government control, which is what many of the right-wing conspiracy kooks advocate!

Secondly, this book -- in a little over 50 pages -- answers all of the objections to monetary gold that I had (and most university-brainwashed finance students will have), such as the ridiculous (I see now) idea that moderate inflation promotes economic growth and a stable money supply is deflationary. A third great thing about the book: It gives a very brief, but informative, history of money and banking in the United States.

The only negative thing I can say about the book is that Ron Paul's predictions at the time this was written, turned out to be way off. Thus, this book would be easily "discredited" by neocons and liberals and used to defend the inflationary system, since the ills Dr. Paul saw in the future did not come to pass in the 80's. But 2008 is a lot different from 1978, what with China and the euro and another thirty years of monetary expansion. I think Ron Paul will, sadly, be proved right in his dire predictions, even if his timing was off by three decades.

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Rating: - Tell the Central Banks to stop DEFLATING OUR MONEY!!!
President Calvin Coolidge got rid of the Federal Reserve Bank because he AND our Forefathers, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, ALL agreed that placing our ENTIRE economy in the hands of a few BANKERS is a VERY bad idea.

Well, faster forward to 2008 and here we are. The Federal Reserve and the families that control it run virtually our ENTIRE WORLD.

There are Federal Banks in EVERY developed nation and together they can manipulate the ENTIRE world's economy. WHY ISN'T ANYONE DOING ANYTHING!? Are we all so COMFORTABLE with our lives that we will just BLINDLY let them STEAL our RIGHTS? (Patriot Act, 'Undisclosed' Evidence, Indefinite Political Prison Sentences)

And there is talk that the U.N. Police are going to be able to enforce GLOBAL LAWS INSIDE AMERICA!!! Can you imagine the chaos that's going to cause? U.N. Police breaking down doors of Americans for doing things that aren't illegal in American but are considered illegal by the U.N.

Ron Paul is the only Politician who will even ADDRESS these issues. He is the ONLY voice of the people.

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Rating: - Another great book by a great Politician! Murray Rothbard would be proud!
Though I am not what one would call
a 'gold bug', I have to admit that
Congressman Ron Paul is right about
the gold standard and what has hap-
pended to our manipulated dollar!

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Rating: - Clarifies the issues
Lately, if you argue that we ought to return to the gold standard, most people will look at you like you're out of your mind. Unfortunately, most people don't really understand economics.

Read this book if:
- You aren't quite sure what the gold standard is or why we should do it, or if you've never really thought about the issue.
- You're absolutely convinced that the idea is crazy.
- You don't understand what's wrong with inflation or the effect it's having on you.
- You're concerned with the direction of the economy.
- You already believe in the gold standard and want to learn how to defend it better.
- You're a voter. The gold standard may be a big issue in the 2008 election. Plus, Ron Paul himself is running for President; if you're not familiar with him, this book is a great way to find out more about a lot of his positions on economics (I'd also recommend his "Mises and Austrian Economics," which I'm reading now, for that). If you haven't decided who you're going to vote for yet or are unsure as to exactly what you think about the gold standard, you owe it to yourself to read this book. It will certainly help you be an informed voter for this, and future, elections.
For that matter, I recommend this book to just about everyone. This book really helped me understand the issues better. This book avoids using too much economic jargon or getting too technical. It doesn't get bogged down in trivial details. It is concise enough that you can read it fairly quickly, but it is still packed with information. Even if you don't have much training in economics or the word "economics" puts you to sleep (if you had a boring econ professor in college) or gives you a panic attack (if you took econ and hated it), I'd urge you to read this book.