Michael McKay is the Founder and Host of RadioFreeMarket.com and author of Secrets About Money that Put You at Risk. Mr. McKay has closely watched the Federal Reserve’s monetary machinations providing TRILLIONS of dollars to Wall Street Aristocracy and Foreign Banks and discusses what it means as an indicator of economic fragility.
The podcast link is here. 22 minutes
Health Care, Health Insurance, and many other forms of charity and assistance were provided Privately by Mutual Aid Societies for much of American history by many lodges and other volunteer run organizations.
We will discuss how various interests eliminated this system of Peaceful and Voluntary Cooperation when the created the Modern Welfare State and tell you who they were and how they did it.
We also discuss the current state of Health Care and how more regulations reduce our choices and make everything more expensive.
Please Tune in to learn The Important Real History of how a Voluntary System of Charity and Healthcare was replaced by the Coercive Welfare State and how we can reclaim this Peaceful Cooperation System again. With Guest Host and Producer Drew Hjelm.
[audio http://radiofreemarket.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/rfm_josh_fulton_final_082011.mp3]
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WWW. RadioFree Market.
In case you missed it, on July 21st 2011 th U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a 266 page partial audit of the Federal Reserve (FED).
Here is the punch line: The Federal Reserve secretly kept the Phony-Fiat-Money-System afloat by “lending” out 16 Trillion dollars to carious corporations and banks, many of which were foreign, non-U.S. entities like The Bank of Scotland, UBS (Switzerland), Deutche Bank (Germany) and Societe Generale SA (France) between December 1, 2007 through July 21, 2010 (read this as: Created-Out-Of-Thin-Air and had refused to tell us). The details are on page 131 which you can read here.
How bis is $16 Trillion Dollars? Well, to get a basic idea please review this excellent presentation. Here are some other ways to try to get your head around this astounding number:
The entire U.S. GDP is 14.8 Trillion Dollars. That is what everybody : you, me.everybody, including all Government spent in 2010
The entire U.S. Debt over the past 200 years is 14.5 Trillion Dollars. It used to take time to dig a hole this deep …no more!
To think about it with a bit more personal impact let’s just pretend that you can carry a backpack with one million pounds in it. Now make that backpack 16 million times more heavy!
Still beyond the imagination? Try this: 16 Trillion inches equals a bit more than 250 Million miles. That would be 10,000 trips around the planet Earth, nearly 1400 trips to the Moon or nearly three trips to the Sun.
But why should you care? After all, what is a few – even many – additional Trillion Dollars when the US has already admitted to counterfeiting so many Trillions by whacking on the ZERO Key of their Money-Creating-Computer like a drunken monkey on a piano?
Well, for one thing, most Americans still have the quaint idea that we are supposed to know, or be able to find out, what our Governing Entitle are up to. For many years the FED has gotten a free ride with the public a.) not really knowing what the heck it is or does, and b.) why we should even care. But as Dr. Gary North has brilliantly pointed out, here, those ‘Free Ride’ days or Mass Stupification are over. The toothpaste of knowledge is out of the tube, and there is no way to put us all back to sleep. Heck, even Newt Gingrich at the Republican Presidential Debate in Ames, Iowa on August 11th 2011 called for the full Audit of the Fed!
Audit the Fed has gone, or is quickly going, mainstream and Ron Paul is quite correct in pointing out that this deeply needed national conversation, for which he has been the lone voice in Washington DC for decades, is coming ‘Our Way’ as he said in his speech at the Iowa Straw Poll last Saturday.
The last full audit of the FED was completed under the Eisenhower Administration in 1953, almost sixty years ago. The last time anyone from the US Congress was allowed (because even Congress must seek permission) to just take a look-see at the Gold in Ft. Knox was in 1974 (read about that here). Even though the 2011 audit was not in the same depth that a complete audit would be this newly issued GAO Report is still a historic document the Main Stream Press should have put on every front page but, alas, has been totally ignored (OK, so I did find one Press Article of it in the Guatemala Times…Here).
Here is the big reason you should note, understand and tell others about the news item: it sends the most important signal yet as to how bad things are likely to become. Those of us who have been following this for some time and who understand Austrian Business Cycle Theory have been yelling from the roof tops that we are facing hyper-inflation, social disorder and greater political oppression.
And that is just putting it, well, nicely. We were bracing for a Category 4 Hurricane and now we should brace for a Category 16 – if there was such a thing (please note that a Cat 5 is the highest measure used and is classified as ‘catastrophic’).
I fear – now – it will be much worse that we even could have imagined: The Tidal Wave that was going to crush the ‘shoreline’ may actually submerge the Whole Mainland. Think of Atlantis, the mystic continent and its civilization, sinking beneath the waves.
For us today it really is hard to imagine what it feels like when the money dies, the middle class is literally wiped out and violence between Neighbor and Neighbor becomes commonplace. Everyone should buy and read Adam Ferguson’s Book to understand how this can and does happen; read this book today.
Man, it is depressing to see this coming and I know that most of us have the reaction to ‘look away’. As I write this I feel the nausea that many of you may be feeling right now.
But please do not look away.
Tell others and do not sugar-coat it. Learn more. Listen to Lew Rockwell’s podcasts, subscribe to Mises Daily. Start a blog or a study group. If you don’t have time then send money to these fine organizations. In whatever way you can, please Stand Up For Freedom and Rally the Spread of Knowledge. You are not helpless unless you follow the FED’s lead and take the Suicide Pill of sticking your head in the sand.
Michael McKay is the Host of www.RadioFreeMarket.com the author of Secrets About Money That Put You At Risk. You can reach him by email at mmckay@radiofreemarket.com.
** Hamilton’s Curse: Central Banking and Permanent Big Government with Dr. DiLorenzo **
*Special Interview with Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo, author of ‘Hamilton’s Curse’. Dr. DiLorenzo is a Professor of Economics at Loyola University and is also the author of many important books such as “The Real Lincoln” and “How Capitalism Saved America”.
Please join us for a lively discussion on how Alexander Hamilton and his adoring fans have undercut the US Constitution and saddled us with a Central bank and Interventionist Government.
Tom discusses how we are living under Fascialism, a term he coined to show how we are living under a combination of Fascism and Socialism.
This is truly one of our best interviews ever. Hosted by Michael McKay
[audio http://radiofreemarket.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/rfm-thomas-dilorenzo-final-081311.mp3]
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Posted By Drew Hjelm Guest Host at Radio Free Market on his blog Ad Libertad.
I had the chance to meet Governor Rick Perry at his campaign stop in Iowa City yesterday. It was at the famed Hamburg Inn #2, where many candidates come for meet and greets before elections. The room was packed. The place has seating for about 75 people, and it was a full house. Standing room only. There was media everywhere; one of Wolf Blitzer’s field correspondents had her Situation Room camera right in front of my table.
Around 3:30, Perry arrived and shook hands all the way around the restaurant. While I was waiting for him to come around, met Mrs. Anita Perry and the family. Mrs. Perry asked me what “Mises” was all about on my wristband and proceded to talk about whatever nonprofit was on hers.
About five minutes later, Governor Perry came around and I talked with him briefly about his record. Here’s part of the exchange:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RV9OhSkoeU&w=425&h=349]
What I asked Governor Perry was “Considering state debt has nearly tripled and spending has increased by two thirds since you were governor, and also that ACORN considered your help their ‘proudest moment,’ what were the differences between him and the current liberal president?” As you can see, he immediately tried to excuse away the numbers.
I found the debt numbers at Politifact from Bill White, who quotes the Texas Bond Review Board. I asked Perry about the raw numbers, which show that in 2000 Texas state debt was $13.7B, and by 2009 that number had grown to over $34B (Mitchell Schnurman found more recent numbers for 2010: $37B.). Bill White at Politifact adjusted for inflation and found the debt merely doubled under Perry.
Perry’s record on spending can be found at Texas Budget Source. In 2000 when Perry took over, Texas spending was $49.7B and the latest numbers the site has available show that spending was $82.1B, a 67% increase. Adjusting for inflation and population growth, the growth in the size of the Texas government during his time as governor is a paltry 36%.
Finally, I found that Perry had good friends in ACORN, a community organization that Republicans love to hate. In 2006, Perry signed into law a bill which benefited low-income homeowners. ACORN called this their “proudest moment.” When Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson opposed funding ACORN in 2007, he attacked her.
This brings me full circle back to my question, what are the differences between him and the current liberal president? The Republicans love to attack President Obama for being a tax and spend liberal, being friends with all sorts of liberal organizations, and so on. Governor Perry’s record shows that he isn’t much different than President Obama, and he didn’t want to comment on this. His campaign website spouts platitudes about a record of cutting spending, which don’t jive with the numbers.
But that’s not all.
Governor Perry was once a Democrat. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but during Al Gore’s 1988 presidential bid, Perry was Al Gore’s Texas state chairman. For him to be so admired as a solid fiscal conservative means that people are completely oblivious to his record.
One other thing to mention is that Perry has a bit of a problem with handing out special favors to corporate interests. Many people are aware of Rick Perry’s executive order mandating that all 11 and 12 year old schoolgirls be given the controversial Gardasil vaccine, but many are unaware that Merck (the corporation manufacturing the drug) gave Perry money during his reelection campaign or that Perry’s former chief of staff went to work as a lobbyist for Merck before Perry issued his order.
I like the idea of private roads, but Perry has made sure to give the idea a bad name. In 2002, Perry promised to build a network of private toll roads called the “Trans-Texas Corridor.” However, he wasn’t too interested in maintaining property rights for Texans, and in a post-Kelo world, we ought to be concerned with this. In 2007, Perry vetoed a bill which would have given protection to property owners in eminent domain disputes.
Governor Perry has also been responsible for handing out huge sums of money to other political donors. Perry created a large taxpayer slush fund in 2005 with which to hand out money to promising political donors. Not only does this sort of corruption sound horrible, but it was destined to never work.
The shaking of hands with Governor Perry went just as expected. He has a record of excessive spending and working with lobbyists against the people of Texas. When confronted with his own record, Rick Perry runs. He’s no different than either George Bush or Barack Obama. In fact, before he arrived our table was discussing how Rick Perry looks just like Josh Brolin in that movie about George W Bush. His record and positions will not be questioned, and he will continue to have the adulation of the huddled masses, and he’ll wave his way into the White House:
[audio http://radiofreemarket.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/rfm_don_boudreaux_final_080611mp3.mp3]
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Welcome to the first ever ‘Radio Free Market World Report’.
In this new series, I will be speaking to various champions of liberty around the world about the development and prospect for liberty in their various countries, particularly from an Austrian viewpoint in the tradition of Murray Rothbard.
I will also interview the authors of recent books about their work, to help promote their ideas.
Tonight, in this first report, I speak to Paul Vahur, an entrepreneur from Estonia, a Baltic Republic which 20 years ago used to be part of the Soviet Empire.
The Estonians freed themselves from the USSR in 1991, along with Latvia and Lithuania.
I thought it would be interesting to examine how liberty has transformed this country in the last two decades, after this glorious day of freedom, and what the situation looks like now, as they enter their seventh year within the fold of the European Union, which they entered in 2004.
Mr Vahur founded the Mises.ee website, and also helps run the Estonian Mises circle.
We discuss the ‘Singing Revolution’ of 1991, and the current political situation within Estonia, and examine how far the ideas of liberty have entered the spirit of this small independent country.
** Answering YourQuestions with Pat Barron and Cole Cheney **
Professor Patrick Barron is a private consultant in the banking industry. He teaches in the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin and teaches Austrian Economics at the University of Iowa. Mr. Cole Cheney is an undergraduate at the University of Iowa majoring in Finance and Economics who is a student of Professor Barron.
Together they will provide a Professor’s (read that: Older Person’s) Perspective as contrasted with a Younger Person’s Perspective on a wide range of Current Events and Topics, such as:
* Why does the U.S. (and so many other countries) have so much government debt now? Why didn’t governments get themselves so heavily into debt in the 19th century and earlier?
* What’s wrong with governments just printing as much money as they need to pay off their debts, bail out key industries that get into trouble, and give everyone lots of welfare benefits?
* Wouldn’t the U.S. go into a permanent depression if the government stopped spending so much money? Why we should – and HOW WE CAN – address America’s Monetary and Fiscal Mess which is WORSE than that of Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland.
* What is the Mainstream Press NOT covering and NOT reporting? Is the PRESS partially at fault? Should we call them ‘PRESSTITUTES’?
* What is the implication of the growing Sound Money Movement in Utah, Switzerland and what this means to you.
* What is the future for Social Security and Medicare…..and how is it going to affect you and your age group?
Play mp3 here 
RFM_Pat_Barron_and_Cole_Cheney_Final_073011
Radio Free Market is proud to present and recommend the Excellent Mind and ACID PEN of Mr Andy Duncan, self described British Rothbardian Heretic Providing Random Misesian Blipverts, Podcasts and Commentary whose blog is here.
Here is a Podcast-interview conducted by Andy with Mr Richard Blake, the author of the Aelric book series, whose voice you may recognize as being remarkably similar to Mr Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian Alliance in London, England who you will find in our Radio Free Market Archives here.
In this interview they compare and contrast the inflation and monetary debasement of the Roman Empire, and its split into the debased-money western half, which ended in 476AD, and the hard-money eastern half, which ended in 1453AD – almost a thousand years later.
As the founders of the American republic were very much educated in the classical tradition, and used these lessons to help inform themselves on why gold and silver should be the only valid monies of the American republic, you will be interested in detailed points brought out in this 25 minute podcast. Interestingly, Andy and Mr Blake use the modern European Union as a parallel to the ancient Roman empire, rather than the empire on the western side of the Atlantic.
Everyone is also encouraged to read this excellent essay by the late Professor Joseph Peden on the history of how Monetary Debasement and the resulting Inflation led to the fall of the Roman Empire.
This interview with Mr Blake and the essay by Professor Peden provide an excellent education on these lessons from history which will help everyone to understand what is happening in our world today. Highly Recommended.
[audio http://radiofreemarket.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/19-ccr_show_19_inflation_roman_empire.mp3]
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** Shrinking Government Before It Collapses. Why radical ideas about government are needed – NOW **with Dr. Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
[audio http://radiofreemarket.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/rfm_tom_woods_final_072311.mp3]
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... needs to be read by as many Members of Congress as possible.
