By Ralph Benko ——Bio and Archives--June 8, 2014
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It seems to me that this failure of the economists to guide policy more successfully is closely connected with their propensity to imitate as closely as possible the procedures of the brilliantly successful physical sciences--an attempt which in our field may lead to outright error. It is an approach which has come to be described as the "scientistic" attitude--an attitude which, as I defined it some thirty years ago, "is decidedly unscientific in the true sense of the word, since it involves a mechanical and uncritical application of habits of thought to fields different from those in which they have been formed." I want today to begin by explaining how some of the gravest errors of recent economic policy are a direct consequence of this scientistic error.Great minds work alike. In the spirit of Steve's late, great, father Malcolm S. Forbes, each chapter of this book is encapsulated by an aphoristic "Nugget." If you have any doubts as to whether acquiring it is worthy of your (at discount) $20.72 (just a nickle more than an iconic gold standard definition of the dollar of $20.67/oz), consider them:
Freeing the dollar from gold was supposed to make the United States stronger. Instead it has made the country weaker. It has eroded America's wealth and has jeopardized its leadership position as the world's strongest economy. Something has to be done. ... Lately there has been a push for another option that, until very recently, few people in policy circles would seriously entertain: a return to stable money through the use of a gold standard. Gold. ... Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, and Sen. John Cornyn are pushing a bill to create a bipartisan commission to conduct a thorough examination of monetary policy. Brady's bill is attracting sponsors in both the House and Senate.Monetary integrity--of which this columnist considers the gold standard to be the gold standard--presents as the key policy for restoring a climate of equitable prosperity to America and the world. Forbes.com's own Nathan Lewis has stated his view of the importance of having a "shelf of books" on the gold standard. Nathan Lewis:
It doesn't have to be a big shelf. About twelve good books, recently written, would be enough. They can't be old books and they can't be books filled with economic fallacy. ... The American Principles Project, which I call the "Tea Party's think tank," has just released two white papers about monetary reform. ... Lewis Lehrman has just finished his most recent book on the topic, which was available in short-format form last year. That makes two books on our shelf. Great.This columnist considers Lewis E. Lehrman's The True Gold Standard (to which Nathan Lewis alludes) as, in its original and then expanded form, the most important economic policy book of 2011 and 2012. Monetary savant James Grant said of this work "America has long needed a modern Alexander Hamilton. In Lewis E. Lehrman, she has finally found him." This columnist considers Lehrman's 2013 Money, Gold, and History, from which Forbes and Ames draw an epigram for their second chapter, the most important book for economic policy published in 2013. (Nathan Lewis, who Forbes and Ames call out for special praise, himself certainly draws honors for his Gold, the Monetary Polaris. John Tamny, also especially praised in Money's acknowledgements, called that work "Easily the most important book of 2013....") Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy--and What We Can Do About It is the most important book on economic policy of 2014. It provides anexposé of the true nature of the disorder plaguing, and impoverishing, America and the world: bad money. It then decisively makes the case why gold is "the foundation for a new era of global prosperity." Originating at Forbes.com.
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Ralph Benko