Congressman Greg Walden is getting ahead of the platinum coin idea first introduced to the world by Monetary Realism’s Carlos Mucha. If you’re not up to snuff on this whole thing just see here.
Anyhow, in a new press release Congressman Walden says the coin loophole should be closed and says he will present a bill closing the loophole. He further states how absurd it is to allow such a “dangerous” proposal:
“Some people are in denial about the need to reduce spending and balance the budget. This scheme to mint trillion dollar platinum coins is absurd and dangerous, and would be laughable if the proponents weren’t so serious about it as a solution. I’m introducing a bill to stop it in its tracks,” Rep. Walden said.
Yes, the idea is absurd though it’s not really dangerous. What’s not laughable about all of this is the idea that Congressmen like Greg Walden think it’s okay to threaten default using an equally absurd self imposed constraint. The debt ceiling is even stupider than the coin idea. If you want to propose a bill to cut spending then go for it. But don’t use this fictitious constraint to cut spending when bills you’ve voted on in the past already implicitly approved the spending.
I am perfectly fine having the coin loophole closed. But let’s also eliminate the debt ceiling and begin having talks about government spending like adults. As opposed to using self imposed constraints to threaten something far more “absurd and dangerous” than an accounting gimmick. After all, there are few things more absurd and dangerous than willingly defaulting on ourselves….
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.
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