Civilian Civilities

1) The value of gold isn't fixed. As with paper money, an increase in the supply of gold relative to goods and services will cause prices to
rise, a decrease will cause prices to fall, even when gold is the only money. Excess gold production partly explains the low price of gold
during the 1990s. The recent increase is due partly to decreased production and partly to increased demand in India and China. So the
relationship of gold to the dollar and inflation is fuzzy at best.
2) Inflation isn't the only driver of long term interest rates. According to the Austrian school, the two major factors are the time
preferences of savers and business profits. Time preferences change slowly, if at all, but businesses will only borrow money at rates that
their expected profits will cover. If businesses have low profit expectations, they will borrow only at low rates. So the low long term rates
could be caused by a savings glut, but more likely the cause is that businesses aren't borrowing due to pessimism.
p>3) Productivity increases can hide inflation. During the last decade of the 20th century, productivity increased in the US at blistering
rates. When that happens, the fed can inflate at horrendous rates and we'll not see increases in the indexes. br> -- Roger D. McKinney br>
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma /p>
Mr. Bethell wrote: "The Fed's job is to keep the dollar on an even keel; neither diminishing nor increasing its value by expanding or
contracting the money supply too rapidly."
p>An inflation calculator set to 1913 and 2005 will estimate that inflation has caused the value of a dollar to be 1/19 of the 1913 value. It
seems to me that this is evidence that the Fed has no power to control inflation in any meaningful way. br> -- Danny L. Newton br>
Cookeville, Tennessee /p> p> RETURNED SALUTES br> Re: Ben Stein's Greetings From Rancho Mirage : /p>
First of all Mr. Stein, I think you're prejudiced, Oprah has done more her millions than you ever will. Second, I do not think it's our place
to police the world. The same people that our young sons and daughters are dying for will elect some [bleep] just as bad as Hussein or
however you spell his name and kill us in a heartbeat just because we're Christians, ten years from now.
p>I DO NOT believe you have to put on a uniform to be a hero, BOTH my sons are heroes, one is in the military and one is not. Yet they are
both heroes, they are good Christian husbands and Dads. They get up every day and go to work, even days they really don't feel like it
because they have bills to pay and mouths to feed. I could go on and on about what it takes to be a real hero but what's the use you just
don't get it. br> -- Rose Woods br> P.S. My wonderful husband is a retired fire fighter and fire chief but my Dad, God rest his soul, was a
hero too. He went to work 6 days a week at 1 a.m. to work at a bakery. /p> p> Thank you, sir, for those kind words. Wish more Americans would
show their appreciations instead of bothering loved ones at funerals, upsetting families in their time of grief when they are trying to say
their last goodbyes to their fallen heroes and heroines. I hope that they all could understand the sacrifices that those brave men and women,
including myself, make every waking moment to do an unpleasant and unrewarding job. Again, thank you very much. br> -- SFC O'Neil O. Jr. br>
United States Army /p> I am the OIC of a Fleet Surgical Team (sea based medical/surgical unit that supports Marines at sea and sailors of a 6
ship expeditionary strike group) returning from a 6 month deployment to CENTCOM. My previous Chief, Stacy Terry, now retired, emailed me a
copy of Mr. Stein's article "Greetings from Rancho Mirage" with the subject: Ben Stein gets it right.