SANE Views

Vol.7 No.15, 13 June 2007

US Monetary Reform

US MONETARY REFORM

"An Emergency Program of Monetary Reform for the United States" by Richard C. Cook was published in Global Research , 26 April 2007 and is a powerful independent 12,000-word report.

The author worked for the Carter White House and NASA, then spent 21 years with the U.S. Treasury Department. His report explains why the U.S. financial system headed by the Federal Reserve System has failed and why only an emergency program of monetary reform can address conditions which are leading to catastrophe.

The following quotations are tasters.

“'Dollar hegemony' has flooded the world with U.S. currency, loans, or debt instruments to support our fiscal and trade deficits, pay for our extraordinary level of resource utilization, induce foreign governments to purchase our armaments, ensure the allegiance of their governing elites, and maintain their economies in subservience through World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund trade and lending policies. ....
One thing is connected to another. A good investigator always asks, "Who benefits?". The most salient feature of our financial system is that the creation of new purchasing power through credit - loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc. - is controlled by private financial institutions and, though regulated, works principally for their profit. Because we are never taught about alternative economic structures, we take this system for granted. ....
But the system is man-made, with functions and effects that can be measured and analyzed. The system was created by historical forces, but if we want to, we can identify these forces and change the system. What we have lacked is the understanding of our possible choices, along with the discernment and moral courage to act on our understanding. The direction in which change must be sought is that of greater economic democracy; that is, a higher degree of sharing of the bounty of the earth by more people."
Richard C. Cook’s thinking appears to fit well with the important reforms proposed by the American Monetary Institute - click here for details of the legislation it proposes and its annual conference in September.