Rhodes Center Podcast: What if I told you that international money is...

What if I told you that international money is governed by no more than the beliefs of a handful of super-connected global elites…and yet there is no conspiracy. Would you be interested?
There’s a standard story economists and historians use to explain the global economy over the last 100 years: there was the gold standard, which gave way to the Bretton Woods system, which gave way to “neoliberal globalization”.
But on this episode of the Rhodes Center Podcast, Mark talks with someone whose work challenges this story by attacking its foundational myth with deep archival work.
James Ashely Morrison is an associate professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and author of the new book England’s Cross of Gold: Keynes, Churchill, and the Governance of Economic Beliefs.
In it, he recounts the fight over Britain’s return to the Gold Standard after World War I, and comes to a bold conclusion: there never really was a “gold standard” - at least, not as we understand it. As James makes vividly clear, the “gold standard” was always more of an idea about a perfect state of the world, rather than an economic reality. As such, fights over it have always been less about actual monetary policy, and more about how people believe the economy is supposed to work.
James’ work not only adds depth and nuance to this misunderstood turning point in 20th century economics. As he and Mark discuss, it also forces us to reconsider so many of the more contemporary stories we’ve been told about how our economy works, and why.
Learn more about James’ book England’s Cross of Gold: Keynes, Churchill, and the Governance of Economic Beliefs.
Watch the talk James’ gave at the Rhodes Center this Spring.
watson.brown.edu/rhodes/event...

[@AaronMichaelLong]

The simpler answer is right in front of you: Banks want to make more money on their loans, and borrowers want to pay less. That's the power struggle between fiat currency and specie. No more, no less. Of course, neoliberal thought came about after the gold standard lost in the face of rude reality: There isn't enough gold. What the neoliberals figured out is that fiat currency isn't too bad, so long as none of that fiat currency is handed out to the people who will spend it. So long as it goes into investments, not housing, food, durables, etc., then lenders can still go about gathering economic rents, both from borrowers and from policy-makers.

[@Dad-Gad]

Once they manage to get everyone on CBDCs and Universal Basic Income , we are done .......

[@landontesar3070]

I will get the book, but very interested in the influence of these developments on 'Roosevelt's Gold Program' of 1930s.

[@100rubicon]

2 smart guys taking time to dissect the controls that govern our thinking our politics and our lives. Mark is star and if the general population spent more time listening to these episodes over watching 20 sec snips then our democracy would work a lot better

[@scriptguru4669]

Fractional reserve banking, homoeopathic financing.

[@klam77]

homeopathic? takin the piss? you mean "like cures like"? inflation cures inflation? ?????

[@neilmoran9988]

you mean they lied about the gold standard? ah jeezzzzz

[@jonathonjubb6626]

They lie about everything, Fool!

[@valdomero738]

Mark is a top bloke

[@GlennLeinster]

Great video Mark thanks

[@frusciantesplectrum7980]

I’m usually in agreement with you however I personally believe that interest rates will not be going down any time soon. I think even a Plateau for a few years is hopeful. We are in extreme need of interest hikes and each political party are prolonging the inevitable which will only be more disastrous the longer it goes on. We are a train running at full speed and we either hit the brakes hard which will cause unrest and injuries or we go full speed giving the average citizen a prolonged sense of safety.

[@victoews6842]

Interest is only a transfer of wealth from the have nots to the haves. Always has been always will be.

[@frusciantesplectrum7980]

Well I was a kid with little money and made a lot during the last recession, I think I’ll make money again and came from a poor background so I disagree with you… only you need cash during a dip and of course it would mean rich will get richer…. But most people live to their means and not below to have available cash.

[@victoews6842]

@@frusciantesplectrum7980 Think of the world without interest. There will still be people with money but instead of getting interest they have to invest with people who are growing, expanding, creating jobs, and developing their community. It's hard for us to imagine but it would expand growth, competition and individual independence. Families with money could not grow it without investing in people's efforts rather than hedge funds that make money buy just buying business with no concern for the workers, and managers of their growth.

[@clumsydad7158]

military industrial FINANCIAL complex ... that's all you need to know

[@janndoe3718]

Add medical.

[@clumsydad7158]

@@janndoe3718 ooh, nice one

[@BodyByBenSLC]

This is really good.

[@trishahopkins8199]

Absolutely fascinating - thank you 👍

[@johnphamlore8073]

I'm going to guess none of this is new relative to what John Kenneth Galbraith was saying in 1975 with say Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went.

[@klam77]

This discussion culminates in the reasons Lippmann wrote "Public Opinion"! role of propaganda and beliefs in economics.

[@tomd5678]

The UK has trillions of dollars of Plutonium (by rough calculation). 3 times more value of the UK national debt 116,000×4,000×1,000. That's 116metric tonnes x 4000 dollars per gram x 1000 grams in a kilo.

[@klam77]

OMG. at the calder hall power station in Cumbria!!! Never knew!

[@danielhutchinson6604]

The basic belief that Capital defines the value of goods and services, is the ultimate definition of value......has been challenged by the belief that Capital is not a definition of basic value. Capitalism has been used by Monarchs as well as Oligarchs to insure the stability of the system, and now has become unavailable for the average Human to participate in a relative degree of comfort. Some estimate 70% of the Population is incapable of earning enough money to feed their Families. Are we making the information that reveals the facts to Humanity through the digital age products, available that might undermine Capitalism because it is not doing the job of serving the needs of the Majority of Humanity? Could Capitalism go away? I know that seems like a threat to economists, but there it is?

[@SeanONilbud]

Obvious derp.

[@clumsydad7158]

capitalism and communism are just sides of a coin ... our systems will continue to evolve

[@danielhutchinson6604]

@@clumsydad7158 Whan families are struggling to afford to feed their children, the survival of Humans seems threatened? Coins mean little to Dead Humans. When 70% of the Humans on the planet can not obtain enough Capital to feed their Family, the purpose of the system seems to have lost value?

[@klam77]

capitalism is also a system of denial for profit. both sides of same coin. denial of knowledge/means/methods/ etc etc. many forms of denial.

[@danielhutchinson6604]

@@klam77 When it is representation that is being discussed Capital seems to define who is represented in a Court. Political representation from Wealthy Individuals who never have known what poverty is, seems to be purchased as well. But since the creation of Coins by Sumerians, the system has been used by Monarchs, Despots, and elected officials. I assume we could find a better social system to serve humans?

[@marklee81]

The reason silver and gold were used is you can't counterfeit it. It's small, valuable, and divisible. The Romans spent so much buying spices their empire collapsed. Too bad Franklin, Marx, Keynes, or Mosler weren't around back then.

[@macgonzo]

Not true. In the late Roman empire, successive emperors devalued the money supply by debasing the coins - for example, the coins went from 100% silver in a denarius in the 1st century, dropping to 5% in the late 3rd century. This is what, essentially, brought about the collapse of the empire.

[@kayvee256]

Trying to pin the collapse of the Roman empire to one thing is a fools errand. Causation is complicated, and cascading system failure even moreso.

[@valdomero738]

They got invaded by hostile foreigners, exactly what's happening to Europe and USA

[@klam77]

@@macgonzo ...and scraping the edges of the coin....grift shaves.

[@dorinn601]

@@macgonzo Well, that's not exactly what happened. First, very few coins through history were 100% gold or silver. Those coins were kept for very expensive trades. Most coins in circulation were combinations of gold or silver with other alloys or not even gold or silver. Debasement usually was followed after the demand for coins was increasing and the demand for coins was increasing because the population was increasing, which guess what? increases overall demand and so it increases inflation. That is, it is not necessary that debasement caused the inflation, the cause might've been high demand (which, in that case, was the common cause for both). Also, was it debasement the essential factor that brought the late roman empire to collapse? There were wars, climatic changes that caused crop failures, diseases, huge amounts of debts, huge inequality, loss of territories AND debasement, but somehow what essentially brought down the late roman empire was debasement. Don't you think that, I don't know, maybe war, famine, political instability, the loss of territories (and so, the loss of revenue from taxes) are a bit more important than debasement?

[@luiginoto3352]

economy is based on force and deceit

[@Nilsis1986]

inflation will not be cut enough with so many job openings, nobody wants to work for less, real wages (increase-inflation) have been under pressure for years! This is the stage for runaway inflation. Everybody wants or needs more wage, and rightfully so, jeez what a mess!

[@christopherellis2663]

Hopium, Copium, & Mythium The three currencies of the Masses. Islam ☪️ still dreams of a fixed ratio between gold and silver, without Interest. Calvin killed that system in the 1570s.

[@clumsydad7158]

education is the key to all value ... when education is not valued, bad things always ensue

[@klam77]

@@clumsydad7158 my God! have u seen the state of US public schools???? omg!

[@yclept9]

Profits aren't pushing things up, the shortages are pushing things up. The profit (to those who have what's scarce) is a side-effect. Wages haven't risen as much because the worker shortage isn't the big one.

[@joythought]

Right, that should be obvious to people but people seem to miss the obvious.

[@emmaboyd7908]

Scarcity has been manufactured through consistent fear-mongering & psycho-drama. In fact the ‘scarcity’ is a side-effect of profit-taking… the world is not at all rational, or what you thought it was 🤔

[@PikachooUpYou]

Both can be true at once.

[@landontesar3070]

The only way shortage can push things up is if there is capital to afford the increased cost. The capital is from an increased money supply.

[@atwilliams8]

@@landontesar3070 As you know, a decrease in supply or increase in demand will always raise prices. Inflationary pressures go beyond govt. spending. COVID shifted global demand downward and the subsequent lifting of restrictions, especially in America and China, sharply increased demand. The initial drop in demand lowered prices and risked global deflation/recession so governments spent not just to give people cash to get through, but to purposely CAUSE inflation to keep prices artificially stable while demand was in the tank. These are unique factors that don't fit Friedman's model, laissez-faire has no answer to this type of economic shock - we found that out during the Great Depression as major increases in money supply failed to raise prices significantly.

[@odinponzi9224]

Free R.Kelly

[@paulsansonetti7410]

How about when FDR made it illegal for plebs to own gold, and made already poor people surrender all their gold, or face huge fines and 10 years in prison , then what happened to the gold ? Was it given to the US government? Nope it was given to the families that own the federal reserve,almost all of them Ashkenazis coincidentally

[@MrYorickJenkins]

It is NOT BrEGGsit it is called BREXit

[@alloomis1635]

PRC is. shifting to digital currency, and this discussion is only of historical interest.

[@bcanuck]

Absolute control over the population.

[@atwilliams8]

Know the history or you're doomed to repeat it...

[@valdomero738]

Based China

[@112deeps]

India has already parallel transferred to digital currency about 4 years ago linked to adhar card (national ID card). transfer can be done with a fingerprint or mobile... look how it was done

[@xmaseveeve5259]

Propaganda.