I finally looked up the quote in Tippit's .sig

[Almo]

The full quote is:

"The Federal Reserve definitely caused the Great Depression by contracting the amount of money in circulation by one-third from 1929 to 1933." - Milton Friedman

Bolding mine. Usually, people are banging on about how the Fed "prints money when they feel like it" and causes inflation. Friedman's full quote indicates what happened because the Fed failed to expand the money supply.

Interesting, thanks for the link Tippit. :)

[GreenLines]

So that's why there was such deflation... Nice knowing a basis behind that.

[Tippit]

The full quote is:

"The Federal Reserve definitely caused the Great Depression by contracting the amount of money in circulation by one-third from 1929 to 1933." - Milton Friedman

Bolding mine. Usually, people are banging on about how the Fed "prints money when they feel like it" and causes inflation. Friedman's full quote indicates what happened because the Fed failed to expand the money supply.

Interesting, thanks for the link Tippit. :)

Considering I provided the link, I think it's funny you're implying that I was trying to misrepresent the quote. The point is, the Fed caused the worst depression in world history, by manipulating the money supply, in this case, contracting it. In truth however, it was the Fed that was responsible for the "roaring twenties" and the unsustainable stock speculation that led up to the 1929 crash. There is no doubt that things wouldn't have been nearly as bad had the Fed not contracted the money supply.

[Sceptic-PK]

And there's no doubt that things wouldn't have been nearly as bad had there not been a gold exchange standard. Tippit likes to ignore the huge paragraphs dedicated to this fact in the second source.

[psionl0]

You mean there was no FRB in the gold exchange standard days?

[Sceptic-PK]

Edit: Are you referring to fractional reserve banking or the Federal Reserve Bank?

[psionl0]

Edit: Are you referring to fractional reserve banking or the Federal Reserve Bank?
The former.

Whether the 1929-1933 contraction of the money supply was the result of government/federal reserve incompetence or the deliberate actions of people "behind the scenes" may never be known.

All I know is that borrowing money to service debt simply allows this country to live in a fool's paradise.

[Sceptic-PK]

The former.

Whether the 1929-1933 contraction of the money supply was the result of government/federal reserve incompetence or the deliberate actions of people "behind the scenes" may never be known.

Uh, there have been many studies of the Great Depression and its causes, it’s hardly a secret, unknowlable quantity. Feel free to read the second source provided in Tippit’s signature, which is as good a place as any to start.


All I know is that borrowing money to service debt simply allows this country to live in a fool's paradise.

Who are you talking about? Individuals or the government?

[Rockingham, AH Deist]

You mean the same Jewish Federal Reserve and Jewish banks that caused to 2008 crisis were responsible for the Great Depression? I'm shocked, who would thunk it?

[Sceptic-PK]

You mean the same Jewish Federal Reserve and Jewish banks that caused to 2008 crisis were responsible for the Great Depression? I'm shocked, who would thunk it?

And here you see the real motivations behind the anti banking brigade.

[psionl0]

Uh, there have been many studies of the Great Depression and its causes, it’s hardly a secret, unknowlable quantity. Feel free to read the second source provided in Tippit’s signature, which is as good a place as any to start.
Ah yes, the factual unbiased speech by Federal Reserve Board Governor Ben S. Bernanke.

Who are you talking about? Individuals or the government?
Is there a difference? Just in case you think the US is too powerful to collapse under the weight of its own debts, ancient history has it that there used to be another super power that rivaled the US in military strength (or at least, nobody was game to test it out). In the end, it wasn't war that wiped this nation out, it was bankruptcy.

Soviet who?

[Sceptic-PK]

Ah yes, the factual unbiased speech by Federal Reserve Board Governor Ben S. Bernanke.

Well, if you actively refuse to research a topic I'm not surprised you seem unwilling to provide answers to direct questions, and have puzzling opinions such as "we'll never really know what caused the depression", despite there being plenty of information available on that very topic.

Considering Bernanke is one of the pre-eminent experts on the subject, I figured it might be a useful place for you to start (it is short and fairly straightforward). But, continue with your ignorance, it bothers me not.


Is there a difference?

I was attempting to get you to actually talk in specifics rather than continuing to make vague, unfalsifiable statements that do little to foster genuine discussion.

Who is borrowing money to service debt, and what is the primary cause of said debt/borrowing?


Just in case you think the US is too powerful to collapse under the weight of its own debts, ancient history has it that there used to be another super power that rivaled the US in military strength (or at least, nobody was game to test it out). In the end, it wasn't war that wiped this nation out, it was bankruptcy.

What does the US national debt have to do with banking or FRB or central banking or anything this thread is about? :boggled:

[psionl0]

What does the US national debt have to do with banking or FRB or central banking or anything this thread is about? :boggled:
And yet you accuse me of not doing any research.

[Sceptic-PK]

I'm not surprised you seem unwilling to provide answers to direct questions

As already noted.

[Almo]

Considering I provided the link, I think it's funny you're implying that I was trying to misrepresent the quote. The point is, the Fed caused the worst depression in world history, by manipulating the money supply, in this case, contracting it. In truth however, it was the Fed that was responsible for the "roaring twenties" and the unsustainable stock speculation that led up to the 1929 crash. There is no doubt that things wouldn't have been nearly as bad had the Fed not contracted the money supply.

I'm not trying to imply you purposefully misrepresented it. I have seen others refer to this quote, and get the intent wrong.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

The full quote is:

"The Federal Reserve definitely caused the Great Depression by contracting the amount of money in circulation by one-third from 1929 to 1933." - Milton Friedman

Bolding mine. Usually, people are banging on about how the Fed "prints money when they feel like it" and causes inflation. Friedman's full quote indicates what happened because the Fed failed to expand the money supply.

Interesting, thanks for the link Tippit. :)

Yes. What's funny is that the little fella thought he was being clever, when most rational people knew it all along.

But public humiliation is always fun! :)