Tariffs and sky high audio prices.

The Great Depression was caused by misdirected monetary policies of the Federal Reserve. The "Roaring 20s" were roaring for a reason. The economy was overheated by the Fed's policies. Then they tightened up the money supply too far and the economy crashed.

FDR exacerbated the problem, extending what would have been a normal business cycle downturn with all of his convoluted make-work programs, excessive spending, and the confiscation of gold coin and bullion in 1933. 

 FDR is credited by the left as "getting us out of the great depression." It's become common knowledge despite its falsehood. Nothing could be further than the truth. There were more unemployed at the start of FDR's third term than there was at the beginning of his first term. The unemployment rate actually hit 25%.

The Smoot/Hawley act deepened the depression even further. As stated, what was a normal business cycle turndown, was turned into a major depression of long-standing and major suffering because of government meddling in the private sector where it didn't belong.

Like all wars, including economic ones, the government always comes out more powerful and overreaching than before the war began.

millercarbon ...

Man, you are dead-nutz on with your comments on the money issue. If only the majority of Americans understood the information you posted above, things could really be amazing. 

When I was a kid, I remember magazine ads and Sears catalogs that had all prices posted. That was when prices were extremely stable. You won't see that today unless what you are buying is in the here and now.

This is all audio related as far as prices are concerned. There is a reason that high-end amplifiers are selling for twice the price of my first house, and cables are selling for more than I paid for that brand new 1965 Plymouth hardtop with the 383 ci engine.

Oh, and I don't think I mentioned the brand new VW Bug I bought in 1972 for $1,800. That represented less than two month's pay at the time.  

Frank

nonoise sez ...

@millercarbon,

• "In all seriousness, are you on a Kool-Aid IV drip that you pull around on rollers?"

I suspect, nonoise, that when it comes to economic theory, you are a fellow traveler of Robert Reich. *lol*

Here, have a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_LkMWP2Q2A

PS: Millercarbon ... that was a good five-cent cigar. I know, because I got sick on a few as a kid. They were called Roi-Tan cigars at the time. Here’s a Roi-Tan commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0C3Q0XfCYs

Frank

Good one, Frank!

Another clue to what is really causing all this inflation- fiat currency -

Prior to 1964, back when you could buy a gallon of gas for a dime or so, that dime was minted out of silver. Not pure silver, but still. Flash forward to today, gallon of gas more like $3 or 30 times as much. But you can still buy it with a dime. It just has to be one of those pre-1964 dimes. Because of the silver in the dime it has pretty much retained its purchasing power.

I can even recall driving by a gas station advertising ten cents a gallon, and a restaurant selling cheeseburgers for a quarter- in both cases when paid for with pre-1964 coin.

Here’s a nifty quote for anyone still thinks Krugman has a clue:

By 2005 or so it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.
- Paul Krugman

As Bugs Bunny used to say, what a maroon!

Two characters come to mind from Through the Looking Glass,
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb.

millercarbon ...

Here’s a little personal info: My mother worked for the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown L.A. for over 30 years. She was the first woman to make it into management.

Sometimes on Friday, I would take the bus or streetcar to the bank and she and I would go to lunch. I was only nine years old, or thereabouts. And yes, it was perfectly safe for a child to travel alone at the time. I did it all the time.

My Mom got paid on Fridays so she always had her pay envelope with cash in it. One time, we were sitting at the lunch table and she pulled out a twenty dollar bill. She pointed out the writing on the top and said, Frank, do you see what it says on the top? It says "Silver Certificate." She went on to say that she could take that twenty dollar bill into any Federal Reserve bank and demand twenty dollars in silver in exchange for the twenty dollar bill and the teller had to give it to her. She told me that, that was what made the country great. She said, that if that ever changed, the country would be in trouble. Of course, I didn’t understand what she meant at the time, but I sure do now.

The national debt is over 22 trillion now. Hey, we can even fund wars with counterfeit money and pay the piper down the road ... or at least our grandchildren and great-grandchildren can. This debt represents labor not yet expended and production not yet produced.

I actually took a tour of the inside of the Federal Reserve bank with my Mom and an escort. We went down into the vault, which as I remember, was several stories underground, and saw money stacked from the floor to the ceiling. One of the workers handed me a brown-wrapped package to hold, then told me that I was holding a million dollars. Wow! A thrill for a nine-year-old kid. Then, they showed me the blast furnace where they burned the old money. Geeze, they were shoveling cash into the furnace! Now, they just tax it away.

By the way, another thing people should ponder is the fact that when our money is borrowed into existence, they never loan the interest. Maybe as a point of interest, you could comment on that little tidbit. :-)

Frank