Quote Originally Posted by Wadesc View Post
Fractional reserve lending without leverage limits = systematic fraud.

THE ONLY WAY FRL can theoretically work is if it is kept under control through "regulation", so in a sense, "regulation" IS what is needed.
Regulation only to prevent fraud and keep the books honest? Agreed

Yet that word is somewhat intellectually dishonest since so much stuff that is called "regulation" is completely irrelevant because it doesnt address the core problems and is really just corporatist nonsense.
Yes, and that's not the only word misused or misunderstood that way.


Gold Standard aside.

As a matter of fact, a gold standard (with 1:1 reserve ratio) would require much more "regulation" since you would have to make sure that each bank isnt lying about their balance sheets, and maintaining that standard would be so important.
How many people are willing to admit that?

They'd argue though, that the regulation would be no more than a quick check list, either you have it or you don't, which sounds nice as there's no room for if/and/but, BUT it means banks will open their vaults so much more often that they're vulnerable to theft and robbery.

(Yep, banks are either in secret and safe to fraud others, or exposed and ready to rob, they can't win both)

Just wanted to chime in, because so many libertarians tend to say we need "deregulation" as opposed to smart regulation. "Deregulation" in the last 20 years, especially the removal of leverage limits at banks really was what let fractional reserve lending go out of control, and much of it was orchestrated straight from the Fed itself.
Parrot says : so we get rid of the fed! deregulate but keep leverage limits, leverage limits is just a ceiling against fraud!

there are several levels of regulation, not all are the same and not all work in the same manner. Nobody believes in fraud, but some believe fraud is a type of freedom.

So in essence, what we have is the regulation that mattered; glass-steagall, leverage ratios, etc. stripped away in the name of the free market, and BS regulation that doesnt do anything but clutter the books or provide crony capitalist government interference pushed as the answer for all of our woes over the years.

In the presence of out of control fractional reserve lending, all this talk about deregulation or regulation and such is irrelevant if the fundamentals are not kept intact.
agreed, regulation and deregulation are meaningless unless we understand the beast of the money supply.