Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site mhuxt.UUCP Path: utzoo!lsuc!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!js2j From: js2j@mhuxt.UUCP (sonntag) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: What Social Credit is. Message-ID: <1239@mhuxt.UUCP> Date: Tue, 5-Nov-85 09:47:22 EST Article-I.D.: mhuxt.1239 Posted: Tue Nov 5 09:47:22 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 7-Nov-85 21:35:50 EST References: <787@cybvax0.UUCP> <82@ubc-cs.UUCP> <530@calgary.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Lines: 38 > Social Credit is a ideology / economic theory developed by a certain > Major Douglas in the early part of this century, and popularized during > the Depression, especially in Alberta. > > The theory as I understand it is that the economy has a continually > increasing need for a medium of exchange, which, if not satisfied, leads > to a depression. Social credit advocates printing of new money to satisfy > this need and its distribution to the populace (and also maybe using it > to finance the government, I think). Pardon my ignorance, but I was under the impression that the federal government *does* print lots of money every year and *does* use it to help finance the government. > They don't like the present system of > allowing the private banking system and central bank to create money. Maybe I'm wrong, but I really don't believe that our present system allows private banks to create money. (If I am wrong, could you explain to me just what I have to do to open up my own bank and start printing my own?) > > The theory is widely ridiculed in Canada as a "funny money" idea. The idea > is indeed flawed, in my opinion, but has more economic truth in it than the > views propagated for public consumption by the ridiculers. > > The theory has not been tried in practice since the 30's. Its last advocates > in Canada were the federal Social Credit Party, which disintegrated in the > 70's. The BC Social Credit party is related to the original ideology in > name only. > The Canadian government hasn't printed any new money since the '30's? I'm amazed that the canadian dollar doesn't cost a lot more US dollars than it does, since the US government *has* been printing money right along. -- Jeff Sonntag ihnp4!mhuxt!js2j "What would Captain Kirk say?"