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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?"