TULIP GEMS

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT & INFLATION

 

 

“Thou shalt not steal” Exodus 20:15

 

 

“And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.”  (Genesis 23:16)

 

“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.”  (Proverbs 11:1)

 

 

 

SILVER AND GOLD

 

 

 

Biblical money was by weight (a weight of gold or silver).   Every form of coinage in later times was also by weight.  For example, the gold coinage of the United States was by weight (.900 fineness, or fractions of an ounce).

 

Precious metals such as silver and gold have long been used as money.  They have value such as in jewelry, and more recently, in dentistry, and for silver, in electronics and photography also.  There is a limited supply of silver and gold.

 

Precious metals have been coined in specific weights from ancient times to the present.  Paper money first evolved as a certificate of ownership of silver or gold.  The paper money could be exchanged for silver or gold.

 

Paper money was lighter and easier to store and carry.  But it was almost always backed by gold or silver.  This is no longer true.  By removing money from the gold standard, governments and central banks can print as much money as the desire.

 

Fraud in weights means primarily fraudulent money.  Fractional reserve banking, unbacked or partially backed paper money, and inflation of money by credit and debt, are all forms of fraud.  They steal the buying power of money.

 

 

 

WHAT IS INFLATION?

 

 

 

Prices increase in times of inflation.  Therefore, some define inflation as an increase in prices.  But increase in prices is only the result of inflation.  It is not the cause. Inflation is an increase in the supply of money.

 

For example, let's say you go to a farm auction.  Let's assume every one there had only $100 with which to bid.  The highest price at which any farm item could be sold (to any single individual) would be $100.

 

But now a banker comes along and puts an extra $1,000 (cash or credit) in the hands of some of the people at the auction.  The price of the farm items will go up, because there is more money available to bid.

 

Inflation is an increase in the money supply.  There is more money chasing the same amount of goods.  Prices go up.  The result?  Inflation results in a decrease in the value of money.

 

 

 

AN EXAMPLE FROM HISTORY

 

 

 

To understand inflation, let's look at a well-known modern example.  Germany had lost the First World War.  The Allied powers demanded that Germany pay huge war reparations.  To comply, Germany simply printed more money.

 

This caused the volume of currency in circulation to expand more than 7 billion times and prices to jump 10 billion times during a 16-month period before November 1923.

 

Inflation in Germany was so high that millions of marks were required to buy even the most basic item. As a result, German paper money frequently had more value as kindling (or a crude form of toilet paper) than as legal tender.

 

Before July 1922, the value of the Reichsmark had already dropped from about 4 to 493 to the U.S. Dollar, but during the next 16 months it plummeted to 4.2 trillion to the Dollar.

 

The more printed, the less each Reichsmark was worth.  The resulting inflation wiped out the savings, pensions, insurance, and other forms of fixed income of most middle-class and working-class Germans.

 

 

OTHER EXAMPLES FROM HISTORY

 

 

 

Hyperinflation often occurs in times of war, civil unrest, famine, etc., when governments decide to print more money to pay their debts.  They need to buy food, pay soldiers, purchase arms, pay interest to international banks, etc.

 

Major inflation occurred during the American Revolution, when prices in the U.S. rose an average of 8.5 percent per month, and during the French Revolution, when prices in France rose at a rate of 10 percent per month.

 

Ditto with the Confederate South due to the Civil War.  Runaway inflation occurred in China and much of Europe after World War II.  Brazil, Argentina and Mexico (like in BAM = like in "big explosion") all had high inflation due to large debt.

 

Israel, forced to defend itself in 5 major wars since 1948, has seen severe inflation.  It went from the Israeli Pound, to the Israeli Shekel, to the New Israeli Shekel (NIS).  Their currency has been devalued several times.

 

 

 

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

 

 

 

The printing of unbacked or partially backed paper money by governments in times of crisis is a major cause of inflation.  But it is not the only cause.

 

Fractional reserve banking, and inflation of money by credit and debt, are all forms of fraud.  They increase the money supply.  More money chases the same amount of goods.  Prices rise.

 

The value of money decreases.  Prosperity seems to happen.  But in reality, most working people become poorer, and more in debt.  They have more money.  But it buys less than it used to buy.

 

 

SUMMARY

 

 

 

Printing of unbacked paper money is inflation.  So is fractional reserve banking.  The banks create money by lending several times more than they have in reserve.  They lend several times more money than they have.

 

They then collect these loans in debt repayments (with interest).  The banks get rich.

 

But the value of the money in the average person's wallet declines.  Ditto with credit. People can buy now and pay later.  The economy gets an influx of buying power.  But the value of the money declines.

 

 

SOME PARTING SHOTS

 

 

 

A penny was a day's wage in the days of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 20).  Today, a day's wage is many thousands of pennies.  A slice of pizza (in New York) cost me a nickel in 1965.  Today it would cost well over a dollar per slice.

 

My father bought a new home in 1957 for about $15,000.  Today, the same new home would cost about $300,000.  I bought a new car in 1971 for about $2000.  Today, a comparable vehicle would cost about $45,000.

 

Inflation is a form of theft.  It is a GIGANTIC violation of the Eighth Commandment, "Thou shalt not steal."

 

 

The Eighth Commandment and Gun Control (Part 1)