Ron Paul on the Financial Crisis

September 19, 2008 6

“Our problems start with the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a monopoly and it controls interest rates artificially low, causing people to make mistakes. That’s the basic source. But then on top of that in the housing market we had the Community Reinvestment Act which told investors that they had to loan to risky borrowers, and that was the complication.

HUD contributes to this. FDIC contributes to this. It’s called moral hazard. Everything that we have done over here creates moral hazard. That is, we assure people [...] we’ll take care of everybody. “Just go out and take the risk.” It’s the opposite of the marketplace. And then they have people come along and say, “See, this is the failure of capitalism”. This has nothing to do with capitalism. This is something that started off as interventionism and as being too involved in the economy for the benefit of special interests, but now it’s being socialized out in the open.

We the taxpayers now own the mortgage companies, the insurance companies, and we’re gonna own a lot more. If our car companies need to be bailed out, believe me, it’s gonna happen, they’re not gonna let all our car companies go broke either.

But this will come to an end. The end of this comes when people reject the dollar. And I think we’re getting awfully close to this.”

  • Plunge Protection Te

    Ralph, Ron, & Cynthia:

    Now they're planning the crime of the century

    Well what will it be?

    Read all about their schemes & adventuring

    It's well worth the fee

    So roll up and see

    How they rape the universe

    How they've gone from bad to worse

    Who are these men* of lust, greed, & glory?

    Rip off the masks & let's see

    But that's not right, oh no, what's the story?

    There's you & there's me

    That can't be right

  • spinnikerca

    What a shame no one listened to him when he predicted this five years ago. Of course the vested special interests all want corporate welfare to continue, but it is destroying the dollar at the expense of ordinary people.

  • Scott Harmon

    Forget about all the political hogwash, since the Media and the Fed and the Pols aren't going to get at the truth, no matter how hard they try to avoid it.

    Just one simple question will do: If you wanted to invest in the value of the dollar (say, as kept in the bank), or the value of gold or silver, which would you choose? That same question is being asked by many. When they pick the right answer, the dollar-based system goes down.

    Then, the real truth diversions begin. We'll see beads of sweat rolling off the heads of the Wall Street explainers, the news anchors, and the King's Court, as they dig deeply into the Excuse Bag. Then, they'll concoct plans and schemes with reckless abandon. It's going to be quite a circus.

  • http://ewebsmith.com/bus/wrongbusiness.html Web Smith

    This problem actually started over a hundred years ago when the feds got out of the citizen protection business and into the regulation business. When the feds started regulating, special interests from the entire world descended on them like like a plaque. The result was every problem that we are facing today in banking, illegal immigration, education, the national debt, the trade deficit, inflation, and trillions of dollars spent on unnecessary wars.

    http://ewebsmith.com/bus/wrongbusiness.html

  • Elena C.

    Our banking system was authorized by Congress in December, just before Christmas when most members had gone home for the holidays, in 1913. It is based entirely on debt plus interest paid to the private bankers. The system forces an economy to continually run faster. We're seeing massive efforts to pour liquidity into the markets to keep it afloat today, which can easily lead to hyperinflation. Ultimately, it is non-sustainable, and will implode. Google "Money as Debt" or try the link below. I don't believe there is a more important concept for Americans to grasp than this. You can try this url address, as well: video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9050474362583451279 Ron Paul has long been advocating allowing other forms of money to compete in the market place, rather than forcing citizens to use a fiat currency that has lost 94+ percent of its purchasing power since 1913. Whatever system inevitably replaces our current system, it must be one without the current international bankers collecting interest on our productivity. Truly guys, this is the crux of it.

  • allison

    I am so glad I came across this today: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/hamilton5.html

    A solution for Ron Paul supporters.

    Pass it on.

    Of course Paul saw this coming. He has studied Austrian Economics. It is not rocket science. Devalue the dollar and prices go up. Counterfeiting is bad for the average Joe. More regulations mean more malinvestment. Without short sellers how will the market know when a business is in trouble? People will buy worthless stocks because they won't know better and they won't they be surprised when the stock drops like a stone. This is called protection?

    We are headed for some very bad times.

    It is funny, but nearly all economic commentary these days is 100% backwards. The people are so fooled. Now they will put more money into worthless stocks and get hurt even worse.