The Return of Free Silver
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 15, 2010
Idaho bill permits state taxes be paid with silver
BOISE, IDAHO. Idaho lawmakers are backing a plan that would allow state tax bills to be paid down with silver medallions instead of cash.
The bill approved Monday is intended to encourage the use of silver as a form of currency and reinvigorate Idaho's silver mining industry, which has been in decline for decades.
Athol Republican Rep. Phil Hart told the House State Affairs Committee that consumers should rely less on money printed by the federal government because inflation will diminish its value. His bill reignites a long-standing debate about the value of paper money not backed by commodities.
Hart's measure also includes tax breaks for any company that agrees to process silver ore for the medallions.
Lawmakers in Georgia considered allowing citizens to pay taxes with gold and silver last year.
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Idaho bill permits state taxes be paid with silver
Whack jobs. These people are nuts.
It will be amusing to see
It will be amusing to see what happens when the state of Idaho tries to purchase goods and services -- or pay its employees -- with those silver medallions.
Typical metal obession
It's a sad but true fact that there exist people out there who think that the gold or silver standard was superior to the current paper money system.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
There is plenty of evidence showing that countries that left the gold standard earlier during the Great Depression recovered more quickly.
But crucially a gold standard simply substitutes the low inflation, moderate growth that we enjoy for low growth, lots of inflation followed by lots of deflation. In other words, a gold standard makes inflation track the price of gold.
Which, if you'd care to look, isn't very stable at all.
PS It will be also amusing to see what happens if Idaho Bondholders refuse payment in silver.
More info for the interested.