The Truth in Money
Theodore Thoren and Richard Warner
Summary
Written in the 80s, this book explains money and inflation in a way like no other and how we're all trapped by central banks and money printing
Rating: 4/5
Notes
Inflation is caused by gross errors in the design of our monetary system
The problem lies in the Federal Reserve system which is neither federal (not a govt agency) not a reserve of real money
Most Federal reserve debt is held not by people but governments and banks so they get paid the more debt is created
25% of money supply is in cash while 75% is in bank deposit credits
The federal reserve bank is a private bank, not a government institution
The Fed has 2 main bodies: the board of governors elected by the president and 12 federal reserve banks WHICH ARE NOT GOVT AGENCIES
Money is not all dollar bills but also commercial bank credit issued by the commercial banks
The Fed has the power to print money on Congress passing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913
Understand fractional reserve banking
Required reserves are only a small fraction (10-20%) of the total amount needed
Prices on the CPI increased 8x from 1900 to 1979
Double digit inflation is another way of saying your money is becoming worthless faster
Purchasing power is the opposite of CPI
The Fed creates money out of nothing
Debt increases each year but the money in circulation (M1) is the only original principal
As debt increases as a result of interest build up, more property must be pledged as security for this debt
When you can’t pay the debt, you foreclose and the bank takes everything
The US has a dependency on expanding the debt to bring new money into circulation to pay principal + interest of previous debt
Most money is created as loans and therefore debt
There is never enough money to pay the interest + principal unless new money is created
The fundamental cause of inflation is debt money
To solve this issue, the government can issue legal tender directly that is not backed by any debt (Lincol did it during the civil war)
The problem is the chasm of debt that will never get paid off EVER
We need debt free money put in circulation that’s not sent as interest to the banks
Monetary authority si the source of immense power and the government gave it away to the Federal reserve in 1913 with the federal reserve act
Policy decision concerning the creation of money cause prosperity or inflation
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Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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