Utah Monetary Conference
October 1, 2011
Happily, I was invited to a conference just last week in Utah,
celebrating the passage of a law to permit the introduction of an
alternative, gold/silver based currency. This is actually a big
deal, and if we see some follow through from other states (I think
eleven others have had similar proposals which have not yet passed
into law), then we might see some gold currencies in actual use in
the U.S. not too long from now. The lawmakers of Utah deserve a big
congratulation. I met a few of them and they are actually quite
sophisticated about these things. The conference was also an
opportunity to bring together a lot of the "gold guys" not only in
the U.S. but from Europe and Asia as well, where there are efforts
to introduce parallel gold-linked currencies especially in
Switzerland and Malaysia. Investment-themed conferences are not too
uncommon, but one with a focus on public policy is something new on
the scene. It was important for people to meet each other and talk
about what they are doing. I was surprised that there were so many
people working on various practical applications, such as types of
gold-linked electronic payment systems.
Here's a schedule of the events. As you can see, it was a pretty big
production. Unfortunately, this is a premilinary schedule. There
were a lot more speakers and panelists than are listed here, plus
political activists, congressmen from the Utah state legislature and
also from other states where there is interest in these
developments, and many other excellent participants. Maybe I will be
able to list a finalized schedule later.
Schedule for the
Utah Monetary Conference
Here is my presentation for the conference:
Presentation for Utah
Monetary Summit, September 2011
At the conference, we signed a "Utah Monetary Declaration," which
states:
Utah
Monetary Declaration
WHEREAS, money, as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a
unit of measure promotes economic activity, growth and productivity
by facilitating specialization and trade, the accumulation of wealth
and its long-term investment, as well as accountability in setting
prices, tracking progress, and settling accounts;
WHEREAS, natural money – precious metal coin – by virtue of its
inherent qualities of recognizability, measurability, uniformity,
divisibility, durability, portability and scarcity has reliably
retained its purchasing power, notwithstanding periodic
fluctuations, over the centuries and millennia of human history,
serving as an effective medium of exchange and store of value often
without any governmental declaration to require, legitimize or
perpetuate its adoption and operation as such;
WHEREAS, sound money, by retaining stable purchasing power over
time, best serves societal needs by substantially reducing the
uncertainty of inflation risk for creditors and deflation risk for
debtors as well as encouraging saving and investment among the
general populace and benefiting the economic zone in which it
circulates by stimulating the economy and by attracting foreign
capital and commerce to the region;
WHEREAS, history attests that monopolistic monetary systems
frequently engender currency debasement, resulting in serious
consequences such as lost purchasing power, inequitable wealth
redistributions, misallocation of productive resources, and chronic
unemployment, and that, as the cornerstone of a free market and
society, the right to choose, whether between suppliers of goods and
services, political parties and candidates, or between alternative
media of exchange, effectively promotes the general welfare;
WHEREAS, for the equal protection of all people, rich and poor, the
open circulation of complementary and competing currencies should be
fostered and promoted by every sovereign state, including those of
The United States of America pursuant to their monetary powers
(expressly reserved in article 1, § 10 and in the 10th
amendment of the United States Constitution) to monetize gold and
silver coin as an alternative, voluntary medium of exchange, and as
an effective check and balance against debasement of the national
currency by the national government which is constitutionally
precluded from demonetizing state legal tender, through disparate
tax treatment, discriminatory regulation, the threat of suppression
and seizure, or otherwise;
NOW THEREFORE, we the undersigned hereby declare and affirm that:
1. As an essential element of true liberty
and of the pursuit of happiness in a free society, all people enjoy
the inherent and unalienable right to lawfully acquire, hold and use
as a medium of exchange whatever form or forms of money they may
prefer, including especially gold and silver coin.
2. All free and sovereign states bear the
moral, political and legal obligation not only to refrain from
debasing their own currencies (except under the most exigent
circumstances) and from erecting barriers to the unfettered
circulation of monies issued under the authority of their sovereign
trading partners, but also to affirmatively defend and protect
against fraud, counterfeiting, uttering, passing off, embezzlement,
theft or neglect by requiring full transparency and accountability
of all state chartered financial institutions.
3. No tax liability nor any regulatory
scheme promoting one form of money over another should apply to: (a)
the holding of any form of money, in a financial institution or
otherwise; (b) the exchange of one form of money for any other; or
(c) the actual or imputed increase in the purchasing power of one
form of money as compared to another.
4. Except in the case of governmentally
assessed taxes, fees, duties, imposts, excises, dues, fines or
penalties, the authority of government should never be used to
compel payment of any obligation, contract or private debt in any
specific form of money inconsistent with the parties’ written,
verbal or implied agreement, or to frustrate the intent of
contracting parties or impair contractual obligations by
invalidating the application of a discount or surcharge agreed to be
dependent upon the particular medium of exchange or method of
payment employed.
5. The extent and composition of a person’s
monetary holdings, including those on deposit with any financial
institution, should not be subject to disclosure, search or seizure
except upon adherence to due process safeguards such as requiring an
adequate showing of probable cause to support the issuance by a
court of competent jurisdiction of a lawful warrant or writ executed
by legally authorized law enforcement officers.
We hereby urge business leaders, educators, members of the media,
legislators, government officials as well as judicial and law
enforcement officers to use their best combined efforts to reinstate
and promote the legal and commercial framework necessary to
establishing and maintaining well-functioning, sound monetary
systems based on choice in currency.
The signatories hereto concur in the general principles expressed in
the foregoing declaration notwithstanding specific reservations some
may have as to how such principles should be interpreted and applied
in practice.
Here's the text of the actual Utah state law:
HB0317501
General Description:
9 This bill
recognizes gold and silver coins that are issued by the federal
government as
10 legal tender in the state and
exempts the exchange of the coins from certain types of
11 state tax liability.