[size="4"][color="#008080"]Part II[/color][/size][size="4"][color="#008080"][size="2"] (of XVIII)[/size] :[/color][/size][size="4"] [/size][size="4"][color="#008080"]The Money Changers[/color]
[size="2"]
[/size][/size]Just who are these Money Changers James Madison spoke of?
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# Jesus![/color][/size]
In the Bible, 2000 years ago, Jesus drove The Money Changers from the temple -- it was the only time Jesus used force during his ministry.
What were Money Changers doing in his temple?
In Jerusalem, the Jews would pay temple taxes with a special coin, the half-shekel of the sanctuary -- a half ounce of pure silver of assured weight, without the image of pagan emperor, and so, acceptable to God.
But these coins were not plentiful, because The Money Changers had cornered the market on them (read hoarding).
Then they raised the price, just like any other commodity to whatever the market would bear, making exorbitant profits because they held a virtual monopoly.
To Jesus this totally violated the sanctity of gods house.
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# The Roman Empire[/color][/size]
But even earlier, two hundred years before Christ, Rome was having trouble with Money Changers.
Two early Roman Emperors had tried to diminish the power of The Money Changers by reforming usury laws and limiting landownership. They were both assassinated.
In 48 BC Julius Caesar took back the power to coin money from The Money Changers and minted coins for the benefit of all. With this new plentiful supply of money he build great public works projects, winning the love of the common man.
Some believe this was an important factor in Caesars assassination.
With the death of Caesar, came the demise of plentiful money in Rome. Taxes increased, as did corruption.
Just as in the case of America today, usury and debased coin became the rule.
Eventually the Roman money supply was reduced by 90%. The common people lost their lands and their homes.
Just as it is about to happen soon in America.
The masses lost confidence in the Roman government and refused to support it. Rome plunged in the gloom of the dark ages.
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# Medieval England - The Goldsmiths[/color][/size]
A thousand years after the death of Christ, Money Changers were active in medieval England, loaning out and manipulating the quantity of money. In fact, they were so active, that acting together they could manipulate the entire English economy.
These were not bankers per se. The Money Changers generally were the Goldsmiths. They were the first bankers, because they started keeping other peoples gold for safe keeping in their vaults.
The first paper was merely a receipt for gold left at the goldsmith. Paper money caught on because it was more convenient
Eventually goldsmiths noticed that only a small fraction of the depositors ever came in and demanded their gold at any one time.
They started cheating on the system.
They discovered that they could print more money then they had gold and usually no one would be the wiser. Than they could loan out this extra money and collect interest on it.
[color="#ff0000"]The Fractional Reserve Banking was born!![/color]
[color="#ff0000"]The system means loaning out many times more money than you have assets on deposit.[/color]
So if a 1000 dollars in gold was deposited with them, they could loan out about 10,000 in paper money and draw interest payments on it and no one would ever discover the deception.
By this means, goldsmiths gradually accumulated more and more wealth and used this wealth to accumulate more and more gold.
Today, under fractional reserve banking, every bank in the US is allowed loaning out at least 10 times more money than they actually have.
That's why they get rich on charging, let's say 8% interest, because:
It's not really 8% per year which is their income. It's 80%.<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />
In the middle ages, canon law, the law of the catholic church, forbade charging interest on loans.
This concept followed the teachings of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.
They taught that the purpose of money was to serve the members of society, to facilitate the exchange of goods, needed to lead a virtuous life. Interest, in their belief, was contrary to reason and justice.
Reflecting church law in the middle ages, Europe forbade charging interest on loans and made it a crime called usury.
As commerce grew, and therefore opportunities for investment arose in the middle ages it came to be recognised that to loan money had a cost for the lender, both in risk and in lost opportunity. So some charges were allowed, but not interest per se.
As we will see, [color="#ff0000"]fractional reserve lending is rooted in a fraud, results in widespread poverty, and reduces the value of everyone else's money.[/color]
[size="3"][color="#008080"]
# The enigmatic Business Cycle[/color][/size]
Ancient goldsmith discovered that [color="#ff0000"]extra profits could be made by cycling the economy between easy money and tight money.[/color]
When they made money easier to borrow, then the amount of money in circulation expanded. People took out more loans to expand their businesses.
But then The Money Changers would tighten the money supply. They would make loans more difficult to get.
What would happen?
Just what happens today.
A certain percentage of people could not repay their previous loans. And could not take out new loans to repay the old ones.
Therefore they went bankrupt and had to sell their assets to the goldsmiths for pennies on the dollar.
The same thing is still going on today.
[color="#ff0000"]Only today we call this the cycling of the economy, up and down, the business cycle.[/color]<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':unsure:' />
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# Talley Sticks[/color][/size]
About 1100 AD, King Henry I of England finally resolved to take the money power away from the goldsmith.
He invented one of the most unusual money systems in history -- the Talley Sticks system.
This form of British money which lasted 726 years until 1826.
The Talley system was adopted to avoid monetary manipulation of the goldsmiths.
Talley sticks were money fabricated of long sticks of polished wood. Notches were cut along one edge of the stick to indicate the denominations. Then the stick was split lengthwise trough the notches, so that both peaces still had a record of the notches. The king kept one half to protect against counterfeiting.
Than he would span the other half into the economy and they would circulate as money.
Why did the people accept sticks of wood for money?
You see, the secret is that money is only what people agree on to use as money.
What's our paper money today? It is really just paper.
But here is the trick. King Henry ordered that Talley stick had to be used to pay the king's taxes. This build in demand for Talley stick, immediately made them circulate and be accepted as money.
In fact, no other form of money has worked so well and for so long as Talley Sticks. The British empire was build under the Talley Stick system.
The Talley Stick system succeeded despite the fact that The Money Changers constantly attacked it, by offering the metal coin system as competition. But Talley Sticks hung on, because they were good for the payment of taxes.
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# Return of the Money Changers[/color][/size]
Finally, in the 1500th, King Henry VIII, relaxed the usury laws.
The Money Changers quickly made their golden and silver money plentiful for a few decades.
But when queen Mary took the throne and tightened the usury laws again, they renewed the hoarding of golden and silver coins, forcing the economy to plummet.
When queen Mary's sister, Elizabeth I took the throne, she was determined to regain control over English money from The Money Changers. Her solution was to issue golden and silver coins from the public treasury.
Although control over money was not the only cause of the English Revolution in 1642 (religious differences fuelled the conflict), monetary policy played a mayor role.
Financed by The Money Changers, Oliver Cromwell overthrew King Charles, purged the parliament, and put the King to death.
The Money Changers started to consolidate their financial power. For the next 50 years they plunged great Britain into a series of costly war.
They took over a square mile of property in the centre of London, known as The City of London.
This area is still known today as one of the predominant financial centres of the world.
Conflicts with the Stuart kings lead The Money Changers in England to combine with those in the Netherland's, to finance the invasion of William of Orange, who overthrew the Stuart in 1688 and took the English throne.
Stay tuned...
[size="2"]
[/size][/size]Just who are these Money Changers James Madison spoke of?
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# Jesus![/color][/size]
In the Bible, 2000 years ago, Jesus drove The Money Changers from the temple -- it was the only time Jesus used force during his ministry.
What were Money Changers doing in his temple?
In Jerusalem, the Jews would pay temple taxes with a special coin, the half-shekel of the sanctuary -- a half ounce of pure silver of assured weight, without the image of pagan emperor, and so, acceptable to God.
But these coins were not plentiful, because The Money Changers had cornered the market on them (read hoarding).
Then they raised the price, just like any other commodity to whatever the market would bear, making exorbitant profits because they held a virtual monopoly.
To Jesus this totally violated the sanctity of gods house.
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# The Roman Empire[/color][/size]
But even earlier, two hundred years before Christ, Rome was having trouble with Money Changers.
Two early Roman Emperors had tried to diminish the power of The Money Changers by reforming usury laws and limiting landownership. They were both assassinated.
In 48 BC Julius Caesar took back the power to coin money from The Money Changers and minted coins for the benefit of all. With this new plentiful supply of money he build great public works projects, winning the love of the common man.
Some believe this was an important factor in Caesars assassination.
With the death of Caesar, came the demise of plentiful money in Rome. Taxes increased, as did corruption.
Just as in the case of America today, usury and debased coin became the rule.
Eventually the Roman money supply was reduced by 90%. The common people lost their lands and their homes.
Just as it is about to happen soon in America.
The masses lost confidence in the Roman government and refused to support it. Rome plunged in the gloom of the dark ages.
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# Medieval England - The Goldsmiths[/color][/size]
A thousand years after the death of Christ, Money Changers were active in medieval England, loaning out and manipulating the quantity of money. In fact, they were so active, that acting together they could manipulate the entire English economy.
These were not bankers per se. The Money Changers generally were the Goldsmiths. They were the first bankers, because they started keeping other peoples gold for safe keeping in their vaults.
The first paper was merely a receipt for gold left at the goldsmith. Paper money caught on because it was more convenient
Eventually goldsmiths noticed that only a small fraction of the depositors ever came in and demanded their gold at any one time.
They started cheating on the system.
They discovered that they could print more money then they had gold and usually no one would be the wiser. Than they could loan out this extra money and collect interest on it.
[color="#ff0000"]The Fractional Reserve Banking was born!![/color]
[color="#ff0000"]The system means loaning out many times more money than you have assets on deposit.[/color]
So if a 1000 dollars in gold was deposited with them, they could loan out about 10,000 in paper money and draw interest payments on it and no one would ever discover the deception.
By this means, goldsmiths gradually accumulated more and more wealth and used this wealth to accumulate more and more gold.
Today, under fractional reserve banking, every bank in the US is allowed loaning out at least 10 times more money than they actually have.
That's why they get rich on charging, let's say 8% interest, because:
It's not really 8% per year which is their income. It's 80%.<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />
In the middle ages, canon law, the law of the catholic church, forbade charging interest on loans.
This concept followed the teachings of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.
They taught that the purpose of money was to serve the members of society, to facilitate the exchange of goods, needed to lead a virtuous life. Interest, in their belief, was contrary to reason and justice.
Reflecting church law in the middle ages, Europe forbade charging interest on loans and made it a crime called usury.
As commerce grew, and therefore opportunities for investment arose in the middle ages it came to be recognised that to loan money had a cost for the lender, both in risk and in lost opportunity. So some charges were allowed, but not interest per se.
As we will see, [color="#ff0000"]fractional reserve lending is rooted in a fraud, results in widespread poverty, and reduces the value of everyone else's money.[/color]
[size="3"][color="#008080"]
# The enigmatic Business Cycle[/color][/size]
Ancient goldsmith discovered that [color="#ff0000"]extra profits could be made by cycling the economy between easy money and tight money.[/color]
When they made money easier to borrow, then the amount of money in circulation expanded. People took out more loans to expand their businesses.
But then The Money Changers would tighten the money supply. They would make loans more difficult to get.
What would happen?
Just what happens today.
A certain percentage of people could not repay their previous loans. And could not take out new loans to repay the old ones.
Therefore they went bankrupt and had to sell their assets to the goldsmiths for pennies on the dollar.
The same thing is still going on today.
[color="#ff0000"]Only today we call this the cycling of the economy, up and down, the business cycle.[/color]<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':unsure:' />
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# Talley Sticks[/color][/size]
About 1100 AD, King Henry I of England finally resolved to take the money power away from the goldsmith.
He invented one of the most unusual money systems in history -- the Talley Sticks system.
This form of British money which lasted 726 years until 1826.
The Talley system was adopted to avoid monetary manipulation of the goldsmiths.
Talley sticks were money fabricated of long sticks of polished wood. Notches were cut along one edge of the stick to indicate the denominations. Then the stick was split lengthwise trough the notches, so that both peaces still had a record of the notches. The king kept one half to protect against counterfeiting.
Than he would span the other half into the economy and they would circulate as money.
Why did the people accept sticks of wood for money?
You see, the secret is that money is only what people agree on to use as money.
What's our paper money today? It is really just paper.
But here is the trick. King Henry ordered that Talley stick had to be used to pay the king's taxes. This build in demand for Talley stick, immediately made them circulate and be accepted as money.
In fact, no other form of money has worked so well and for so long as Talley Sticks. The British empire was build under the Talley Stick system.
The Talley Stick system succeeded despite the fact that The Money Changers constantly attacked it, by offering the metal coin system as competition. But Talley Sticks hung on, because they were good for the payment of taxes.
[size="3"][color="#008080"]# Return of the Money Changers[/color][/size]
Finally, in the 1500th, King Henry VIII, relaxed the usury laws.
The Money Changers quickly made their golden and silver money plentiful for a few decades.
But when queen Mary took the throne and tightened the usury laws again, they renewed the hoarding of golden and silver coins, forcing the economy to plummet.
When queen Mary's sister, Elizabeth I took the throne, she was determined to regain control over English money from The Money Changers. Her solution was to issue golden and silver coins from the public treasury.
Although control over money was not the only cause of the English Revolution in 1642 (religious differences fuelled the conflict), monetary policy played a mayor role.
Financed by The Money Changers, Oliver Cromwell overthrew King Charles, purged the parliament, and put the King to death.
The Money Changers started to consolidate their financial power. For the next 50 years they plunged great Britain into a series of costly war.
They took over a square mile of property in the centre of London, known as The City of London.
This area is still known today as one of the predominant financial centres of the world.
Conflicts with the Stuart kings lead The Money Changers in England to combine with those in the Netherland's, to finance the invasion of William of Orange, who overthrew the Stuart in 1688 and took the English throne.
Stay tuned...
The love that you withhold is the pain that you carry, lifetime after lifetime -- Alex Collier