>
> What is amazing is how small bank deposits with the Fed are. Everything is
> currency.
>
> By the way, much or maybe most of the currency is held outside the US. We give
> foreigners paper that we can print in unlimited supply with virtually no cost,
> and they give us valuable goods and services. If I were sensitve to guilt trips,
> I would feel really bad about that. It is clearly a case of the rich getting
> richer at the expense of the poor. I have little sympathy for theories of
> exploitation, but here is a case of unequal trade that seems to be real and quite
> large. But it is all voluntary.
I can't remember the exact percentage, but something like half of all the
bills in circulation outside of the US are in Russia. They serve a very
useful purpose to the population--protection from inflation. Yes, they
have given goods and services for those pieces of paper, but it's far from
exploitation and I would say not unequal. When I was in Russia 5 years
ago, there were many currency exchange shops and given the number of
people using them, I'd say they were filling an important function.
Art Woolf
********************************************************************
Art Woolf Phone: (802) 656-0190
Department of Economics Fax: (802) 656-8405
University of Vermont email: arthur.woolf@uvm.edu
339 Old Mill
PO Box 54160
Burlington, VT 05405-4160
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