but how else would you create it? Obviously, as our country's population grows, we need to increase the money supply, which is why a central bank is necessary. I'm hardly saying that the Federal Reserve is above scrutiny, however, "documentaries" like "Money as Debt" thrive on the lack of knowledge of the average person about the Federal Reserve.
How does value created in an economy get monetized? As the economy creates more value, should we merely increase the value of the currency? Would that be workable?
Here's a little bit of Grignon's self-described history. Does it sound like he has any specific expertise in central banking, economics or monetary systems to you?
Born in Toronto, Canada in 1948, I first became suspicious of our money system when I was in high school in Ottawa. We were studying logarithmic functions such as interest and it struck me that a money system in which money accrues interest at every turn could only function with exponential growth of the money supply. Something did not make sense to me. I wasn’t sure what it was but I had a strong feeling that banking was a scam designed to benefit bankers at the expense of everyone else. I vowed never to get into debt to bankers.
As fortune would have it I got to (mostly) fulfill that vow. As a hitchhiking, backpacking young adult I was led to Gabriola, a forested coastal island off British Columbia, Canada where the building code was not yet in effect. My partner and I were able to take up residence in a tent, then a shack and as the years went by, and our four children arrived, our primitive shelter without water or power gradually evolved into a modest but comfortable owner-built paid-for home. This was achieved on a sporadic income that would never have been sufficient to buy a home had we gone the conventional mortgage route.
For several years, I made my living in the logging industry as a seasonal tree planter until injury forced me off the slopes. Taking whatever jobs I could get at first, I eventually established myself in my longtime ambition to be a landscape painter and visual artist. (
http://www.paulgrignon.com)
Or, is it likely that he's trying to analyze a highly complex and difficult to understand subject and, in the process, is misinforming people, despite being well-intentioned? In fact, Grignon casts the entire subject in conspiracy theory language to make it sound nefarious. A much better source of information is at the link following. I'd take what Grignon says with a hefty grain of salt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional-reserve_banking