Since, if I’m not wrong, the Feds control the policy for inflation and whether more money will be printed/brought into the system and the Bureau of Printing and Engraving actually physically prints the money, what role does congress have in the coinage of money? Is it an antiquated constitutional statute?
I don’t know how to answer your question. Obviously, coinage is a lot less important than it once was. Coin production is usually a routine administrative matter, handled by the Department of the Treasury without any day-to-day Congressional intervention.
But, coinage still exists, the federal government still produces it, and Congress still has ultimate authority over the process. For example, Congress will have the ultimate say on when to eliminate the penny.
Who do you think passed the legislation approving and directing the establishment of the Fed, the Treasury or the Bureau of Printing and Engraving?
Donald Trump?
This thread could well end up in Great Debates, but while it’s here, can anybody supply a factual answer to the point raised in this video Revealed; The Men Who Own and Run the U S Government - YouTube, namely that the levy of federal income tax was never ratified by Congress, and that anybody who fails to file a tax return is committing no offense?
We usually just direct you to :
http://archive.adl.org/mwd/suss1.html
Especially this chapter:
http://archive.adl.org/mwd/suss6.html#sixteenth
And of course the many dudes sitting in the Pen right now who tried that.
I’m not sure if you are asking specifically about coinage, but it seems like you are talking about money generally. I took some time to try to understand the financial system a while back and here is what seems to be the case. First, most of the “money” consists in spreadsheet entries - a relatively small percentage of it is actual cash. When someone cashes a check you wrote, the number in their entry goes up and your tally goes down the same amount. In other words the total “quantity” is preserved. Where does it actually come from in the first place?
My understanding is that most of our money is created by banks out of thin air when they make a loan. They literally enter numbers into your account (and to their assets/liabilities) without subtracting them from anywhere else. That is, most of our money does not come from the Fed and certainly doesn’t come from Congress - it comes from the private banking system.
If interested, look up endogenous money, double entry bookkeeping, and Steve Keen. When learning about this I was initially attracted to a heterodox economic view known as “modern monetary theory” or neochartalism, but I’ve since found there to be major flaws in it. This paper addresses many of them while simultaneously giving what seems to me to be a compelling account of how the monetary system actually works.
What role does Congress actually have in “coining money?”
The are the ultimate supervisors of everything to do with US Currency. “Coining” is a general term referring to the physical production of all currency, paper or metal. It’s all part of the Department of the Treasury which is ultimately controlled by Congress.
How it all came about is pretty interesting (if you like history) The Founders learn valuable lessons about money
Moderating
This thread doesn’t need to end up in Great Debates if people don’t hijack it with links to conspiracy theories. If you wish to discuss this, please open a new thread in Great Debates.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator