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The McAlvany Weekly Commentary

with David McAlvany and Kevin Orrick

If Volcker Was Measuring, Inflation Now At 13%

November 9, 2021

“Think about this, if credibility is lost amongst the central bank community, it calls into question the validity of the US dollar and the Treasury market. That’s what we’re talking about. When you see a repricing in the Treasury market, that is people saying, “Nope, I don’t like them. I don’t like their policies. I don’t think they’re going to work. I think this is a lie.” I think if you’re talking about risk, and reward, and balance, gold is probably the best risk adjusted Treasury short on the planet.” — David McAlvany

Kevin: Welcome to the McAlvany Weekly Commentary. I’m Kevin Orrick along with David McAlvany.

Giving, Dave, giving to people who need the money is something that we’re all encouraged to do. Charity is something that comes from the heart. I know oftentimes when we’re talking, we’re talking about who is the agent of the decision? Right now I think a lot of our listeners are feeling the pressure that the agency of decision is coming from the outside. Whether it’s forcing charity, which I think socialism believes that it is, or forcing compliance in other areas, you and I are very, very interested in free agency. 

We talked last night, reading the first few pages of Bastiat’s The Law. He lays out what the law really should be for, and that is to protect God-given rights, not man-given privileges. And that’s actually the basis of the law. What brought this up was you are getting back from Memphis, Tennessee. You sat in on a family meeting of a very, very charitable, generous family. Not because they had a gun to their head, but because that’s just the heart of the family.

David: There’s so much power in agency. So much power in the freedom to choose. I think there’s meaning and significance to an individual acting in a way that they think is the right way.

Kevin: Right.

David: That’s contrasted. And I think this stands out to me, we can see attacks and redistribution form of caring for those in our society, and that’s one way of institutionalizing giving. But it does strip away both a thoughtful process and really the heart. Of course, heartstrings are played on to justify it, but it creates a disconnect between the person and the actual gift. I was just curious to learn about how this particular family has used their agency for decades, and gives millions of dollars every year from a successful enterprise. And to see that it’s not compelled, it’s not coerced, there’s no gun to their head, this is what they want to do. This is how they define— I don’t even think that they’re thinking of it in terms of a legacy. They just see this as a natural extension of gratitude for having, frankly, more than they need.

Kevin: I would encourage all of our listeners, search your heart, and when you can be an agent of giving, be an agent of giving. Going back to the coercion side of things, a lot of times what you see is institutionalized charity and looking even at the last two years, Dave, you talk about taxation versus agency of giving yourself. But taxation comes in many forms, and one is actual taxation. The other is just the printing of money. I mean, you look at the spending initiatives right now, and if you look at most of the reasons for those spending initiatives, the justification would be, we need to help people.

David: We talked about this after we got back from Argentina, where everyone, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do in the business community, everyone becomes a currency speculator at a certain point when inflation is being inflicted upon you. So it may be a policy choice.