Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, December 1, 1987
Opinion
Gold standard only solution to inflation r<
Perhaps the
gravest injustice
suffered by hard
working Ameri
cans today is one
of which they are
profoundly igno
rant. Though we
are aware that a
problem exists, we
fail to see to its
heart. And no
wonder, for it is
*
.. %
Brian
Frederick
well-concealed behind a smokescreen of
technical jargon and the assurances of
the experts that these affairs are too
complicated for the rest of us to under
stand.
I refer to an economic injustice per
petrated upon us all that surreptitiously
relieves us of a portion of our earnings
and gives it to others. Such is inflation,
an ingenious tool employed by our gov
ernment to relieve us of our hard-
earned wealth.
If you believe what is commonly
taught and reported that inflation is
merely a general rise in prices, you may
wonder how it can be so insidious. Infla
tion, however, is not a rise in prices. Ris
ing prices are only a result of inflation.
Inflation occurs when the money sup
ply increases and general prices rise in
response to the law of supply and de
mand.
When inflation is defined as a rise in
prices, it is easy to attribute it to any
number of causes and thereby deceive
the public. But when it is seen properly
as an increase in the money supply, the
responsible party is revealed. According
to our Constitution, Congress is given
the authority “to coin money.” Even
though Congress has surrendered this
control to the Federal Reserve, it is still
ultimately responsible.
When government wishes to pay for
something new, it has two means of
doing so. It can openly raise taxes, but
this is not popular with the electorate.
Its other alternative is to create money,
which is done through the Federal Re
serve. The Fed loans money at interest,
money it creates out of nothing.
By financing government expendi
tures in this fashion, politicians are able
to avoid the stigma of raising taxes,
when in actuality they have. They ex
pect that we won’t realize what they
have done.
We should all know that there is no
such thing in this world as a free lunch.
Deficit financing promises a way of ob-
Fluoridation’s dangers
shouldn’t be ignored
The College
Station City Coun-
cil has decided
that fluoride will
be added to the
city’s public water
supply. The water
supply in Bryan
Bill
Adams
Guest Columnist
has been artificially fluoridated since
1971. Consumers of this water should
be aware of some potential hazards.
Courts in Pennsylvania (1978) and Il
linois (1982) have ruled that fluorida
tion creates a public health hazard.
Among the evidence in these cases were
studies by Dr. Dean Burk and Dr. John
Yiamouyiannis that showed that 10,000
to 20,000 people in the United States
die of cancer each year due to fluorida
tion of the public drinking waters. A
number of witnesses attempted to dis
credit these studies, but, as the presid
ing judge in the Pennsylvania case re
marked, “Point by point, every criticism
made of the Burk-Yiamouyannis study
was met and explained.” The judge or
dered a halt to fluoridation.
Dr. Burk was one of the founders and
a chief chemist of the U.S. National
Cancer Institute. Dr. Yiamouyiannis
holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry. He be
came aware of the dangers of fluoride
while working as a biochemical editor at
Chemical Abstracts Service, the world’s
largest chemical information center.
In his 1986 book, Fluoride: The Ag
ing Factor, Dr. Yiamouyiannis explains
how fluoride in the body contributes not
only to cancer, but also to arthritis and
other bone diseases, hardening of the
arteries, damage to the immune system,
genetic damage, and premature aging
of the skin and other tissues. Granted,
some experts disagree with his conclu
sions, but if experts cannot discredit
him in court, then non-experts may
wonder who is right.
Yiamouyiannis also points out a num
ber of interesting facts. For example,
mother’s milk contains only 0.01-
0.05ppm (parts per million) fluoride.
Yiamouyiannis believes this is nature’s
way of protecting the small child from
fluoride damage. (Local supporters of
fluoridation believe that O.Sppm fluo
ride is the optimum level for all; this is
up to 80 times the level nature provides
for the infant. Concern among infant
formula manufacturers led to their vol
untary agreement in 1980 to remove
fluoride from the water used to man
ufacture infant formulas.
At least one child has died as a result
of a fluoride treatment received at a
dental clinic. A 3-year-old boy received
the treatment during his first visit to the
dentist. The attending dental hygenist
handed the boy a cup of water, but
failed to instruct him to spit out the so-
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taining government benefits without
paying for them through taxes. In spite
of this promise, inflation is a tax, and
dishonestly imposed at that. It transfers
wealth from one group to another,
usually without the knowledge of the
victims. This is hardly just and is a
strange custom for a nation that fought
against “taxation without representa
tion.”
It may not be evident how increasing
the money supply effects a transfer of
wealth. Let’s say government wishes to
make new military expenditures with
out raising taxes. It goes to the Fed to
get newly created money which it uses to
pay defense contractors, thus putting it
into circulation. The contractors and
their workers benefit through higher
profits and wages, which they use to
make purchases.
The market price at which they buy,
however, was determined by the supply
of money before the government spent
the new money. There is a lag of several
months before the market is able to ad
just to the new supply of money. Prices
will eventually go up, but not before
those receiving the new money have
spent it at old prices and thereby de
rived considerable benefit.
However, not all will benefit. Some
will not get the new money until after
prices have gone up, if at all. Higher
prices force them to cut back on their
purchases, and they end up worse off
than they were before. They have been
effectively taxed to pay for the new ex
penditures, while some of their fellow
citizens have profited at their expense.
This is not the case when tax revenues
alone are used to finance government
spending.
Inflation does more than just transfer
wealth and dishonestly tax Americans.
It discourages saving, which is the foun
dation of economic growth. Small savers
will cease saving when they see rising
prices erroding the value of their sav
ings, for they are lucky to break even
with interest, let alone earn a decent re
turn. Instead of saving, they will spend
their money before it becomes worth
less.
Inflation encourages larger investors
to make high-risk investments in hopes
of a large return to keep ahead of infla
tion. These are often poor investments,
and capital is thus squandered to the
eventual detriment of everyone.
While inflation may serve as useful
political expedient in the short run, it
hurts us all in the end. If the mere cre
ation of money could bring us into pros
perity, we would need only for eachot
us to be supplied with a printing press to
make money for ourselves. This is clear
folly, yet it differs not in principle or
eventual effect from what our govern
ment does. This policy has not yet ut
terly ruined us, only because as a rid
nation, we have so far been able to af
ford our folly.
The only way to secure ourselves
from inflation’s ill effects is to establish
honest money which government can
not create at will. The gold standards
such a system. It places the money sup-
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dence
ply beyond the control of politicians ^aU,
who would manipulate it for their own
benefit and that of their constituents.lt
forces them to keep expenditures inline
with revenue. Then, if they wish
spend more, they must openly raise
taxes.
Critics may accuse the gold standard
of being a “barbarous relic,” but they
would have us live at the mercy of arbi
trary bureaucrats instead. With theirde
sire to have our money manipulated at
will, they would deny us the only means
for us to have a stable economy free
from the injustice of inflation.
Brian Frederick is a senior history and
Russian major and a columnist for The
Battalion.
lution. Instead, the boy drank the water,
swallowing a lethal dose of fluoride.
Accidents have occurred in a number
of cities in the U.S. On November 11,
1979, up to 50ppm flupride was
dumped into the Annapolis, Maryland
public water system, resulting in the poi
soning of 50,000 people. Dr. Yia
mouyiannis went to Annapolis to inves
tigate the damage. He found that
approximately 10,000 people exhibited
acute symptoms of fluoride poisoning.
He also found that more than five times
the normal number , of people died of
heart failure during the week following
the spill.
There is no U.S. Recommended Daily
Allowance of fluoride. Nor has there
ever been one reported case of a fluo
ride deficiency. On the other hand,
there are thousands of reported cases of
fluoride overdose. While some amount
of fluoride cannot be avoided (all foods
contain some amount), Dr. Yiamouyian
nis recommends lowering one’s fluoride
intake as much as possible.
Also of interest are the thoughts of
the editors of the journal New Scientist
on the discovery by Dr. John Emsley at
King’s College in London (1981) that
fluoride forms very strong hydrogen
bonds with biologically important sub
stances called amides. The editors con
clude: “Some of the charges that are laid
at its door — genetic change, birth de
fects, cancer, and allergy response —
may arise from fluoride interference af
ter all.”
Some proponents of fluoridation
make great claims as to its health bene
fits. Others, some dentists included,
question its efficacy in reducing tooth
decay, and question its necessity when
fluoride toothpastes are readily avail
able. They feel that the best way to re
duce tooth decay is to reduce the con
sumption of sugar and other refined
carbohydrates.
Dr. Yiamouyiannis is recognized as
an expert on the biological effects of flu
oride. His book was written for the gen
eral public. While I do feel qualified to
read and understand his argument, as
an electrical engineer I am not qualified
to say whether he is right or wrong. If
his detractors argue differently, I am
not qualified to say whether they are
right or wrong. But if Yiamouyiannis
can prove his case in a court of law,
claiming that fluoridation is responsible
for 10,000 to 20,000 cancer deaths and
30,000 to 50,000 deaths of all causes an
nually, that it contributes to arthritis,
hardening of the arteries, damage to the
immune system, genetic damage, and
premature aging, then I am qualified to
be afraid.
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Craig has character
Moral absolutes
EDITOR:
EDITOR:
From what I hear, I am a dying breed. I am a Craig
Stump fan.
Now, some people may say that is because we are from
the same area (Craig is from Port Arthur; I am from
Beaumont), but actually, I’ve grown to respect Craig
Stump because he has been showing something that we
Aggie fans have not been showing lately. That something
is character.
Interesting encounter Brian Frederick had with a well-
wisher Nov. 17. Trouble is, it is hard to know what lies at
the core of your disagreement. Is it about the right of
homosexuals to live as they please? Or, more generally,
about the very definition of a right?
It doesn’t take a lot of character to hiss at one’s own
team when they are doing poorly or to boo at one’s own
quarterback when he is having a bad game (even though
true Aggies aren’t even supposed to boo). I was pretty
disgusted at the crowd during the A&M-t.u. game for
booing and chanting “Bucky! Bucky!” when Craig Stump
had to come in for Bucky Richardson when Bucky’s shoe
came off. Perhaps we should rewrite a famous phrase to
say, “Once an Aggie, always an Aggie . .. unless you throw
interceptions.”
I assume you are more concerned with the latter. But
still, condemning homosexuality on the basis of moral
absolutes looks a bit fallacious to me. You seem to imply
that such a perverse behavior should be “heartily
disapproved of,” for only actions that are “natural” should
be considered as fundamentally and absolutely “right.”
However, let me propose another moral absolute that says
people are free to act as they please, as long as they do not
harm their neighbors.
Worldwide, the Aggies are famous for the fabled Spirit
of Aggieland and the tradition of the Twelfth Man,
standing at all football games in support of their team,
whether we win or get outscored, whether we squeak by or
slaughter the opposing team, AND whether we are led by
Craig Stump, Bucky Richardson or Lance Pavlas.
And . . . oh, by the way .
Of course, at issue is the way these “moral absolutes’’
are defined. You do not discuss the matter in all fairness
when you bring the example of Nazi Germany. Of course
the right to life is not to be tampered with. But there is no
such consensus on what constitutes an “acceptable” sexual
behavior, or even on the need to define such a norm. In
this situation, on the basis of what moral absolute should
society react to homosexuality? Freedom to have one’s own
lifestyle or conformity with nature’s proscriptions? Your
idea is not necessarily mine ....
Yves Arsenault
grad student
BEAT THE HELL OUTTA NOTRE DAME!
Diamond Dave Mendoza ’88
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff
reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to
maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the
classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
Bill Adams is a graduate student in
electrical engineering.
BLOOM COUNTY
by BerRe Breathed
(