We're no longer on the Gold Standard Dave, let's get out of the 70s

First off, let me preface this by saying I am a business owner and a conservative. I don't like large government and I don't like "programs" that intend to take care of me. I can take care of myself...

Many years ago, the US operated under what's called the Bretton Woods system. This was affectionately known as the Gold Standard. The idea was that every dollar in the US could be redeemed for a dollar's worth of gold. There was finite gold, so we needed to be careful not to print more money than we had gold.

We have long since left that system and moved into the Modern Money age. Money gets created on the fly and becomes part of the money supply. The money supply needs to grow to accomodate growth in population and GDP. The money supply *always* grows. There will *always* be a deficit between how much we spend and how much we tax.

Don't take my word for it, listen to Stephanie Kelton speak about it here:

http://harryshearer.com/transcript-stephanie-kelton-interview/

She earned Bachelor's degrees (BA/BS) in Economics and Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento, a Master's Degree (M.Phil) in Economics from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from The New School for Social Research.