THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503180023
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
``Dollar sliding as world's top currency'' (news, March 9) ignores two points.
The first is the definition of money. Money is a store of value and represents accumulated capital. Since the dollar is backed only by the promise of the U.S. government, its value is arbitrary.
The second point is that people do not hold on to assets that have a questionable or diminishing value. They will tend to sell them before the assets lose all value and are then worthless.
It is quite obvious that people are getting rid of dollars because they have serious doubts about the stability and solvency of the U.S. government. We have pursued statist, anti-capitalist, anti-personal-freedom policies for so long that we have forgotten how to produce wealth.
If the government would back itself out of the economy and establish individual freedom as its cornerstone, I know this country could become strong again. However, being a realist, I'm quite sure the government will use its current monetary troubles as justification for ever more controls.
WILLIAM W. JEFFREYS
Suffolk, March 9, 1995 by CNB