“Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.”  ~Ayn Rand “Atlas Shrugged”

After contemplating all the thoughts I would like to write down with respect to politics and economics, I finally came to the conclusion that it would be a lot simpler (not to mention easier) to simply quote a much better writer than myself.  It is interesting to note that much of the world was still under the Bretton-Woods quasi-gold standard currency system when Rand wrote this, although it is certainly conceivable she was more than well aware of the previous disastrous experiments in fiat currency.  I particularly like her use of the word “doom” - my new favorite.