Monday, February 13, 2006

Why He’s A Goldbug

– Posted in: Current Touts

Worried that you'll awaken one day to news that the dollars you've got in the bank have to be exchanged for 'new' dollars? You're not the only one. Subscriber Ben Woo allowed here yesterday that that was one of his worst fears, financially speaking. 'It would be suicidal,' for the government, he wrote, and there would be 'blood in the streets.' But would it really be that bad? To put Ben's mind at ease, I solicited comments from readers, at least a few of whom were bound to be more sanguine. And so they were, including one reader, our old friend Bob Visser of Johannesburg, who's already been there, done that. He writes as follows: 'Some time ago you published my war-time experiences in the Netherlands. Same dealt with the "Printingpresses" of the Nazis and was inspired by the same machine mentioned by Mr Bernanke. Reading now of Mr Woo's concern, I would like to add to my story if I may. During the dark days of 1944/1945, the "Hungerwinter," when barter was the main means of survival for the ordinary citizen, there were indeed greedy fools who accumulated the useless Nazi -Guilders, thinking that Hitler's thousand-year Reich would indeed last all that time. They did see a bright future for themselves in the fuerer's Arian paradise with their paper wealth. The name for these parasites was: "Black marketeers", known and despised by the common folk. 'Fortunately for us, we were liberated by the Allies under Gen Eisenhower in April 1945 -- in our particular case by the Canadians.( I will be for ever grateful to them.). To come back to Mr Woo's worry, the new government in Holland declared all German guilders to be no longer "valid tender" after the liberation. Citizens could exchange a certain amount of old