Bicycles Outselling Cars In Italy

@Neb Let's start with a point you brushed by in your rush to get straight to the gold-buggary: Italy having high gas prices. You are aware that Italy (along with the rest of Europe, euro or not) uses taxes to keep gas prices high, right? To keep people from getting burned when prices spike? The 2008 speculation spike caused lots of economic pain in the USA...but none/very little in Europe. See, what both you and Andy did was see "gas costs a lot" and then made the immediate (unwarranted) leap that this was somehow a sign of the corruption of fiat currency. It's not so much a detour in the conversation (IE Bikes becoming more popular in Italy, a country notable for liking its cars) as the conversation leaving the road airborne and flying well into the trees: a total free-association failure between the two subjects. That was my first point. Since we're in the trees now, anyway...let's talk about this gold thing. First: deflation. Credit where it's due: you know what deflation is and give a reason to prefer it. That said, I have no idea *why* you'd prefer it. You do realize that a major component of the economic pain of the great depression was deflation, right? Money appreciated in value, so people who had it held on to it rather then spending, thus decreasing demand still further, thus causing lower prices (and more deflation)? Your 3% deflation increased your purchasing power...and you now have no money, because now you are now unemployed and living in the local hobo jungle. (This is why BTW every sane central bank ever has always aimed to keep inflation on the positive side. The Illuminati has very little to do with it.) You also make a fair point about spiraling deflation and hyper inflation both being bad. (I'm taking from that you mean that with a percentage of a currency backed by gold, governments would be restrained from spending too much.) Unfortunately, history tells us this is not true. Nixon ended the gold standard because the USA spent too much on the Vietnam war, and governments were beginning to request payments in gold instead of dollars. So, as a check on government spending, it doesn't work. As for the dollar being worth 17% of what it was in 1917, let me ask you: how did you communicate this to me? You used some sort of computing device? They had those in 1917, right? How about a stable electric grid that services even remote rural areas? No? Do you have a vehicle? Is it built to a 1917 standard? Assuming progress keeps marching forward, some inflation is *natural*. Production gets cheaper, products get better, people become more productive and educated. MORE MONEY IS MADE THAN BEFORE. And as a consequence, inflation.

What does the Cold War have to do with cars? There isn't going to be enough energy for everyone in China to have a car. And honestly, what's so bad about riding a bicycle?

That's actually quite true. In some countries, it's still common for people to live at home until they're married. I think the idea behind it is that you're still considered part of your "birth" family until marriage, which marks the start of a brand-new family (and you presumably move into a new house paid for with money you saved by living at home all those years). The practice largely died out in the US after WWII (if not earlier), but still happens in other places. In America, I would guess that it was probably more common with women than with men, but in other countries, it seems to be more equal.