UNCLE’S SAM NEW PLAN TO MAKE MONEY FOR HOARDERS

By Leon Meadow, Financial Editor.

“How much do I owe you?” asked Paul Fielding, drawing out his wallet. The service station owner scratched the side of his head. “Let me see, now… there’s one flat, one new tube, two new valves… five gallons of special… that’s $4.50 altogether.”

Fielding gave him a ten-dollar bill, and the man—to make change—dug into his grimy overalls. He pulled out a large wad of bills, mostly “fives” and “tens.” Handing the change to Fielding, he noticed the somewhat surprised look on the latter’s face. “Safest place for my dough… can’t trust anybody these days,” he said with an apologetic smile.

As he put the car in first gear and drove out of the service station, Fielding said to his friend, Warren Sloan, sitting next to him, “I suppose that fellow thinks he’s smart hoarding his money like that.”

“I don’t know whether he’s smart or not,” answered Sloan, “but he certainly isn’t patriotic.”

“Patriotism!” cried Paul angrily. “If the people who hoard their money these days would think logically about their own interests, the patriotic angle would take care of itself.”

“What do you mean?” asked Warren. His friend was silent for a few minutes, and seemed to be centering his attention on threading his way through the heavy rush-hour traffic. Soon, the city proper was left behind and they were on the open road, headed for the suburban town where both men lived next door to each other. “All this publicity in the papers recently about hoarding money,” he said finally. “has set me thinking about this question. And the more I think of it, the more insane people’s attitudes seem to me.

“Currency hoarding amounts to carrying more cash than we need for daily requirements. Whether it’s carried on our persons, placed in a vault, under the bed, or in an old sock, it is still hoarding— and nothing else.

“Fear is at the back of it. Those that hoard do so because they are afraid of losing all or a part of their money, if they do not keep it in their immediate possession. By depositing it in banks, they figure to stand a loss by reason of bank failures. They shy away from purchasing real estate or securities, fearing decline in value. And when prices go down, they reason that their store of money, safely tucked away, will increase in value. Or, if they think they are exceedingly shrewd and believe that the Government will go off the gold standard, then they think that their hoardings will not depreciate in purchasing power because they have a hidden nest-egg of gold coins or dollar bills, calling for a certain equivalent in gold. Behind it all is fear... fear of losing.”

“But this is nothing new, Paul,” broke in Sloan. “There have always been, and always will be, hoarders. I mean, even in normal times you read every now and then in the papers stories of hoarders who died, leaving behind smaller or larger amounts of hidden money. Or else you read about hidden savings that have been lost, burned or stolen.”

“Yes, of course you do,” answered Fielding impatiently, “but the difference—and it’s a big one—is that now we have a tremendous army of these hoarders, whereas in normal times you never hear of more than a few isolated cases, whose affairs aren’t calculated to do much injury to anyone. Today, however, the hoarder is in much larger company, and though still the same frightened unreasoning person as of old, he can and is doing a lot of harm both to himself and to others. Essentially speaking, however, they are all the same insofar as they are all guided by one impulse—fear. And fear, as you know, is hardly ever at the bottom of wisdom.

“I‘m not being unreasonable, as you can judge for yourself, Warren. I understand quite well that certain happenings, which have taken place around us during the last two years have caused many people to be justly skeptical about bank deposits and various sorts of investments—particularly people in the country where an unusually large number of banks have had to close their doors. And then, too, losses in bonds, in stocks, and in real estate have been appalling. As a result, the confidence of many otherwise intelligent people has suffered a severe shock. So I don’t stand ready to join the ranks of those who at once condemn all hoarders as unpatriotic, selfish and so forth. It is only natural for a person—and he need not be ashamed of it either—to be concerned in these very trying times with the preservation of his savings, and to be willing to go to any lengths to safeguard it. This is a perfectly human instinct, and far be it from me to criticize. But, what does drive me wild is the faulty reasoning behind this currency hoarding, which, after all, can hardly be called an intelligent, nor even wise, method of self-protection.

“For certain reasons, which he believes are sound, a man may withdraw his money from a bank or liquidate his securities. Assume for the sake of argument that his reasons are correct and it necessarily follows that he was right in what he did. You can’t doubt his patriotism—for it certainly would be a poor country whose average citizen would be willing to keep his money invested in what he knew was unsafe!

“On the other hand, it can never be correct or wise, even from a purely selfish point of view, to hoard that money, to keep it idle, and often in places which are far from safe against loss by fire, theft, or other means. If this man is so worried about the safety of his money in banks or corporation securities, let him invest it safely and profitably in United States Postal Savings, guaranteed by this country’s entire credit, where at least he would draw 2% interest for his trouble. Or let him buy Government Bonds, from $50 upward, or Liberty Bonds, or Treasury Bonds—all yielding anywhere from 2% to 44%, depending on which he selects. Then he ceases to be a hoarder and becomes a wise and conservative investor whose money is by far safer than it would be behind the stove or out in the back yard under the tomato patch. Particularly in these days of reduced incomes, poor business and unsafe jobs, he should be careful about not foregoing any added income that he might get.”

“That’s all good, sound common sense,” put in Warren Sloan, “and, I should think, fairly obvious. Why is it, then, that hoarders don’t follow this wiser and safer plan? Is it because they’re totally ignorant of these safe means of investment—or, is it because they don’t even trust the Government?”

“For both reasons, I suppose,” answered Fielding. “But mostly because they don’t even understand where their own self- interests lie. Because they believe that this hoarded money will always he worth its full value. Because they distrust everything and everybody, but have complete faith only in their own visible stocks of gold or bills.”

“Ridiculous!” exclaimed Sloan.

“Sure, it’s ridiculous,” went on the other, “but they can’t see it. What else, I want to know, is going to maintain the value of their hoardings, if it isn’t the immense credit and tremendous tax-levying power of our Federal Government? And if that system breaks down, why can’t they see that their hoarded money will become practically or totally worthless? And that’s the stupidest part of it all—because there can’t be any sense in hoarding money and keeping it idle for fear of a financial collapse that would wipe out the value of that money!

“Let’s go further. These people that are hoarding money think that it will always keep its value as long as the Government’s credit is behind it. That’s right; and the very fact that it is right is also the reason why there is no difference between the safety of hoarded money and money deposited in United States Postal Savings, or in Government Bonds. Both are entirely dependent on the full guarantee of the Federal Government behind them. And, if there is a difference, it is only the one I pointed out before—that hidden money is idle, cannot yield income, and is much more poorly protected against loss or theft than the fully guaranteed Government Bonds or Postal Savings Accounts.”

“That’s what I meant when I said that hoarders don’t even understand where their own self-interests lie. They forget that hoarding is apt to bring about the very calamity they are so anxious to avoid. They are withdrawing money from circulation and thus reducing the country’s credit and stifling business production, with all its consequences of increased unemployment and poverty. In the long run this would be bound to hurt everyone. No one would be safe. Capitalist, laborer, or salaried men—all would be directly or indirectly hurt by a further disturbance of our credit structure. Then the hoarder would discover too late for his own good that he had brought disaster on his own head—through his own folly.”

“Your 100% right on that score,” Warren Sloan said. “These - people ought to snap out of it and take advantage of those new ‘Baby Bonds’ now being issued by the Government. Do you know anything about them?”

“They’re simply Treasury Notes,” replied Fielding, “paying 2% a year, and available in units as low as $50 each. The one draw-back of this issue is that too many non-hoarders will buy these notes because of their high measure of protection and the justified faith that may be put in the credit of our Federal Government—which, by the way, has the power to tax to the limit if it were forced to do so as a result of hoarding.

“I don’t think these bonds should be bought by non-hoarders, but by the other group, who have been withholding their money from circulation through sheer fright or fear. These are the people who should become wise and buy these bonds or buy at even better return the old Liberty Bonds or other United States Treasury Bonds or Notes which are just as safe and good. Or, deposit their money in one of the United States Postal Savings Banks.”

Paul stopped the car outside of his house. Getting out, he said, “I’m not against this hoarding business from a standpoint of patriotism. I don’t think there’s much connection between the two, and—as I said before—if this ‘brainstorm’ were remedied solely on the logical basis of what is best for each one’s self-interest, then the patriotic angle will take care of itself just as soon as the average hoarder comes to his senses.”

“I agree with you there,” replied Warren as the two friends parted.

All peopIe who are at any time accustomed to carrying or keeping in their possession rolls of dollar bills larger than is strictly necessary for their daily requirements, can do a lot to help overcome this hoarding situation materially by depositing such excess currency in their banks or by buying Government Bonds or other safe securities. In all these ways they will serve their own individual interests—and also, indirectly, by bringing about greater confidence in general and consequently a more fertile atmosphere for the long-waited improvement of general business conditions.

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Iniciado por Sr. Breve

resumen:

los "acaparadores" de dinero y riqueza, véase los miserables que esconden un rollito de billetes debajo del colchón, son unos antipatriotas, tontos y bloquean la economía de tal forma que evitan que el país se recupere...

para dejar de ser tan tonto, antipatriota y demás, sólo tienen que comprar los "siempre seguros y garatizados" bonos del gobierno o abirse una cuenta en "correos"

si vemos campañas de gran despretigio a los ahorradores... en ese momento igual es el momento de comprar RV

Iniciado por Sr. Breve

momento igual es el momento de comprar RV

Iniciado por PutinReReloaded

Qué es RV?

Iniciado por PutinReReloaded

Qué es RV?

Iniciado por PutinReReloaded

Qué es RV?