Still banking on the banks?

By  Srila Prabhupada - 25.6 2015

Most people assume that a bank takes in a deposit, and then they loan that deposit out, and this creates liquidity in the system. That’s false. In today’s banking system, banks first lend the money into existence. That’s where money comes from. It’s loaned into existence as debt. A small fraction of that ends up on another bank’s balance sheet that they then call “collateral”. But it’s just debt. There is no hard collateral. That’s why at this time, around the world, there’s a mad scramble to try to reclassify gold as a tier one asset. Because that’s the only unimpingeable collateral that you can have at this point to solve the fact that none of these banks have any collateral that’s worth anything in a resell market. They are all technically bankrupt.

excerpt from garden conversation, New Vrindaban, June 28, 1976

PRABHUPADA: Formerly in the currency, when you go to take some exchange, it was the etiquette of the teller to ask you, “What you want, silver money, gold money or paper money?” It was their duty. If you say “I want gold money,” they will pay in gold money. Not only it is written in the paper, “I promise to pay,” but the promise was kept. If he wants, “Give me payment in gold,” they will pay. And now, to keep gold, hoarding gold, is illegal. So you cannot ask. This is going on, legalized cheating. You have to accept this paper money. That’s all. Don’t ask for gold. And there is no honesty at all. I can take paper money for my convenience sake, but how you can force me to take paper money? That is not honesty. So dishonesty begins from the government. You cannot keep gold. If you have kept gold, there will be searching, and if it is found that you have gold, you’ll be punished. In India it is now being done. There is no freedom even at your home, in your private life. Formerly, any common man could keep gold according to his desire. There was no such thing. Sometimes he would hide it even within the ground, because there was no bank. At least in India this was the practice. If you have got some gold, you keep it somewhere confidential within the ground so that it may not be stolen. So everyone should have right to keep his money as he likes. Why government should interfere? Therefore you see the Bhagavatam [says], rajanya-dasyu-dharmah: The government men will be like rogues and thieves. By law they will take away. It is now going on in India. I think here it is also? You cannot keep gold. Why I cannot keep gold? If I have secured gold, I can keep it. I want gold. You write, “I promise to pay,” so there must be gold coins. I must have. So many difficulties will come in the kingdom of Maya gradually.