James Turk - Central Banks

James has written several essays and numerous articles on money and banking, much of which can be found on his Gold Money Report website.

In early 2003 I teamed up with my friend, John Rubino, to write a book explaining why the US dollar was headed for a total collapse.

Not too many years ago the dollar started down the same well-worn path traveled by all other national currencies that circulated only because of government fiat, or dictate. After 1971 the dollar was no longer backed by gold or silver. It became backed by nothing but government force, and like every other fiat currency before it, the dollar too was now absent the external discipline imposed by gold or silver on the creation of new currency.
Without that discipline, national currencies are inevitably issued to excess, and invariably end up in the fiat currency graveyard. Countless currencies are buried there, including the “continental dollar”, the first currency of the newly united 13 States. One of the reasons the framers of the Constitution aimed to create a “more perfect Union” was their response to the monetary turmoil resulting from the collapse of the continental dollar.

In 1792 the first Congress and President Washington promulgated into law the monetary precepts of the Constitution by creating the “silver dollar” and the “gold dollar”. But after 1971 these sound currencies disappeared into private hoards as savings, just as foretold centuries ago by legendary monetary theorist Sir Thomas Gresham – bad currency always drives good currency out of circulation. The sound dollars backed by precious metal were displaced by the “Federal Reserve dollar”, which in substance is no different from the continental dollar.

By ignoring the wisdom of the framers and the supreme law of the land, today’s Federal Reserve dollar will suffer the same fate as the continental. Hopefully, our book will help you prepare for the dollar’s collapse.

The Coming Collapse of the Dollar has been updated in a paperback version entitled The Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It: Make a Fortune by Investing in Gold and Other Hard Assets.
James founded GoldMoney together with his son Geoff Turk in 2001.