By Patrick A. Heller …..
Commentary on Precious Metals Prepared for CoinWeek.com …..
A member of Russia’s national legislature, Mikhail Degtyarev, has introduced a bill in that nation’s parliament to outlaw the use or possession of US Dollar currency.
Degtyarev, a member of the Liberal Democrat Party and a losing candidate for mayor of Moscow in the recent elections, explicitly compared the US Treasury’s issuance of dollars to a Ponzi scheme. He introduced the bill out of fear that the Russian government would have to bail out citizens who held US dollars at the time the dollar collapsed.
Degtyarev said, “If the U.S. national debt continues to grow, the collapse of the dollar system will take place in 2017.”
Under terms of the legislation, Russian banks would be prohibited from conducting transactions in US dollars. Russian citizens could not possess dollars or establish domestic bank accounts denominated in dollars. However, Russian citizens and companies would be able to buy and sell dollars outside of Russia and would be allowed to open dollar accounts in foreign banks. Russia’s government and the central bank would be exempt from these restrictions.
Some Russian financial experts are against the legislation, pointing out that the restrictions may make it difficult for Russian citizens to flee the country if the government becomes too oppressive.
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Patrick A. Heller was honored with the American Numismatic Association 2012 Harry J. Forman Numismatic Dealer of the Year Award. He owns Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Michigan and writes Liberty’s Outlook, a monthly newsletter on rare coins and precious metals subjects. Past newsletter issues can be viewed at http://www.libertycoinservice.com. Other commentaries are available at Numismaster ( under “News & Articles) and at CoinInfo. His award-winning radio show “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 AM Wednesday and Friday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and becomes part of the audio and text archives posted at http://www.1320wils.com. He is also the financier and executive producer of the forthcoming movie “Alongside Night” (trailer posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTZ8vn45Cds).
Degtyarev will be spoken of in terms like “he’s against motherhood” or some such. A psychiatrist who golfs with a director of a Federal Reserve branch bank will promptly say “Degtyarev is mentally disordered.” Were the dollar redeemable in gold—or silver—I dispute that he’d have much issue with his country being paid in dollars for exports. Did anyone else notice how fast Obama’s sabre rattling against Syria fell to silence? Is it because of Russian hypersonic missiles there, one of which flies at up to 7 times the speed of sound? Military threats can’t keep propping up funny money, and dollars, if they were good, wouldn’t need spurious legal tender laws.
Degtyarev also filed a “menstruation bill” to make women stay home 2 days a month because they become mentally unstable, he believes Russia will defeat the Antichrist, and gay pride parades should only be allowed at night using flashlights.