HarryLeaks

I recently came across a Facebook page (it's actually a user page instead of a page users can "like") called  Lungsod ng Kawawang Muntinlupa.

The administrator of the page posts grievances and allegations about the current administration in power. From what I hear, they get their information from whistleblowers within the administration itself. One of them, supposedly already in a witness protection program, my sources say.

The allegations are actually very grave from crony suppliers, hundreds of millions in unexplainable spending, undeclared assets and liabilities and many more.

I am not saying that these allegations are true. What I am saying is that they are very serious and should be investigated. And, if proven true, let those who are accountable face the consequences of their actions. Stealing and abuse of one's power as a public servant is one the most disgusting crimes and should be dealt with in accordance with the law. 

We've seen the power of social media bring down tyrannies and dismantle corrupt governments in Lybia and Egypt and so what more in a small city like Muntinlupa.

This kind of attitude, this outrage for corruption, should be encouraged. The ability to petition and question your government is the foundation of a democracy. It is a reflection that those in power are governing only at the consent of the governed. And now, with innovations in new media and social media, the ability to disseminate information, to engage in citizen journalism and activism, has become as easy as a click of a button.

People should continue creating pages or forums like this where people can freely assemble and exchange information. We should demand a speedy investigation from the Ombudsman.  We should demand for transparency from our government, perhaps petition our own congressmen to pass the Freedom of Information Bill. Only when we become conscious and active about these things can we ever change governance in our country.

It's interesting that my very first post in this blog is actually about this giant Christmas tree that the current mayor bragged about on national television (see The Government's Spirit of Christmas). Muntinlupa is my home city and it has had a long history of corruption and bad governance. The citizens deserve prosperity and we should never allow anyone to enrich themselves at the expense of this prosperity.

My appeal to the mayor is to release a formal statement explaining the issues and allegations raised in the page and that he resign if he's not able to provide proof that he is innocent. The burden should always be on those in power. Remember that he is a public servant and the citizens are his master and not the other way around.

"MALACAÑANG on Tuesday allayed concerns over the $1-billion loan of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and reminded those strongly opposed to the move that the BSP, under the helm of Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr., has consistently shown prudent fiscal management and stewardship." (source)

You know shit just got real when the IMF will borrow money from our central bank so they can help the bailouts in Europe. Nothing in that previous sentence makes sense to me. A third of our population still lives at less than 2 dollars a day and yet our central bank is invoking authority to lend a billion dollars to the IMF (when technically we are already in debt to them) to give to the eurozone countries that need bailing out like Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain. See, it all seems senseless. And by bailing out, it merely means giving all this money to their bankers. Here's MEP Nigel Farage explaining the irrationality of all this as the EU discusses bailing out Spain:

"In a statement, [Sen. Ralph] Recto said he is not opposing the government’s decision but said that the BSP has no sole proprietary rights over the Philippines’ dollar reserves. He added that the BSP should first request for a consensus or secure appropriation cover from Congress." (source)

Again, the executive branch feels like they can do whatever they want without the consent of the people or the people's representatives. That's ideally the point of the separation of powers. It's so that the executive can't just go around lending a billion dollars to people. But are these reserves really under the control of congress?

This is where the separation of powers get blurred. BSP will claim that they've already been given mandate to govern on the reserves as they wish. The IBON Foundation's different take on the issue (see IBON explains BSP loan to IMF) even reports that we've been lending to the IMF for some time now.

As a libertarian, I obviously don't agree with the sentiment that this 1 billion dollars should instead be spent by government for welfare or infrastructure. The IBON article above even explains that these reserves are separate from the government's budget. These are dollar reserves. Meaning the paper money printed by the Federal Reserve eventually become our reserve. This is paper lent to us as to give value to our paper.

Again, I introduce a position that's probably so different form the left/right paradigm. I want to expose the immorality of monetary policy that is monopolized. Just look at how ridiculous the whole Euro crisis has become. The reason they get to buy each other's debts is because all this is just artificial. The interest rates are artificial. The money is artificial. The markets are already rejecting all of it. 

If we do not spend within our means and take care of our debt and rethink the real role of government, we will end up just like Europe. Having the concept of governments and money based on debt is all so immoral.

See Also, Protect Yourself From the Discretion of Central Bankers

When I asked to trade books, I mentioned that I wanted something I might disagree with or has the potential in persuading me. This makes me really excited to start reading the book. Maybe I can even write about what I learn here in this blog. 

Don't you just love it when libertarians predict things? It shows how credible the libertarian perspective is and how it offers an alternative to the left/right paradigm of mainstream economics and politics.

"MALACAÑANG sees no reason to block Pampanga Rep. Carmelo Lazatin’s proposal to have a Disneyland at Clark Freeport." (source)

What do they mean they see no reason? Of course! They shouldn't even have authority to block any sort of investment. This should be for the people of Pampanga and property owners to decide. 

We need to rethink these kinds of centralized authority we give to national government and give back sovereignty to local governments. This will allow for competitive policy. Sort of like that charter cities idea of Paul Romer I wrote about before (see Paul Romer talks about Charter Cities at TED).

There should be this right for local governments to lower tax and minimize red tapes if they want to instead of the national government dictating the rules. Although it's unlikely for this kind of policy to happen because it will lower corruption revenue, if even one local government decides to do this and there is progress others can copy the same model. Also, if there are failed policies, not everyone as a whole is affected. This is what I mean by competitive public policy. 

We should really think about decentralizing government. Although historically, even decentralized governments grow too big anyway, it's still much better than giving so much authority into just one central unit of government. Along with some kind of tangible transparency program (see Freedom of Information Bill in the Philippines), it will be much easier to contain localized power that is accountable to local people instead a national government governing for all.

That being said, I do find the parliamentary system quite favorable but not really a necessary change since we can also copy the state's rights model in the US. Either way, the goal is that we take money and power from the government and give it back to the people. Surely there is a need for charter change and give the right to local governments to enact any sort of pro-market reforms. Problem is that a constitutional assembly here in the Philippines will most likely be filled with people hungry for power and even a bunch of actors or actresses that don't even have the slightest ideas about economics, law, and political science or philosophy (or maybe those with philosophies that are against freedom and liberty).

I think I have mentioned before that there really is so much unused space here in the Philippines and that we should decentralize imperial manila and give back power to provinces so that there will be development. Many times these investors themselves will be the ones handling infrastructure needs. Just look at the amazing development in The Fort in Taguig. That land used to be government owned but in the hands of the market and private sector, tons of jobs were created and there is growth and progress. There is even an example in Gurgaon city in India where there was no need for government intervention whatsoever (see Gurgaon City in India — growth and progress when there is absence of government).

Anyway, I've gone so far from the topic I intended to write about haha. Yes, Disneyland is great news. These kinds of theme parks are usual indicators of economic growth and national security. If we look at the Index of Economic Freedom, you'll see that theme parks like Disneyland or Universal Studios or others usually choose to invest and develop in the more economically free countries. Aside from the businesses and jobs this kind of investment will be able to create, tourists will also see that its quite safe to travel to the Philippines because institutions are putting trust in our economy and national security.

In the video below, Milton Friedman ever so beautifully explains how the whole world cooperates through trade by using a simple pencil as an example.

I was obviously infuriated with Rand Paul's endorsement of Mitt Romney as you can see in my previous post For Sale: Rand Paul and I do stand by my disdain with this revelation. To further strengthen my view of Rand Paul, here's Lew Rockwell, chairman of Ludwig Von Mises Institute, who seems to have a very similar opinion as me about the issue:

Just when I thought nothing could make my throbbing hangover headache worse: yup, Ron Paul's son, rookie senator from Kentucky Rand Paul is all over my newsfeed for endorsing Mitt Romney. Allow me to quote from Adam Kokesh's Twitter account "I'm not surprised Rand Paul endorsed Romney, only that he did it so soon." I've got two words to summarize how I feel (and perhaps have always felt) about Rand Paul: Sell Out.

I got a chance to hang out with some avid followers of Casey Research here in the Philippines along with other friends of liberty. It was actually my first time to hear about Doug Casey and I must say that I learned some new things about money, investments, and the economy. It was quite fitting because I actually just wrote about investing in gold right before attending the dinner.

The first topic discussed was the immorality of fiat currency. There was even a presentation on the history of money and how fiat currency came to be.

There were also worries of a massive and abrupt deflation as compared to the position that I've always been exposed to which is hyperinflation. This speculation takes the position that the market will eventually self-correct and money will return to its natural deflationary value. At the time of a collapse, everyone will start selling and the value of money will rise. And since no one can really tell whether there will be deflation or hyperinflation, a part of one's investments must also be in liquid paper money.

Apparently, Doug Casey even has a formula on how exactly one should divide his/her net worth into investments. Some in physical gold bullion, some in gold stocks and mining stocks, some on energy stocks, etc. I'm actually getting interested in all these finance stuff with a libertarian perspective. Maybe I should subscribe to some Casey Research publications. It's always nice to learn about how to protect one's money and how to make more of it.

There was also a strong agreement on the benefits of the internet as a means of disseminating information and serving as an alternative to mainstream media (see also Stay the Hell Away from my Internet). It is most probable that the main reason that libertarian and Austrian School positions are gaining popularity nowadays is because of the internet. We even discussed problems with convincing others, even our own relatives, into investing in gold; this is a sentiment I surely shared. In the end of it all though, money and monetary policy might just be the key into changing public opinion about statism.

I have written about a "post-apocalypse" or post-collapse economy before (see Marc Faber on Monetary Policy) and it's interesting that the person who gave a talk on money last night had a similar accent to Marc Faber (we were even in a Swiss restaurant).

All these predictions are usually marginalized or shrugged off as unnecessary alarmism by the mainstream. This has always been the case throughout history. It has always been those telling the truth who were marginalized and had the minority position. It's obvious that humanity hasn't learned from this mistake. It seems that only a catastrophic economic collapse would make people understand what has been going on.

The US and Europe have been showing grave symptoms of an economic collapse and yet the only solution they seem to be considering is more of the endless hair of the dog stimulus packages. This is the great prescription of Keynes that drinking some more is the solution to a hangover when really in the longrun it'll only make your hangover worse.

It was comforting to hear that the effects of the global collapse might not be as drastic here in the Philippines in the same manner that the recent recession in the US almost didn't affect us at all. There are several reasons for this including our natural lack of care for many of the State's attempts to control the market. Filipinos seem to have a knack for not asking permission from the government when exercising the inalienable right to engage in voluntary exchange. There's a lot of Agorist-esque counter-economics going on.

Although in such a situation that we are drastically affected, there could be chaos and those we've granted a monopoly on force and on weapons could easily justify a take over to form a junta government. I am sure it's obvious that I'm generally fearful of living in an Orwellian society.

This is why we should always appreciate property, freedom, liberty, and choices and we should never give the State authority to take away these things. During the depression in the US, the State had the power to confiscate properties like gold. It scares me that similar things can happen in case of an economic collapse. The government should always only be our servant and never our master. The little authority we are giving them today to steal from our hard-earned income may just be the monstrous authority they will be able to use to deprive us of property and liberty in the future.


It was also discussed last night that the 5 peso coin is actually now worth more than 5 pesos. I don't know the exact figures but this is a classic example of the value of a currency getting debased. The copper, nickel, and whatnot in the coin's value appreciated as compared to the value of the peso (which is again a direct consequence of monetary policy). So apparently, it is illegal to horde too much of 5 peso coins. You can actually go to jail for wanting to keep your hard-earned income and the State has the authority to confiscate your property.

Now it makes sense to me why old coins have so much more value today. I've always assumed that it was just sentimental value for collectors. It now makes sense why older coins were much heavier and seemed to have more metal in it while nowadays coins are so much lighter. It's always been that currency gets debased while the price of metals used appreciated.

Regardless of what happens in the future, it's a rational position to invest in gold and other precious metals like silver. Again, as I have said before, profit is probably just a small bonus of investing in precious metals. Prices of gold or silver seem to have been falling recently but in the long run my bet is that prices will soar. Although learning about the possibility of deflation is so drastic and throws off most of my own speculation. There's really so much more to learn. Being that I'm not from an economics or finance background, there's really so much more to learn. I will be writing here about monetary policy as I learn more about it so be sure to drop by again real soon!

@harryinitiative

Ron Swanson, esteemed libertarian from the TV show Parks and Recreation, explains in one episode that he doesn't put his money in banks and instead buys gold and buries it in different locations much like a pirate would do. Although this show exaggerates his character and his principles, there is sense in what he is saying. Gold has always been regarded as a "hedge against inflation"; it's just historical fact and common knowledge. In this article we will examine the benefits of investing in gold (and how to invest easily over the internet), what inflation really is, and what influences the value of our money today.

It would be nice to start with 1971 when the US decided to abolish the Bretton Woods system, stray away from the gold standard, and turn the dollar into "fiat currency" which ultimately means that the value of money is derived from government regulation or law. Inevitably, the dollar then became the world's reserve. No, the money in your wallet right now isn't really backed by gold as you think. Money is printed at the discretion of central bankers. It's basically an "IOU" piece of paper backed and monopolized by the State.

Proponent of Austrian School of Economics Peter Schiff Predicts Recession (even mentions investing in gold in the latter part of the video)

Ron Paul schools Bernanke about competing currencies
Ron Paul shows Bernanke a silver coin and tells him that in 2006, back when Bernanke sat in position in the Federal Reserve, that coin would have been able to buy 4 gallons of gasoline yet now is able to buy 11 gallons of gasoline. "Now that's preservation of value," Ron Paul argues. So really prices aren't just rising, the value of money and its purchasing power is falling and this is all directly associated with central banking policy.
Then Bernanke argues that we are free to invest in gold or silver if we want but then what he's not responding to is that Ron Paul wants money to be backed by commodities like gold or silver. It doesn't even necessarily have to be gold, it will be dictated by the market. This is why Ron Paul has been fighting for competing currencies, an idea that, as Paul mentioned, Hayek advocated. The people will have the choice to opt out of the monopolized paper money of government and finally the market will be able to decide what truly has money. 
Ron Paul asks Bernanke if Gold is Money
In the video above, Bernanke is stomped and was forced to answer that central banks hold gold merely because of tradition when really we have already established that it is common knowledge that gold is able to preserve and even gain value. But Keynesians were indoctrinated with mythical macroeconomics and flawed history lessons that they will always stand by government's paper. And surely bureaucrats and politicians love this kind of monetary policy because they are able to print and spend endlessly with no constraint whatsoever. And because the chance for going back to the gold standard or the chance for competing currencies is very slim, the price of gold will keep on rising until central banks of the world and institutions like the Federal Reserve eventually destroys itself.