One obvious answer is human greed. Fiat currency systems allow governments, businesses, and consumers to spend more than they actually have. This is because modern fiat money is debt-based money. Today’s monetary systems are based and rooted in debt. In fact, money itself is simply debt. While many financial commentators are quick to point out that you should “get out of debt,” this book is going to explain that the money you hold in your pocket is debt itself. The current system is entirely flawed. How all of this is possible is completely exposed in chapter 7 (“Modern Money Mechanics: What the Banksters Do Not Want You to Know”). In that chapter, I will unveil another possible reason why nations have opted for fiat currencies over more sound and honest money. What we will discover in that chapter will be shocking, to say the least.
Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. Considering the consistent failures of fiat currency systems throughout history, you may find yourself asking why the world has not created a better monetary system by now. The answer is not easy to find, but it can be found. Solutions do not magically appear simply because a problem exists. Solutions are created only when enough people ask the question and demand an answer.
The Biblical View of Fiat Currencies
One of the tragedies of our modern day is found in the passivity of the population regarding its government’s monetary policy. For the most part, economic literacy levels are at all-time lows around the world. Part of this is due to the increasing complexity of the global financial systems. But it is also due to a growing apathy among the citizenry of various nations. This apathy has allowed government to grow, both in size and in strength, virtually unchecked. The larger the government, the more severe the problems eventually become.
For people of faith the solution to our modern financial crisis is not found in political or economic activism, but rather in simple awareness. This awareness of the monetary system has traditionally been rejected by faith-based communities on the grounds that money is an unspiritual topic. For example, many evangelical Christians have completely shunned economic awareness in the name of spirituality. This is staggering, especially when one considers that the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, had more to say about money and possessions than any other topic, including faith, hope, heaven, and hell combined! In fact, over 2,350 verses of the Christian Bible contain a reference to money, wealth, and possessions. Obviously, financial matters are an important topic to the Christian faith.
Considering that the Bible has so much to say about the topic of money, is it possible that it has anything to say about fiat currencies? While this may seem like a strange question, you may be surprised to find that the Bible has a very strong opinion on the topic of fiat currencies. Of course, you will find no scriptural reference to the word “fiat.” That is because this is a relatively modern word. Instead of denouncing fiat currencies, the Bible condemns what it calls “unjust weights and balances.” Interestingly, this phrase is a direct reference to the concept used to manipulate fiat currencies in our modern era. Allow me to explain.
In ancient times, business and commerce were conducted through the use of scales and measures. For example, if a person needed a pound of grain, he would go to the local grain merchant with an acceptable form of payment. The merchant would then weigh out a pound of grain on his scale. When the Bible denounces “unjust weights and balances,” it is referring to the unscrupulous merchants who swindle the average consumer through the use of inaccurate scales and balances. By readjusting their scales in their own favor, merchants could easily cheat and deceive their customers. The Bible obviously takes issue with this practice, equating it with thievery. Apparently, this was a pervasive problem in ancient times as the Bible condemns the practice on numerous occasions.
Proverbs 11:1 — “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.”
Proverbs 20:10 — “Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.”
In Leviticus 19:35–36, the Bible instructs the Israelites that all of their economic transactions (buying and selling) should be conducted with honest weights. “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity. You shall have just balances, just weights . . .” (NASB).
Obviously, the Bible expressly forbids the unscrupulous practice of using “unjust weights” and “false balances.” In our highly advanced modern economy, we may be tempted to think that unjust weights and balances are an irrelevant practice of the past that no longer applies to us. But is this true? And if not, what would an example of this practice in our modern world look like?
I would suggest to you that fiat currencies perfectly fit the biblical definition of an “unjust weight” and a “false balance.” But before I explain how, let’s consider some other modern examples that are easier to grasp, using automobiles.
One example of a “false balance” would be if an automotive mechanic were to charge you for installing a new part on your vehicle but secretly installed an old used part. That would be considered a “false balance” by biblical definition.
Here’s another example: Imagine that an auto dealer secretly manipulated the odometers on their vehicles so that they would display fewer miles than the engine actually had in order to charge a higher price. This would clearly be an example of an unjust weight and balance.
Likewise, a “false balance” would include our current fiat-based monetary system where the currency is backed by nothing but debt and can be printed at will. In fact, each one of the cases of hyperinflation discussed in this chapter provides a classic example of a biblical “false balance.” The governments of each of these countries violated biblical principles regarding just weights and balances when they began destroying the purchasing power and life savings of their citizens.
A fiat currency system, in which the currency is backed by nothing and its value can be manipulated at will, is by definition an unjust weight. And so therefore, by biblical definition, fiat currency systems are clearly unjust systems.
What a tragedy it is that Christianity de-emphasizes economic literacy among the faithful, thus allowing its billions of adherents to misunderstand one of the most basic of biblical principles. This economic ignorance on the part of Christians is even more pronounced when one realizes that they are the ones insisting that the absurd statement, “In God We Trust,” remain upon the nation’s fiat currency. Based upon a proper biblical understanding of fiat currencies, I would say that it is highly unlikely that the God of the Bible is interested in having His name plastered on such an “abomination” as the fiat U.S. dollar. How the faith-based community fails to comprehend this is beyond me.
To further understand America’s currency system of “unjust weights and balances,” consider these two very different dollar bills.
1923 One Dollar Bill (Silver Certificate)
Notice what the 1923 U.S. dollar says at the top of the bill: Silver Certificate: This certifies that there has been silver deposited in the treasury of the United States of America.
Then notice toward the bottom of the bill it states: One silver dollar payable to the bearer on demand.
What does this mean? It simply means that the owner of this dollar bill could trade it in at any time for one dollar’s worth of silver. This is because in 1923, the dollar was a form of receipt money which could be redeemed in a fixed rate for gold or silver.
Compare the above language to a modern U.S. dollar as seen below. Notice that the language on the front of this U.S. dollar bill has changed. At the top, it simply states: Federal Reserve Note. And at the bottom, the language has changed