17 Dec
2003
17 Dec
'03
11:17 p.m.
On Wed, 18 Jan 1995, Derek Atkins wrote:
The US dollar is backed by trust alone, today.
Actually, the "backing" of a fiat currency is the need to have some around to pay your taxes, else you go to jail. You are taxed on many types of income, even if they are not directly exchanged in the fiat currency. Somehow you have to get some. This also means that higher taxes can make the currency more desirable, lower taxes less, higher government spending less, lower government spending more, etc. -Thomas