How to make your conversations count

Your conversations count. What you say to your friends, matters

From COVID to inflation to Ukraine to your next conservation…

COVID-19 dominated the news for a long time, and nearly all discussions centered around it. Did that mean important issues went unnoticed and undiscussed? Consider…

We are currently experiencing terrible price inflation. There is a direct connection between these rising prices and COVID policy. Congress used the pandemic to spend a lot of money they didn’t have. But there weren’t enough lenders to buy all the bonds that Congress wanted to sell. So the Federal Reserve monetized a huge chunk of the new debt. What does that mean?

It means the Fed created new Federal Reserve Notes to buy the excess government bonds.

These were not actual, printed paper dollars. They were digital accounting entries. The government then used these new dollars to pay for things, just like you use digital dollars to buy stuff with your debit card. That put the new currency into circulation. The creation of new dollars is called monetary inflation, and it leads directly to price inflation.

Teach your friends

Hit reset! You should “Set the Agenda” by having conversations with your friends about these two terms and what they mean.

• Monetary inflation is an increase in the number of circulating dollars.
• Price inflation is the increase in prices caused by monetary inflation.

When an increased number of dollars is chasing a fixed supply of goods and services then prices must rise in order to re-balance supply with demand. If the politicians prevent prices from rising then shortages result. But in this case, various problems caused by the government’s pandemic response, including COVID-related regulations, have caused the supply of goods and services to actually shrink. That is making the resulting price inflation even worse. Plus…

When people have extra dollars to spend, yet production is falling, shortages result. You see this everywhere with back-ordered products and empty store shelves.

Look for the connections

You may think all of this has little to do with the issues we focus on at Agenda Setters by Downsize DC, but you would be wrong.

• The One Subject at a Time Act and the Read the Bills Act would have made it harder for Congress to pass so much legislation to spend so much money. With that kind of friction, you would’ve slowed the expanding debt and reduced the resulting monetary inflation. In other words, we would currently be experiencing less price inflation.
• The Write the Laws Act would have prevented bureaucratic institutions like the CDC from imposing top-down, COVID regulations without the express approval of Congress. This would have made the COVID response more flexible and decentralized. The impact on production and supply trains would have been less. This would have alleviated both price inflation and the shortages we are now experiencing.

The politicians of both major parties used COVID to set a pro-spending, pro-debt, and pro-inflation agenda.

But you could have used the same set of circumstances to talk about OSTA, RTBA, and WTLA. You could have set a different agenda from the politicians, and helped your friends to do the same.

You could also have used these circumstances to teach your friends about how government debt leads to monetary inflation which leads to price inflation. In other words, you didn’t have to be a slave to the COVID agenda. You could have used it to serve your own purposes. That brings us to…

Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has suddenly replaced COVID as the major news story and the focus of public discussion. That isn’t a bad thing. The subject is worthy of attention. But you can still use it to set your own agenda with your friends. Ask your friends this question…

“Ukraine is important, but are we missing other important issues?”

Give them some examples! “Prices are rising. That’s because the Fed printed money to buy the bonds to fund all the spending Congress did during the COVID crisis. Could the same thing be happening right now? Could Congress be doing more of the same under the cover of the Ukraine crisis?”

The answer is yes! In fact, we have a timely example.

The latest huge spending bill

Congress just passed a $1.4 trillion spending bill. Because it was 2,700 pages long, we know that no one read this bill! It also contained multiple subjects, many of which could not have passed on their own. As a result, there will be more debt, more money creation, more price inflation, a higher cost of living, and a lower standard of living.

Do your friends want that?
Would they like to see the One Subject at a Time Act and the Read the Bills Act passed, to prevent such cancerous spending?

The answer will be yes, in many cases, IF you have the conversation.

Your conversations count

Replace arguing with sharing. Do you need to convince your friends of anything? No, you just need to share information. That way, you can find the people who agree with you. Then, you can gain their assistance to pursue your common goals.

Your friends don’t have to agree with your views about monetary inflation and price inflation. It’s enough that you put those terms in their heads, to potentially influence their future thinking. And if it helps you to find people to join The 300 in your district for OSTA, RTBA, and/or WTLA then that’s a HUGE WIN.

It sure beats having arguments! So make it happen. Make your conversation count. Use them to Set the Agenda. And, if you haven’t done so already, please join The 300 for the One Subject at a Time Act (OSTA)

Pass OSTA

It takes money to recruit people to The 300. Please contribute or start a monthly pledge.

Set your own agenda,

Jim Babka, President
Agenda Setters by Downsize DC

Today’s Action: Pass the One Subject at a Time Act