Money masters interview

Obtained from a google cashed copy of http://www.monetary-reform.on.ca/archives/6f.shtml (the site is down).

• Video transcript: [http://users.cyberone.com.au/myers/money-masters.html
• Video available at: part 1 part 2 part 3

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FEATURE INTERVIEW

Bill Still Director of The Money Masters Video On March 14, 1997 in Virginia. MRM: What inspired you to do The Money Masters video ?

MRM: Well, what was or is the significance ?

BTS: Basically, what I suspect has occurred is that worldwide there has been a depletion of gold reserves from sovereign national holdings into private hands. Because what I believe they are going to do is bring about the internationalist dream of a world commonwealth of nations and eliminate national sovereignties everywhere. They will probably use the ‘take them to their knees economically scenario’ which worked so well here in this country and in Canada in the 1930's.

In any case, what I think they are going to do is crash the economies worldwide in order to make nations finally give in to a world currency which is ultimately what they want. I know that here in the United States, despite the fact that we are fairly ignorant about internationalist matters, you’d get tremendous political resistance to a world currency. I think it would become blatantly apparent that this was some sort of direct attack on national sovereignty and I’m sure Canadians would feel the same way.

MRM: Could you tell us a little about the history of the video in the making ? Did your book On the Horns of the Beast come out first?

BTS: Well, the book, Horns of the Beast, came out in about the Spring of 1995. So then I was contacted by a couple of people and basically through discussions we determined that to be more politically effective in today’s market we had to have a video product. So, some money was put together and we set off to make a video version of the book Horns of the Beast.

During the course of events, as research went on, we refined the solution to a much greater degree to not only being government issued money but to include the abolition of the fractional reserve concept. Because if you abolish the Federal Reserve System in the United States and did that alone, you really wouldn't accomplish very much other than raise consciousness a lot, because 90% of the money, of course, is created by the commercial banks. So I was a little naive in the first editions of the book; that’s now been corrected.

Also, Milton Freedman kindly pointed out that it was a dumb solution. Just manufacturing enough government issued money to pay off the debt would be tremendously inflationary. So at the same time you have to proportionally raise bank reserve requirements in order to have a smooth transition. So that was the ongoing research process. By about October of ‘95 we had finalized a script in about 30 days, believe it or not. So we started shooting. We went over to Europe, hit England, Guernsey, France, Germany and then back home and we did up and down the East coast and center parts of America shooting Fort Knox, Jekyll Island, etc. We shot through November, December and started the editing process in January of ‘96. That took about 8 weeks to complete and the thing was out by March of 1996 and that is where it stands today.

MRM: What has been the reaction to The Money Masters ?

BTS: Well, I have done a lot of interviews ! You get two different reactions from the uninitiated. They are interested. To them the most basic concept is a revelation that the Fed is not part of the federal government. Then to the more sophisticated, it breaks into two groups: those who support government issued money and those who support a return to gold-backed currency which they frequently refer to as honest money or Constitutional money. Of course a study of the US Constitution reveals that the Constitution has nothing to say about the issuance of bills of credit on the part of the Federal Government. So the US Constitution is silent on the matter. So those who use the term Constitutional money really don't understand what the Constitution has to say about it.

MRM: Why did you create both a television version of The Money Masters as well as a video version ?

BTS: Well, a television network in Pittsburgh became very interested in it and they wanted to serialize it but it wasn't really in a form that was too television friendly. So we had to change the form so that it could be broken into 28 minute segments which was kind of a trick. That’s easy to do when you are doing it from the ground up but not so easy to do in retrospect. But we were able to accomplish it. We had to record what they call ‘ins and outs’ introductions and postscripts to each of the 28 minute segments which worked out well anyway because the information sometimes needs a little bit of summary. This is where we are going to go today, then you go there, then at the end, this is where we have been and it’s good to refresh the memory, and I think it makes it more accessible to people who have a less sophisticated understanding of the problem and solution.

MRM: Have there been any negative reactions to the video ?

BTS: Oh, yes ... I have debated Fed officials on radio and they typically have followed the same line. I suspect there has been a universal memo put out on the video as to how best to attack it and they attack it on fairly unsophisticated lines because they’re not really capable of debating the issues. For example, they’ll attack it over the question of whether or not the Fed is really part of the Federal Government. I have had no trouble getting a satisfactory result as far as I am concerned when debating these officials on radio.

MRM: Isn't the power of the Fed limited by the fact that there is a 6% cap on profits ?

BTS: Well as for profits, that's not even the question. 97% of the profits are returned to the Treasury anyway. That's what the Fed loves to attack the less sophisticated person with. The less sophisticated argument is "Oh The Fed’s making all this money from the interest they charge on the national debt". Well, we very quickly learn that the Fed turns back most of that profit, so that’s not even the question. It's not a question of the interest on the debt; it’s a question of how the economy grows -- and their power to issue the money -- to make money scarce or plenty -- which is their power.

MRM: So it is not that the Fed is making a lot of money from their day to day operations; it’s more that they have inside knowledge ?

BTS: You see the Fed isn't the problem. The commercial banks are the problem. The Fed is but the nexus through which the power of the commercial banks is expressed in Washington. It’s like the lobbying group. The Fed is not the problem.

MRM: So it’s the commercial banks that are reaping the benefits of the fractional reserve system ?

BTS: That’s correct.

MRM: Loaning out 10 times what they have on deposit ?

BTS: That’s correct.

MRM: And making 80% interest when we can only make 8% ?

BTS: That’s right.

MRM: Has anyone challenged you on your saying that there is no gold in Fort Knox ?

BTS: Well that is unassailable. There is only one way they can prove that: they can do that very easily; open the doors tomorrow.

MRM: Do you think you have picked this up as a ‘cause’ now or is this just another story ?

BTS: Well originally I went into it as just another story. I’m not an economics expert, I’m just a reporter covering another story. I have devoted more time to it than I planned to initially, and people look to me now as being more of an authority than I really am. I don't know any more than is in the video or is in the book. That represents the total extent of my knowledge. So people give me more credit than I am due. What I do next or if I do anything with it, I’m not sure. It is going to be hard to get away from it at this point. So maybe I will have to continue to inform myself and become more articulate than I am.

MRM: We wish you the best of luck !

External links

• Wikipedia Federal reserve
• Wikipedia History of central banking in the United States
• Wikipedia Bank of England
• Money Reform journal