CONCORD, N.H. (Dec. 29, 2023) – A bill filed in the New Hampshire House would set the stage to increase currency competition and potentially undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money by making wages payable in gold or silver in the state.
Rep. Michael Granger and three cosponsors filed House Bill 1246 (HB1246) for introduction in the 2023 legislative session.
New Hampshire RSA 275:43 provides the legal structure for the payment of weekly and biweekly wages in the state. HB1246 would add a provision to that statute allowing employers to pay wages in gold or silver.
IMPACT
The passage of HB1246 would give employers the option of paying workers in gold or silver — sound money — if they so desired. This would open the door for currency competition with Federal Reserve notes.
Passage of this law would only take the first step and create a legal environment more hospitable to sound money, but it would require human action to create real impact.. Employers would have to be willing to pay workers in gold or silver and empoyees would have to accept it as payment.
Currency competition could potentially undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.
In a paper presented at the Mises Institute, Constitutional tender expert Professor William Greene said when people in multiple states actually start using gold and silver instead of Federal Reserve Notes, it would effectively nullify the Federal Reserve and end the federal government’s monopoly on money.
“Over time, as residents of the state use both Federal Reserve notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve notes do will lead to a “reverse Gresham’s Law” effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve notes). As this happens, a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the state’s treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the state – as people in other states carry out their desire to bank with sound money – and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve notes for any transactions.”
Once things get to that point, Federal Reserve notes would become largely unwanted and irrelevant for ordinary people. Nullifying the Fed on a state-by-state level is what will get us there.
WHAT’S NEXT
HB1246 will be officially introduced when the New Hampshire legislature convenes on Jan. 3. It will be referred to the House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee where it must receive a hearing and a vote before moving forward in the legislative process. An “ought to pass” recommendation would greatly increase the bill’s chance of passage in the full House.
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