A Day in the Life: Dr. Bill James, Author and Centenarian (Part 2)

Yesterday, we were introduced to who shared many of his life experiences with North Branford Patch. He went on to discuss the book he recently completed–The Monetarists and the Evolving Crisis: Wake Up, Americans; We Are Losing Our Great Nation–his inspiration for his work and his hope for the future of America. The Monetarists is self-published and available for review. 

North Branford Patch: What is a typical day in your life like now?
James: Well I like to take a walk every day and I think that keeps me going. I’ve been working on my book of recent times. I try to keep up with a fair number of people and what they’re doing. I’m not driving, so I’m not racing around the countryside in a sports car.

Quite frankly I’m so far behind on everything I wonder if I’ll have enough time to get it done. I say that because I talk to people who are retired. Some of them just retire and they watch TV. They’re wondering what to do what their time. I just try to keep active, keep involved with anything I can do. Because I’ve been to so many places, there’s people I can talk with in different towns. My wife and I go up to Maine often, too. 

If I could live another five years, I’d like to write a book. It would have nothing to do with this sort of stuff [money and economy], it would be stories from different places and different eras.

North Branford Patch: What motivated you to start writing The Monetarists?
James: It took me about six years. The positions I take in this book are very much at odds with the popular logic at the time. We’ve got a monetary system which can’t be balanced. That needs to get fixed first.

In our Constitution, there is a provision that says that Congress has the power to create money and regulate the value thereof. Now that provision at the present time is being used to help establish the Federal Reserve system. But the Federal Reserve system is really handling the monetary system, which can’t be balanced.

I’m saying that Congress should cue said provision for the welfare of the nation. Money, instead of being issued in relation to interest-bearing debt, should be issued in relation to economic resources. That money should be allowed to remain in circulation and it should be used for a massive infrastructure program to build and modernize a tremendous amount of capital assets, whether it’s reservoirs or dams or bridges or buildings...anything for the public.

North Branford Patch: Where do you think the problem lies? 
James: If you borrow $1,000, you spend it and you put into circulation. When you pay back the bank, you don’t owe just $1,000, you owe more. That additional money comes from the interest factor. It is being taken out of the amount of money in circulation. People are taking out money and they’re taking back more than they put out. That thing is going to collapse. That money should be kept in circulation to make up for the interest factor.

The people in charge aren’t economists. They’re money thinkers. What this nation needs is economists who think in terms of people and tangible resources. You can’t eat taxes, you can’t eat budgetary changes, but you can eat food. A person needs money in order to get a hold of a certain amount of assets in society. 

North Branford Patch: What are your thoughts on the ?                                                                                          James: I think they have a legitimate objection. The way our monetary system is set up, it is mathematically certain that we'll get a concentration of the wealth. I'm not certain that they see that reason, though. They see the problem as more of a matter of people being greedy. The problem is that the people who are greedy are also very smart and they're putting one over on the public. It's their system. They have a legitimate argument, but they need to open up their investigation a bit more and look at the facts instead of just looking at the people as people. 

North Branford Patch: Does your book discuess the issue?
James: The books tell about how money is created in wonderful detail, but they don't tell how money is destroyed. I think that young people today are in trouble and that's bad for the nation. We've got so many people who are not working. Our nation is not working at maximum strength. 

North Branford Patch: What is your advice to my generation?
James: Don't be acquiescent. We’ve got a nation that is a democratic republic, which means the power should go to the people. The international monetary fund has the power, which means we lose our democratic republic. That fund is not an elected body. We lose our independence, we lose our sovereignty, we lose just about everything that the people of this country have fought for.

Young people today have got to get themselves organized and heard, but I just hope they don't get taken in by somebody. 

Tomorrow, North Branford Patch will share its final installment with Dr. Bill James in which he shares anecdotes from his past.