133 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
133 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
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(word processor parameters LM=8, RM=75, TM=2, BM=2)
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, TX 75150
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There are ABSOLUTELY NO RESTRICTIONS
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on duplicating, publishing or distributing the
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files on KeelyNet except where noted!
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May 30, 1993
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WIZZARD.ASC
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This file shared with KeelyNet courtesy of Double Helix BBS.
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Date: 12-02-92 (05:23) Number: 4935
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From: JEFF SALZBERG Refer#: NONE
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To: ALL Netwrk: FIDO
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Subj: Ooohs and Oz.... Conf: (143) History
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From the _Dallas Morning News_, 11/29/92
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Olin Chism, book critic
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Oohs and Oz: Was money the message?
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You thought _The Wizard of Oz_ was about a little girl named Dorothy
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and her dog named Toto and how a tornado whisked them off in their
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Kansas farmhouse to an amazing fantasyland ruled by a strange
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magician, didn't you?
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How naive.
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L. Frank Baum's children's classic is actually an allegory about
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monetary policy, if a persistent theory is to be believed. The idea
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seems to have gained currency in scholarly circles back in the
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1960s, was taken up by Gore Vidal some years later and is enshrined
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in a prestigious reference work, _The New Palgrave Dictionary of
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Money & Finance_. The latest edition has just been published by
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Stockton Press. You can have a copy for a mere $595.
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Prof. Hugh Rockoff of Rutgers University, who wrote the _Palgrave_
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article, stresses that "there really isn't any hard evidence" for
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the theory, but "I think I find it persuasive."
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Dr. Rockoff, who teaches economics, explained the background last
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week:
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At the end of the 19th century, many farmers in the South and West
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were in debt. Most had very short-term mortgages by today's
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standards. They were hurt by high interest rates, a declining price
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level under the gold standard and a more precipitous drop during the
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depression of the 1890s.
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SILVER AND GOLD
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Populists led by William Jennings Bryan wanted to help the farmers
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by coining silver along with gold (their policy was known as
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Page 1
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"bimetallism"). This expansion of the money supply would lower
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interest rates, increase prices and pull the farmers out of their
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hole.
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Mr. Bryan captured the Democratic nomination in 1896 and castigated
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the Republican supporters of the gold standard with his famous
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"Cross of Gold" speech. After losing the election, he tried again
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in 1900; he lost again.
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Enter _The Wizard of Oz_. When it was published in 1900, the
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monetary controversy was fresh on everyone's mind. _Oz_ theorists
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believe Mr. Baum wrote it as an allegory, with the Populists as the
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heroes and the gold crowd as the villains. In the grander versions
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of the theory, every character and virtually every object stands for
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something else.
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Dr. Rockoff explains the symbolism. Oz is of course the
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abbreviation for ounce (of gold). Dorothy, "always a staunch friend
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and honest to the core," is the American people. The good-natured
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Toto may represent the Prohibition Party. The storm represents the
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Populist movement. The Land of Oz is the Eastern establishment,
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firm supporter of the gold standard.
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Dorothy's house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, who Dr.
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Rockoff thinks may represent either the Eastern financiers or the
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pro-gold former president Grover Cleveland. The witch is wearing
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silver shoes. In the movie they became ruby slippers.
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Dorothy is told to follow the Yellow Brick Road (the gold standard,
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obviously) to Emerald City (Washington). Dorothy's companions are
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the Scarecrow, representing the farmers; the Tin Man, representing
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American workers; and the Cowardly Lion, representing William
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Jennings Bryan, not a bad sort but cowardly for failing to stick to
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his principles in the 1900 campaign.
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They defeat the Wicked Witch of the West, who has been interprested
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variously as "the malign forces of nature, western financiers, or
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more concretely William McKinley, Bryan's opponent in both
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elections." And what about the Wizard himself? Dr. Rockoff
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speculates he represents Mark Hanna, chairman of the Republican
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Party, who "was considered for a time to be a sinister power behind
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the throne, although his image later softened."
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Dr. Rockoff said last week that although he isn't absolutely sure
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Mr. Baum had all this in mind, he's been using _The Wizard of Oz
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in class "for a long time."
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Who said economics couldn't be fun?
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* Origin: The Fireside, Houston, Texas (713)496-6319 (1:106/114)
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If you have comments or other information relating to such topics
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as this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the
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Vangard Sciences address as listed on the first page.
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Thank you for your consideration, interest and support.
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Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson
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Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet
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Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 242-9346
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