Robert Hemphill Quote 

"If all the bank loans were paid, no one could have a bank deposit,
and there would not be a dollar of coin or currency in circulation.
This is a staggering thought. We are completely dependent on the
commercial Banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in
circulation, cash or credit. If the Banks create ample synthetic money
we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a
permanent money system. When one gets a complete grasp of the picture,
the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but
there it is. It is the most important subject intelligent persons can
investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present
civilization may collapse unless it becomes widely understood and the
defects remedied very soon."

by:
Robert Hemphill
Credit Manager of Federal Reserve Bank, Atlanta, Ga.
Source:
In the foreword to a book by Irving Fisher, entitled 100% Money (1935)
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Reader comments about this quote:
 -- Anonymous 
Why DO I feel something so like like a dangerous epiphany? I guess I won't be dying of old age, after all.
 -- David L. Rosenthal, Hollywood		 
Well this may be disturbing only if you consider money as an object in itself. I regard money as a means to obtain real objects. That I am so readily able to buy an object with someone else's money at little to no cost renders this 'profound' observation absurd in the extreme.
 -- Eric Engstrom, Wichita, KS		 
I thnk that Eric is going to be shocked when he finds that, not money itself, but the money sytem has turned the world into a pit of woe. Or if he is not shocked by that, he may be surprised when the really poor no longer honor that system. Or maybe this is not profound enough for his intellect.
 -- David L. Rosenthal, Hollywood		 
It's surprising Hemphill became a highly-placed banker with such an attitude. Maybe he had a conversion experience, an epiphany, because academia and the banker training infrastructure carefully avoid this truth, in order to keep the system intact. PS David, "the poor" will do no harm to the system by not honoring it, only to themselves, as I see it. The system has a lock on our spending priorities, -able to starve any opposition. What's become of Hemphill? Is the system managing to "starve" him?
 -- Urban Kohler, Ashland		 
The Truth shall set You free...as it has for all those who accept and find serenity in it's profound Grace. May You find what You are looking for.
 -- Nicholas Walter Mattson, Atascadero		 
A lot of subtitles come to mind in support of the final sentence, none the less, it is far too accurate to ignore.
 -- Mike, Norwalk		 
With this system we will always have "business cycles" and "bubbles". So we can never really plan anything like a retirement through simple hard work. The value of every dollar saved will depreciate faster than you can work your way towards a retirment fund. Freedom 55 becomes...Freedom never.
 -- J Carlton, Calgary		 
Perhaps a more accurate quote would be, " You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad."
 -- jim k, austin		 
True but shallow and misleading and terribly stated. Of course if all the loans were paid and no one was borrowing the banks would have to reduce their saivings deposit interest rate to zero. Every one would then take their deposits out of the bank. Banks are just a clearing house for neighbors who have to much and neighbors who don't have enough. It is true but wriiten to be scraps for dogs.
 -- Waffler, Smith		 
Urban Kohler I feel certain the man is taken out of context. Again I repeat a bank has deposits and loans, no depostis no loans, no loans or investments then they would have to return the deposits. If a bank is unable to make investments (e.g. loans) it has no reason to exist and should return its deposits to the depositors.
 -- Waffler, Smith		 
Waffler, It's okay not to know anything about a subject! Plus you're missing the point! It's about money created out of debt, synthetic money!
 -- Tony D., Toronto, Ontario		 
"When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but there it is." Waffler is still under the impression that banks loan the money of their depositors. ;-) Well, not for a LONG time has that been the case. Hemphill tries to explain: the banks CREATE the 'money' they 'lend.' When the IOU is paid, the 'money' is destroyed. When you buy something with a credit card, the 'money' is created out of nothing except your promise to pay it back. Banks USED to have to keep a percentage of COIN on hand to cover the demand for specie of their depositors -- but that has totally changed. All the real money is gone, already taken by the central banks, through this trickery. Every 'dollar' in your pocket, in your bank account, every dollar in Bill Gate's empire has been borrowed by someone, and interest is being paid by someone on it right now. This is not good for anyone but the issuers of the 'credit.' "It is the most important subject intelligent persons can investigate and reflect upon." I wholeheartedly agree.
 -- E Archer, NYC		 
Waffler doesn't understand the concept Tony; the concept of "synthetic money" would make his head explode, if he ever actually began figuring some things out.
 -- Logan, Memphis, TN		 
Don't be stupid Logan. When you deposit money into a bank you are making an investment on which they pay interest, just like when you buy stock. The purpose of the bank management on the corporate board of your stock company, be it a factory or for that matter a bank is to earn a net profit from which they can pay you dividends. All your and Archer's talk about sythentics is just bullshit. I am sorry to be so graphic but if I had a hammer maybe I could hammer it into you guys. You will never figure anything out Logan and a hammer to you and Archer's heads is what I think is required.
 -- Waffler, Smith		 
Oh Brother! It's not that complicated. Think 2 thoughts: Federal Reserve NOTE and Parker Brothers MONOPOLY.
 -- Raymond George, West Seneca, N.Y.		 
Waffler, when you deposit "something", it comes from somewhere, no? The fact is it comes from someone -- not you, not me. Some real live human beings do have the power to create money. Until you have understood that power structure you have understood nothing at all.
 -- Trudy, toront		 
Finance has been with us since the earliest days, for thousands of years. For this official to make this statement is ludicrous. Fire him, and hire someone who understands how money has always worked.
 -- HB, Kirkland, WA		 
 -- Anonymous 
Waffler, Smith and anyone who doesn't understand their monetary system...I had to buy this video: "The Money Masters". But you can find it for free on the the list of vids at the top...to the right...on the following website. It will be well worth your time to watch all of it. http://www.dgswilson.com/wpsite/cap-n-trade/
 -- Beth, SF Bay Area		 
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