Range of acceptable opinion small

A chart of the PPI over the past 90 years, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows prices in this measure holding relatively stable until about the mid-70s and then taking a sharp upturn. Could this be related to the fact that the American dollar was fully taken off of the gold standard in 1971, and full control of the money supply was given to the Fed? Paul's answer is yes, and his solution is a return to the gold standard.

But because this proposed course of action falls so far from what is usually discussed, it is never seriously considered by any in power, nor discussed by the mainstream national media to any significant degree.

This is an individual case of a much broader problem within our political culture: the range of acceptable opinion in our country has shrunken to an almost impossibly narrow range.

True. We would much rather discuss what a candidate's preacher said a few years ago. Political discourse in the mainstream media is relegated to such meanderings and serious topics are found to be embarrassing to the uninformed hosts of so-called news shows or the editors of newspapers.