Episode
Badlands Book Club: The Creature From Jekyll Island - Chapter 8: Fool's Gold
- Podcast
- Badlands Media
- Published
- Jul 9, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3400
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
CannCon and Ashe in America crack open Chapter 8 of The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin, and things get spicy fast. This week's theme: Fool's Gold, the story of how paper money without any real backing became the norm, and how fractional reserve banking let banks issue more gold receipts than gold they actually had. They trace fiat money all the way back to Marco Polo's account of paper currency in Kublai Khan's China, then jump into colonial America's wild ride through inflation, devaluation, and eventual return to sound money. Expect tangents on tallow, brisket, and a healthy dose of disbelief at how casually governments have always printed their way out of trouble. It is history, economics, and a little bit of chaos, delivered with the hosts' usual mix of humor and genuine frustration.