383 of 441 people found the following review helpful:
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Deals With Difficult Political Problems and Enlarges the Debate About Monetary Policy, August 30, 2009
This review is from: End the Fed (Hardcover)
In its first response to the global financial crisis, the Fed disbursed trillions in secrecy. This was during the critical period when so many were financially squeezed. Cash went to Goldman Sachs and others. Some beneficiaries used these funds to short the markets. Some was used for executive bonus commitments. We still don't know where it all went.
(Recommended reading:
Declare Independence from Party Affiliation)
The Federal Reserve Act delegates money power to a private banking monopoly. Ron Paul introduced H.R. 833 to abolish the Federal Reserve System. He wrote this book to outline reasons to end the Fed. This doesn't mean he wants politicians to operate the money supply. While it doesn't appear likely the status of the Fed will be changed soon, it's possible that Congress will act to require full disclosure on Fed distributions with regard to the Global Financial Crisis.
The main counter argument is that it would be a terrible mistake to trust Fed oversight to politicians. The late Milton Friedman offered an alternative to the current system which might satisfy a broader constituency. The U.S. in theory could have its own currency called U.S. Notes (instead of Federal Reserve Notes). Friedman thought this could work if physical money were created only to match population increase or else align increases of money supply to a price index. The system that Friedman talked about would leave physical money creation independent of political control. Currently, physical money is created through Treasury debt. Nevertheless, Friedman acknowledged that it may not be politically possible to take money power away from the Fed.
Under President Abraham Lincoln, money power was vested in the Treasury Department. If money power were returned to the Treasury, perhaps under Friedman's plan, the federal deficit could be completely paid off with debt-free U.S. Notes. Ron Paul does not seem radical if the idea of issuing our own currency, using U.S. Notes instead of Federal Reserve Notes, is not radical.
End the Fed explains harmful consequences of our monetary policy and fractional reserve banking. In this system, money comes into existence only through debt and is then used to create more debt. There is an overreliance on debt and too much debt can be harmful to most citizens.
Why does the Fed resist telling us where the money went that it disbursed in the early stage of the global financial crisis - when a little liquidity allowed beneficiaries to buy any assets at fire sale prices? This is the question I return to most often.
The Fed makes funds available for government spending far in excess of what could sustainably be raised through direct taxation. Paul posits that our military engagements would not have played out as they did if government had to pay at least in part by raising taxes. Seen this way, the Fed influences political policy far more than people are generally aware.
Recall also earlier concerns of whether Fed-led credit creation was creating a housing bubble. Then Fed Chairman Greenspan would only allow that in isolated parts things were "frothy." He denied the bubble and encouraged mortgage equity withdrawals by homeowners. This turned out to be a trap for trusting citizens as documented in Dr. Paul's book.
Paul wrote about conflicts of interests between the powers behind the Federal Reserve and the American people. This is not a partisan issue. Even Chairman Ben Bernanke blames the severity and duration of the Great Depression on the Federal Reserve.
Like Paul, I got interested in coins since they seem to have intrinsic value. I like to collect nickels. Some from the 1920s are circulating. They last because they're 75% copper and 25% nickel - very durable.
It's not difficult to accumulate literally hundreds of pounds of nickels. Anybody can get $100 boxes of nickels at a cooperative bank without having to pay a service fee. These boxes arrive off the armored truck in neatly packed rolls. One box weighs 22 pounds so make sure to use a dolly to wheel and not carry them. Like Paul, I believe the U.S. Mint will eventually make steel coins and maybe these nickels are not a bad thing to have.
I think those nickels should be kept safe in a relatively inexpensive site box such as this one:
Jobox 48" Long Heavy-Duty Steel Chest With Site-Vault(tm) Security System 1-654990.
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532 of 615 people found the following review helpful:
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Ron Paul Hits a Homerun, August 30, 2009
This review is from: End the Fed (Hardcover)
Andrew Jackson ended his Fed in 1836. Ron Paul can do the same for us, if we make it possible. Read this book and work to end the central economic and political evil in America, the central bank that fuels recessions and depressions, the warfare state, the redistributionist state, and the police state. End the Fed!
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139 of 167 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Economics 101, August 31, 2009
This review is from: End the Fed (Hardcover)
Finally, a no-holds-barred, plain English explanation of the "Crime of the Century." Dr. Paul explains very clearly how the Federal Reserve has not helped our economy, but has virtually destroyed it. It's so clear, in fact, that maybe even our Congressmen and Senators will finally get it.
Economics 101: When you create more of something, the value decreases.
Economics 201: The Federal Reserve printing (Liquidity Injections) of Federal Reserve Notes (Dollars) has decreased their value.
Economics 301: The dramatic increase of Federal Reserve money printing in the last couple of decades has devalued our money and caused the current economic crisis.
Economics 401: The Fed is trying to solve the problem with more of the same thing that caused the problem.
Of course it's more complicated than this, and that's where this book is so important. Dr. Paul explains the history of the Fed, its relationship to modern wars and a myriad of other societal ills, the inevitable failure of a fiat currency and, more importantly, how we can get out of this mess.
The Federal Reserve system is nothing less than the most brilliant tool ever for the transfer of wealth and power from the average citizen to the wealthy and powerful, and we must rein it in to preserve our freedom. I know I must sound dramatic, but I can not stress enough the importance of honest, realistic, economic education. This book is a great first step. It should be required reading in all our schools.
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