End the Fed (Hardcover)

~ Ron Paul (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At first glance, abolishing the Federal Reserve and returning to the gold standard seems a quaintly eccentric idea, but Texas congressman Paul presents a plan to eliminate our country's central bank, and return to a private banking system, that's both serious and plausible. The questionable aspects involve Paul's predicted results: not only will ending the Fed eliminate inflation (the government cannot print more money than it has gold reserves), but also business booms and busts, wars, income inequality, trade imbalances and the growth of government. Further, and perhaps most important, it would "disempower the secretive cartel of powerful money managers who exercise disproportionate influence over the conduct of public policy." Paul tends to gloss over those periods in history, including the Panic of 1907, in which private banking and the gold standard were law: "the bad reputation of nineteenth century American banking... is largely the result of... propaganda agitating for the creation of the Fed." With respect to "secretive cartels," Paul takes up the interesting question of whether J.P. Morgan is in fact preferable to Ben Bernanke. An engaging response to big-government solutions for the financial crisis, this knowledgeable and opinionated look at U.S. economics, from a firebrand public servant, should provoke much thought.
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Review

"Everyone must read this book -- Congressmen and college students, Democrats and Republicans -- all Americans."
--Vince Vaughn

"Rarely has a single book not only challenged, but decisively changed my mind. "
--Arlo Guthrie --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 2nd Printing edition (September 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446549193
• ISBN-13: 978-0446549196
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (311 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,540 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

278 of 310 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not a Ron Paul fan, September 15, 2009

By	sodapopinski - See all my reviews

I am certainly not an avid Ron Paul supporter by any means, and in fact I disagree with him on numerous points. But, I have respect for him because he is one of the only politicians who seems to actually, truly believe what he says. I really respect that, it's refreshing. He seems to be unswayed by lobbies, outside influences etc, and he has a fully-formed belief system.

So I read this book. I find his argument somewhat extreme at times and I do not agree with every point he makes (though I do agree with a lot). BUT in any case, the book made me think. A lot. And I think that is what's important about it. Reading it added a whole new perspective to looking at the federal govt (and specifically the federal reserve) that I had never really considered before. I still don't agree with everything he says, but I applaud him for being in Congress and having the courage to say it. I'm very glad I read End The Fed, if only to make me think long and hard about beliefs I had. Even if you are not a fan of his or disagree with him, it's really worth the time just to get you thinking in some new ways.

443 of 504 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ron Paul Hits a Homerun, August 30, 2009

By	L. H. Rockwell, Jr. "Libertarian" (Auburn, Alabama) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

304 of 346 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars R. Paul Creates Historic Opportunity. Fed Dons Sheep Costume, August 30, 2009

By	Citizen John (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

The Fed had to act but distributed trillions in secrecy. We have to find out where it all went.

Ron Paul introduced H.R. 833 to abolish the Federal Reserve System. He introduced H.R. 1207 to reform how the Fed is audited. This one has 282 co-sponsors! He's reaching for support with this book. End the Fed offers these approaches to our problems: live within our means, stick to the Constitution and make the legal tender of the country sound money.

Like Paul, I got interested in coins since they seem to have intrinsic value. I collect nickels. Some from the 1920s are circulating. They're virtually indestructible because they're 75% copper and 25% nickel. It doesn't take much to own hundreds of pounds of nickels. Get $100 boxes at your bank neatly packed in rolls; one box weighs 22 pounds. Like Paul, I believe the U.S. Mint will make steel coins.

Abuse of monetary power and its effect on our lives captured in one book is overwhelming, provoking outrage. The plan for the Fed to dramatically increase the size of its balance sheet (by trillions) to counterbalance the lack of asset carrying capacity of the public was beautiful in theory. It fell short, at least in part, due to corruption. They won't tell us where all the money went.

This book shows the damage Fed secrecy caused over time. As author David Wessel warned, the Fed has become a fourth branch of government not directly accountable to voters. This book asserts that our military engagements would not have played out as they did if government had to pay at least in part by raising taxes.

If we succeed and the Fed gets audited, investigations into the scandal could lead to a reconciliation process or if not, degrade our national solidarity. I feel Paul's arguments for ending Fed secrecy are irrefutable. I believe any thinking person will arrive at the same conclusion if they read the book.

The Fed secretly placed trillions where wealth was concentrated, the big banks. Small banks were generally excluded. Money got routed through entities to pay politically powerful investment banks, where the public made good on unregulated derivatives bets. Were connected hedge funds bailed out? How much went for executive bonuses?

Recall 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 vicious trap for trusting citizens. Homeowners trusted the Fed. Later Greenspan insisted that one cannot spot a bubble before it bursts.

We learned the Fed enjoys unlimited power to create and disburse money when circumstances become "unusual and exigent." Its battalions of $350K/yr economists decided to create public funds to make good on unregulated derivatives. This action saved the bonus system, making a hero out of Ben Bernanke.

As background, AIG derivatives traders took the wrong side of the bet for cash up-front fees. AIG spent the windfall on multi-million dollar bonuses. When these derivatives matured, AIG would owe a magnitude beyond anything any corporation on earth could pay. But the Fed could pay up if and only if circumstances were unusual and exigent. That is how the Great Panic saved the leaders of the financial industry and preserved the bonus system.

In a separate action, Bloomberg news service is using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Fed resistance has foreign observers aghast. At the heart of the case, the Fed benefits from being a private agency where it can and a governmental agency where it can.

The Fed is responding with a sophisticated public relations campaign. Bernanke is posturing against aggressive bonuses at big banks. This is to buy time while lobbyists trade concessions for votes. Count on the return of big bonuses if the Fed kills Paul's bills.

The Fed hired a former Enron lobbyist as its own lead lobbyist to Congress. The Fed "crossed the Rubicon."

Courageous Ron Paul has this window of time to get the public on board. Let's support him.


Several people emailed to ask where one keeps nickels as they might get a few hundred pounds. 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.