1913: America's Worst Year - The Federal Reserve
Too much power in too few hands.
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December 23, 1913
John Steinbeck, author of The Grapes of Wrath, once said:
The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's a monster. Men made it, but they can't control it.
In an effort to end the ups and downs of the business cycle, a group of bankers, businessmen and politicians got together and hammered out a deal that would benefit their interests more than anyone else's. The creation of the Federal Reserve system was many years in the making, but was in the end of 1913 that it was created by an act of Congress and signed into law.
The record of the Federal Reserve Bank is messy at best and a disaster for the most part. For years, people have debated the bank's role in the Great Depression and other significant financial crises.
In the 21st century, we're at the brink of, or sliding down into, another financial crisis. What's the Fed to do?
Some argue that there's little it can do. Some argue that its past and current actions are causing the problems now. Either way, it points to the problem caused by the fact that a few guys in suits have so much power over the economy.
Guys in suits can be bought and sold. They are human and can make mistakes. Alan Greenspan was almost treated as a god, yet he's just a guy who guessed, sometimes right, sometimes wrong. Now he's a guy trying to blame the current problems on others so that his legacy stays clean.
One of the original responsibilities of the federal government was to coin money. Milton Friedman, an economist, talked about what is money (please read this link). Money is many things, but in the end, something that we use to store value.
Inflation was one of the things a central bank was supposed to solve. The theory is that a central bank can regulate the money supply. This regulation is used to ensure too much money doesn't get in the system. Too much money causes inflation.
Inflation is the loss of value of money, or rather the increase in prices. Today you must spend more than $20 to get the same value as you would from spending $1.00 in 1913, the year the Fed was started.
It is true that since the Second World War, we have not had the extreme cycles of boom and bust that characterized the 19th century. Sometimes this is credited to the Fed. But it's just as likely that this improvement had other causes -- regulations restricting (and slowing down) the ability of banks to foreclose mortgages; government unemployment insurance; the availability of pre-authorized lines of credit, such as credit cards; and even modern communications and transportation technology, allowing people to more readily move from an economically depressed state to a booming one.
In any case, over the last century it's become clear that the Federal Reserve Bank cannot do what it was created to do -- namely, even out the business cycle. If it can't perform its primary function, then why do we let it exist?
The Fed helped with the removal of the gold standard. The Fed is most likely responsible for most of the inflation this country has seen. A few men and a few privately held companies have significant power over our economy. This is the legacy of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.
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What does Chinese history have to teach America that Joe Biden doesn't know?
The Great Depression, the stagflation and malaise of the 70's, the stock bubble of 2000 and the housing bubble of 2007/8 are all directly related to actions (or inactions) of the Fed. In fact, if you review the previous economic history with the history during the time of the Fed you'll discover that the Fed cannot do one of the things they said it would do: even out the business cycle.
Chris: Inflation is not our fault, but the fault of those responsible for our money supply. The more money in the system, the greater the inflation. A limited money supply prevents inflation by its very nature. In fact, if there's more stuff available, and a limited money supply we get deflation. But you are correct in saying we create spenders in congress because congress has the ability to get the Fed to print more money--which causes inflation.
And yes I am for Ron Paul and believe in what he believes in. American People do need to take responsablity for there crazy spending habits too!
Great Blog BTW!
hb
"Money is many things, but in the end, something that we use to store value." Store value? Fiat money is merely a medium of exchange, and has it has no intrensic value, it is not in an of itself a store of value.
It might be a convenient and useful measure of value, but it is not value.
@Ed - you are correct, of course. Since it has no intrinsic value of its own. the government can manipulate it by running the presses and cause inflation. That seals from savers, but politicians don't care about that.
You were ahead of yourselves. Others are FINALLY catching on:
The Federal Reserve, the ultimate swamp creature
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/01/the_federal_reserve_the_ultimate_swamp_creature.html
Although the Fed was established by Congress in 1913, it is in fact owned by its member banks. The Fed can be looked at as cartel of private banks that is chartered to look after the common economic good of the country.
Because of doubts about the Fed's actual intentions, critics like former congressman Ron Paul, who in his book End the Fed says that it is "immoral, unconstitutional, impractical, promotes bad economics, and undermines liberty." Ron Paul and others lay the blame for booms, bubbles, and busts at the feet of the Fed.
The Federal Reserve Transparency Act, which was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Rand Paul, is an effort to lift the veil of secrecy under which the Fed is currently allowed to operate. It would do this by tighten the way audits on the Fed are done so that critical information is no longer omitted. The Fed resists this bill, and it languishes in the Senate.
This is why the public's misapprehension on the Fed is important. If more people knew the Fed was not an actual part of the government but rather a central bank owned by private bankers, political pressure would build for passage of the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. Already it is reported that nearly three-quarters of Americans support a thorough audit of the Fed, as does President Trump. More pressure is needed on the Fed. Perhaps the next economic/financial crisis will bring it about. And ask yourself, what is wrong with transparency and why does the Fed resist it?
Secrecy is in the Fed's DNA. It was created secretly in the dead of the night in 1910 on Jekyll Island, Georgia, by private bankers where they established the blueprint for the Fed. That was then presented to Congress to ratify and was signed into law in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson. For the full story of the creation of the Fed and an explanation of its true mission, see G. Edward Griffin's book The Creature from Jekyll Island. Griffin claims the Fed was created by the bankers, for the bankers, and is run by the bankers. History bear this accusation out.
And so on.