I have not discussed this topic in the past because I always assume it is general knowledge. However, I've brought it up conversations with a few people lately talking about the markets, and they were shocked when I told them. So let's get the full story.
How much do you know about the Federal Reserve?
There was a bank run in 1907 that was the largest (at the time) in United States history. This bank run was orchestrated by a group of New York bankers that at the time were called the money trust. This bank run put tremendous fear into the hearts of Americans that our monetary system was not safe and that something needed to be changed.
In 1908 Senator Aldrich was appointed to find the answer to this problem. Congress created the National Monetary Commission to research this situation and asked him to consult with the private central banks of England, France, and Germany.
Aldrich returned in 1910 and decided to take some time off and go on a duck hunt with some of his good friends. It just so happened that the friends were the very people he was supposed to be investigating, the money trust, which included:
Paul Warburg (Kuhn, Loab & Company)
Abraham Pete Andrew (assistant secretary of the treasury)
Frank Vanderlip (president of Rockefeller-lead National Bank of New York)
Henry P. Davidson (senior partner at J.P. Morgan)
Charles D. Norton (president of Morgan-led First National Bank of New York)
Benjamin Strong (J.P. Morgan Bankers Trust)
At the time these men represented one quarter of the world's wealth.
This duck hunt retreat took place on an island off the coast of Georgia called Jekyll Island. No duck hunting ended up taking place during this trip as the men spent the next nine days around a table creating the plans for what you now now as the Federal Reserve.
A bill was presented to Congress soon there after, named the Aldrich Plan, that created a central bank to be owned by the members attending Jekyll Island. The trip to the island was kept secret for many years, and the bill was presented as an idea that Aldrich formulated during his world travels. After an enormous debate, it never came to a vote in Congress.
Not accepting defeat, it was presented three years later in 1913 with some minor modifications as the Federal Reserve Act. On December 22, 1913 our United States Congress gave up its right to coin our money and regulate its value. This task was now given to a private corporation, The Federal Reserve.
That's correct, there is nothing Federal about the Federal Reserve. It is a private organization. It was created through organized bank runs to put fear into the hearts of Americans who then called for the government to create a "lender of last resort."
This private organization prints money and lends it to the United States with interest. It is supposed to be a separate organization so it has no political agenda. However, watching Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson stammering side by side today makes that notion laughable. It's also interesting to note some of the significant owner's of the Federal Reserve listed above. You probably recognize the name J.P. Morgan. They worked together with the Federal Reserve back in March to buy Bear Stearns.
It is important to understand this because if you haven't noticed yet, the Federal Reserve's ultimate goal is to protect the large banks. They will print as much money as possible to keep the current system from failing and from keeping the system from exposing itself to world as what it really is. Their last objective is protect the value of the currency you work hard every day to earn regardless of what they tell you their "mandate" is on inflation. The cost of protecting the major banks on Wall Street is an enormous amount of inflation that is going to be handed to the American public like a punch to the stomach.
If you think the cost of living is rising fast now, you better buckle up. We are full steam ahead for a hyperinflationary depression, as the remaining wealth of the general public is transferred to the pockets of the ultra rich, who are printing the money they'll be taking from you.
