Take A Look Behind the Curtains of the Fed

This is an upclose look at the Federal Reserve . I delve into the thoughts of Ron Paul, Alan Greenspan, Jefferson and more. It is a paper I wrote during Spring semester for a poly-sci class. But don't just look over this thread. It is about the Federal Reserve and it asks the sort of questions that need to be asked.
I was required to visit the Federal Reserve as part of the assignment. Interestingly enough there was a weird juxtaposition of events which ocurred at the Reserve.
I have been a volunteer at the Latin American Association here in Atlanta, GA for several years. (Not trying to toot any kind selflessness here, I enjoy volunteering there and I like people. ) (And I like practicing my Spanish) (Specifically with Spanish-speaking ladies

Ok here goes. There was a four month period in which I had to, at some point, take a tour of the Reserve before writing this paper. The days were going by and I was busy studying and writing songs. And working. Anyway, I got an email from the woman in charge of gathering up volunteers telling me that the award ceremony this year to honor all of our sponsors and some of our hardest working volunteers(I'm not one of the hardest working ones. No awards for me was to be held at the Federal Reserve in Atlanta in one their banquet halls. We were going to be taking a tour of the Reserve before our ceremony. "Weird", I thought to myself. "That's killing two birds with one stone."

So I took the tour of the reserve and I got a peak underneath the curtains. Just take a look at what I found.
The Federal Reserve was created in 1913 and is considered to be eclectic in that it

embodies a merging of both public and private elements. I have visited the Federal

Reserve Bank in Atlanta, GA where I toured the bank and I observed quite precisely

all of the information which was available. Although the topic of much controversy at

the time of its creation, due to factors which will be reviewed in this paper, it is the

source of all American currency in that the Federal Reserve is responsible for printing

American dollars. This paper seeks to explore the birth, structure, and purpose of the

Federal Reserve as well as to show this institution from the perspective of one of its

fiercest critics, Dr Ron Paul. This paper will attempt to demonstrate that there is more to

the Federal Reserve than meets the eye.

The creation of the Federal Reserve is almost as complex as the creation of the

United States of America. The monetary system of the colonies and later the States went

through so many different changes at many different times that it is beyond the historical

description and background of the Federal Reserve to list all of its stages in this work.

The most significant point leading up to the creation of the Reserve is poignant. Before

discussing that point it is important to review the new information gleaned from the tour

at the Federal Reserve Bank pertaining to the nature of currency. A deeper look at

previous human societies is necessary to understand the birth of the Federal Reserve.


At the Federal Reserve Bank I encountered a beautiful exhibit that opens up a

window to our past and offers a timeline about the origins of barter, trade, and money.

The exhibit held the interest of everyone on the tour. In a series of sixteen glass enclosed

curio cabinets are artifacts, amulets, ancient coins, throwing knives, sketches, ancient

Chinese paper money and much more that all combine to paint a gorgeous picture of the

past.


The theme of the first piece is that of life before money. It shows a rabbit and a fish

and a container of salt and describes how our ancestors relied on bartering with each

other to obtain the necessities of life.


The timeline progresses and in the next case the audience member sees a hieroglyph

from Egypt depicting men and women herding cows. Also one can see an ancient

Chinese tea bag and read a description of how cows and tea were the major trading

products. Both cows and tea could be considered the world’s first universal systems of

currency.


As one continues through the exhibit one then sees relics of ancient arrowheads and

throwing knives. These objects were early and widely used forms of currency. Along

with images of cows, actual bags of tea, and authentic ancient weapons there are pieces

of silver, gold, and other elements which were shaped to look like animals. Eventually

those metals take the shape of coins.


Progressing through the exhibit one sees that from the use of coins comes the birth of

paper money. The birth of paper money changes everything because “merchants and

goldsmiths developed a system that used intangible money. For the first time goldsmiths

could accept deposits, transfer claims, and make loans without valuables ever leaving the

vault.” In this way commerce came to depend on bank notes and deposits.


In the final part of the exhibit the creators of the piece write about how several bank

panics and an unstable stock market , along with the need for a central banking system in

America all led to the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank.


The colonists in the Americas were using their own system of currency before it was

outlawed by King George III of England. Founding father Benjamin Franklin stated “The

refusal of King George III to allow the colonies to operate an honest money system

which freed the ordinary man from the clutches of the money manipulators was probably

the prime cause of the revolution.” The colonists were at the time forced to borrow

money from the central bank of England and therefore pay interest which led to the

accumulation of debt. The concept of a central banking system was so disturbing to the

early Americans because it was the source of dependency upon England. Money is only

acquired from this form of system through loans. Loans mean interest, interest means

debt, and debt equals slavery. The need for America’s own central bank had emerged by

this point though it would not be until 1913 that it was created.

What is controversial surrounding the creation of the Federal Reserve? One year before

WWI the Federal Reserve was created by Congress. It was done two days before

Christmas when most members of Congress were home with their families. The

proposition of its creation had created much apprehension among Americans at the time

and this national aversion to the creation of anything resembling a central bank (still a

reminder to people of the Central Bank of England) was well known and widely written

about at that time. The Reserve was created despite much opposition from the common

people as well as from the commercial and industrial sectors. The legality of its creation

is even in question. According to former presidential candidate from Texas, Republican

Congressman Ron Paul, the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional and illegal. “Congress

created the federal reserve though it had no constitutional authority to do so.”

My visit to the Federal Reserve Bank coincided with my work as a volunteer at the

Latin American Association. The Federal Reserve Bank was chosen as the location for

the Latin American Association’s annual awards ceremony for individual and corporate

volunteers. I was one of several hundred people at the Reserve that night and I took my

tour along with other volunteers before enjoying a light meal and a live Peruvian band.

(This was much more than the ordinary tour and I felt lucky to be a part of it.) We had

dessert in one of the beautiful banquet rooms while the ceremony took place. This is

important to mention because during this time I watched a power point presentation given

by one(edit name) about the Federal Reserve which contained what I thought of as gold

nuggets of information.


For example the Federal Reserve Branch in Miami, Florida monitors the financial

condition and economic states of Foreign Bank Offices throughout Latin America. They

monitor the conditions of these entire economies in each Latin American country. They

do this so that they “can know what’s going on down there” and to make predictions

about how and when economic changes will occur in these markets.


The need for understanding the world wide economy makes sense for any business so

what the Federal Reserve Bank is doing goes beyond the mere tracking of markets. The

Federal Reserve Bank in Miami performs the duty of receiving money from and filling

financial orders for financial institutions throughout Latin America.


The Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever

been inside of. The building itself is marble and gives one the feeling of being inside of

some Classical period masterpiece. The security and all of the police officers prevent one

from forgetting that one is indeed inside of a bank.

On the way to the minting press I passed by an old money printing machine. It had a

sign attached saying “in 1899 a new green ink was introduced and used to print the backs

of the US dollar.” This was done to prevent counterfeiting and is how the US dollar came

to receive the name “greenback.”


The back room of the basement of the building has a huge glass wall where visitors

can look on and see the employees of the Reserve Bank working diligently to print

money. One man has the job of feeding torn, faded and broken bills into a machine which

then shreds the old bills and sends the spray of shredded paper through a glass tube that

goes into the room for the visitors to see up close.

When walking through the building and marveling at the beauty of it I found it difficult

to wrap my mind around the possibility of such a massive and government contracted

institution being the source of such controversy. I saw a man in a suit leaving for the day .

He smiled at the security guard I was talking with and they both said to have a good night

to each other. It was such a normal everyday interaction, but the architecture of the

building and the interior decorating inside of it framed and surrounded the casual

exchange with an heir of aristocracy. How could this be a place that was illegally

created? Could they really be printing money out of thin air not being on the gold

standard? Why would an illegally created body have not just the backing of the US

government, but also its protection?



So what is the Federal Reserve and how is it structured? Today there is a board of

governors in Washington, DC which is the leadership of the system. It consists of seven

governors which serve fourteen year terms. The chairman and vice chairman serve four

year terms and may be reappointed. The most important responsibility of the board is to

participate in the Federal Open Market Committee which conducts our

nation’s monetary policy. There are twelve banks and twenty five branches which make

up the system. Approximately thirty eight percent of all commercial banks are members.

National banks must be members and member banks are required to hold three percent of

their capital as stock in their reserve banks. FOMC is the monetary policy making body.

They meet eight times a year in Washington.


The function and structure of this body seem quite logical and necessary when

looked at today. But is there something other than its questionable creation from

American history that paints this body in a less than formidable light? The Federal

Reserve played a major role in the year 1933 when it removed all American currency

from being backed by gold bouillon. Before the year 1933 the US dollar used to read that

it was redeemable in gold. This move alone was the cause for huge criticism to be

heaped upon the Federal Reserve from the rest of the world.


In his book Gold and Economic Freedom, written before his time working at the

Reserve, Alan Greenspan wrote “In the absence of the gold standard there is no way to

protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value…

(gold) stands as a protector of property rights. “


If Dr. Ron Paul is correct in that the creation of this institution is illegal then what

might that imply? What would be the ramifications if it could be proven? The reserve has

more control over the economy of America than any other body, institution or individual.

If Greenspan is also correct, that without gold backing the dollar is unprotected and

vulnerable, then the Federal Reserve is responsible for putting the savings of every single

American as well as the entire American economy at risk. In juxtaposing the ideas of

these two great thinkers a less than favorable light is cast upon the most important

economic institution of this great nation.


The visit I took to the Federal Reserve provided me with a unique and very thought

provoking experience. Although I have learned an extraordinary amount of information

I can only say for sure that my experience at the Federal Reserve makes this institution

even more enigmatic.



It is a government institution and yet it is also a bank with a board of directors. Is the

government really meant to be in the private banking business when the government is a

democratic republic? It is an American bank charged with the responsibility of printing

money and overseeing the American economy , yet it has Foreign Bank Offices all over

Latin America where it ultimately is receiving money from and filling financial orders for

foreign countries. In other words it is an international bank. It is a nonprofit organization,

yet it “competes against all other public and private profit-based banks for the job of

being the central bank of America and the money minting agency.” There is no other

organization to my knowledge that competes for a federal contract against public
competitors when it is already a federal entity. It would be like the post office competing

with other free market businesses for the job of delivering the mail when it is already a

federal agency designed to do just that. The Federal Reserve gets my vote as having a

most ambiguous nature


All of my research from this paper has led me to a single conclusion. The Federal

Reserve was created in 1913 to put an end to the bank runs, to stabilize the American

economy, and to serve as a central bank for the country. This means it was created to

save the American economy. This is the only purpose it was meant to serve and

considering the current value of the American dollar my conclusion is that the Federal

Reserve has failed in its only responsibility. The reason behind the collapse of the US

dollar was its removal from the gold standard. This is my opinion but it is based on Alan

Greenspan’s philosophy about money having no value without it being backed by gold.

This I have cited earlier in this work. The dollar has little value because of the removal

of the US dollar from the gold standard. Since this was done by the Federal Reserve I can

only conclude that the Federal Reserve is responsible for the collapse of the American

dollar. There is, in fact, more to the Federal Reserve than meets the eye.












.


Exhibit on The Origins of Barter, Trade, and Money

Benjamin Franklin quote from his newspaper “The Universal Instructor in All Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette”

Dr. Ron Paul quote from 2/17/07 on C-SPAN. Dr. Paul from committee floor House Financial Services Committee

Power Point presentation on the Federal Reserve given by Kim Faison at the Latin American Association Volunteer Award Ceremony

Sign attached to an antique printing press on display at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Ga.

Information on Federal Reserve infrastructure comes from www.federalreserve.com

Alan Greenspan quote from his book Gold and Economic Freedom published 1967

I forgot to put the numbers in for the sources. Sorry. All sources are listed at the end though. The name of the woman giving the power point presentation is not listed with her actual name. Her presentation was given in a private setting and I don't feel it's fair to make her name public. Quasi-public anyway.

So after all that research you came up with the same answer as everybody else.
Well by now it should be obvious, we need to get that gold back!

Thanks for your hard work and research, I am guessing you didn't get any pictures.

reply to post by 12.21.12


They said no cameras and no cell phones either!

Thanks for all the time you all spent reading this thread, everyone. It means a lot. I'm quite positive everyone of you already knew every last piece of information that I put together here on this thread. Next time I make a thread it will be to tell you all that I'm a freaking alien. It's the only way to get you sheople to read anything. Go back to your ostrich holes. Oh wait, most of you never took your heads out in the first place.