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 Very informative but too detailed February 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
An informative and entertaining book. It explains how the the Federal Reseve operates and control the money supply; but this information is mingled with the events of the the 1980's. My main motivation for reading this book was to acquire this knowledge. It was very interesting to learn what happened behind the scenes in the White House as it struggled with
the 1980's recession. The book, however, gives too many examples of how
people reacted, essentialy repeating the same message. This book could
have been half as long without losing any of its value.
How the Fed ruins the Country February 5, 2008
The Wall Street collapse in October 1987 was an unusual event. This book explains the political struggles that led to this financial crisis and how the Federal Reserve controlled our economy. Since 1912 the activities of the Federal Reserve have generally been kept secret from the people by the policies of the corporate media. People can't judge or complain about things that are unknown to them. Greider said Paul Volcker, the Fed chairman, controlled our economy through the Reagan era with tight money and high interest rates. Does the Federal Reserve Act turn over Constitutional powers to a private bank so they enrich themselves and disadvantage the people? I think the answer is "Yes". These facts are mostly censored from the censored from the history taught in schools. Corporations have vast influence on the universities and colleges in this country.
The income and payroll taxes withheld from your weekly paycheck do not go directly to the government. They are deposited in a Federal Reserve bank, and then loaned to the Federal government at interest. Every 3 months this money is turned over to the Federal government. The paper dollars (Federal Reserve Notes) are borrowed by the Federal government at interest. JFK ordered the issuance of Treasury Notes in 1963 to cut this cost of interest. After he was removed from office this policy was stopped. If this is all news to you, just where are you getting your information?
Greider points out that 19th century Americans fully understood the politics of money (p.246). Modern Americans are more ignorant ("dumbing down"). The gold standard of the 1880s was a policy to extort money from the people who had to pay paper money debts with over-valued gold (p.247). The gold standard did not guarantee stable prices. Cycles of price inflation and deflation were part of world commerce, whether the currency was gold, silver, or copper (p.248). The current problems with an unstable money supply go back to Renaissance times (p.249). Capitalism requires instability. A period of inflation to stimulate growth and wealth followed by deflation to consolidate this created wealth (p.249). No popularly elected government can have a stable price system since that leads to economic stagnation (p.250). Usurious lending was a means to expropriate land from small farmers (p.251). Chapter 8 provides a history of America you won't learn about in school books.
This 800 page book contains many other interesting facts and history in explaining the Federal Reserve. Since WW I the activities of the Fed were followed by the destruction of small and mid-size businesses. Around 1950 most small businesses in a town were locally owned and operated. Since then they are mostly chains of a large corporation or a franchised agent. Profits are taken by the few from the many. More people are wage-earners than owners of their own business.
 Tom Potts Review is simply erroneous about the ownership questions January 5, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Tom Potts of Ottowa chose to review this book, and he erroneously comments that:
"The Federal Reserve is a 100% privately owned corporation, carefully set up to appear as though it is an arm of government. It was created solely for the benefit of it's shareholders, a significant proportion of which are foreign. Greider could have mentioned this extremely important fact at the outset. Instead he deliberately helps perpetuate the myth that "The Fed" is public."
That short paragraph is simply not correct. Please understand that as a libertarian, I have no reason nor any desire to favor the Fed. But, I do favor getting the facts straight, and, in just the snippet quoted above, Mr. Potts' has more than one or two facts incorrect.
The 12 Federal Reserve banks, facially organized like a private corporation, do indeed issue shares of stock to "member banks." But owning such stock is NOT like owning stock in a private corporation. To start with, member banks have no choice - they must both "own stock" and they also must have reserves on deposit with the Federal Reserve Banks. Yet their "stock" can't be bought, sold or pledged as security and memeber banks get no interest for the funds must they must have held in reserve by their Federal Reserve bank. And, the dividends paid are limited to, at most 6%, which is supposedly partial compensation for the fact that no interest is paid on the amount the member banks are required to have on reserve. And, if you review the weekly statement or balance sheet the Fed issues, you'll see the "total capital" which, you might say represents the Fed's "profit." The Fed's excess capital is then paid over to the U.S. treasuery.
So, to say that the Federal Reserve was created solely for the "benefit of is shareholders" misstates the situation.
 The Hobo Philosopher September 2, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"Secrets of the Temple" is a book that discusses the interaction of the Federal Reserve and Government economic policy. This book is basically a detailed analysis of the Reagan administration and the Volcker chairmanship of the Reserve.
Once again Mr. Greider teaches us how the "clock" works by taking us on an intimate tour through the internal mechanisms of the "clock". This is the hands on approach to learning. I like it. Mr. Greider takes us on a tour of the factory - from assembly to design and through sales and advertising.
This book is nearly 800 pages long. It's a bargain. If I had any negative criticism it would be that it contains too much information. But that seems to be Mr. Greider's style - no one is going to accuse him of not "doing his homework". This book is not a "read"; it is a "study".
 An Extremely Liberal Critique of the Fed August 5, 2007
5 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book is NOT an impartial, journalistic account of the way the Federal Reserve works. From the beginning Greider writes with a liberal agenda and it shows. It's amazing that he apparently does understand the basic precepts of economics, but chooses to ignore their implications with regard to policy making. Instead of seeing the logical reasons behind policy decisions, he immediately leaps to the conspiracy theory explanation for why the Fed has failed to enact the ultra-liberal polcy he prefers.
This book is 717 pages long -- about 400 of those pages are Greider's editorials on the Fed. When he does talk about the actual players in the story and uses quotes from the interviews, the book is pretty good. However, too much of the book is focused on Greider's opinions and not enough on representing the viewpoints of the Chairman, the main character in the story. I feel that had Greider included more quotes from Volker, that it would have completely destroyed his argument.
Please don't make this the first book you read about the Federal Reserve -- read something that gives you both sides of the issues of monetary policy. Once you understand the basics of central banking, you'll be able to sort out the useful, factual reporting from the useless editorials. The facts are worth having, just be prepared to read through a lot of fluff to get to it.
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