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"Only such a plan as ours will return, or rather advance, the economy to a truly free market and noninflationary money, where the monetary unit is solidly tied to the weight of a commodity produced on the free market. Only such a plan will totally separate money from the pernicious and inflationary domination of the State."

- Murray Rothbard (The Mystery of Banking)

The Monetary Current would like to thank our latest contributors:

Peter Schiff
D.W. MacKenzie PhD
John Browne
Mike Hewitt
David Zemens
Jeff Harding
The Mogambo Guru
Mario Rizzo
Robert Higgs
Chidem Kurdas
Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
Robert P. Murphy
Rob Ryley
Ron Paul
Paco Ahlgren
Ron Robins

Trivia

Who is the Governor of the Bank of Canada? He is the youngest of any central bank governor within the G8 nations.

[ Answer? ] Mark Carney

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The Demise of the Dollar

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency...

Fed Bought $23.025 Bln Net in Agency MBS in Latest Week

NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve bought $23.025 billion net of agency mortgage-backed securities in the latest week, the New York Fed said on its website on Thursday.

Taiwan Central Bank Said to Urge Cuts in Dollar Bets

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan’s central bank urged lenders to reduce their bets against the U.S. dollar after the island’s currency reached a three-month high, according to traders at foreign banks.

Brazil Bank Sees Faster Inflation as Economy Recovers

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s central bank forecasts faster inflation in Latin America’s biggest economy over the next two years, prompting traders to bet the benchmark interest rate may be raised as early as January.

Ambac, BofA, German Central Bank Add to Lehman Claims

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ambac Financial Group (ABK.N), Bank of America (BAC.N) and Germany's central bank are among new entities claiming assets against Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ.PK) after banks and investors worldwide took losses to the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Colombia Central Bank May Keep Overnight Rate at 4.5 Percent

Fed, Treasury to Scale Back Emergency Programs as Crisis Eases

US Dollar Plunges To 7-month Low Against Japanese Yen

Peru’s Central Bank Keeps Benchmark Rate at Record Low 1.25%

Russia Central Bank Could Cut by 100 Basis Points This Year

Brazil Central Bank Calls Auction to Buy Dollars

China’s Recovery Strengthens With Gains in Production, Sales

Nigeria's GT Bank Plans $1.3 Bln Debt Issue

Kenya Commercial Lending Rates to Fall: Central Bank

Five More U.S. Banks Are Shut Down, Bringing 2009 Tally to 69

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Commentaries

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Lousy Jobs, In Such Small Portions

Two dissatisfied customers comment about a restaurant. One says, "The food here is terrible." The other replies, "I know, and such small portions!" In many ways, they could be describing our current employment picture. Not only are the portions shrinking, but the jobs themselves are steadily losing quality....

Has The Recovery and Reinvestment Act Worked?

The recession that began in 2008 has ended. Third quarter Gross Domestic Product rose at an annual rate of 3.5%. While there is little reason to doubt that recovery is under way, doubt remains regarding the causes of this recovery. Many reporters now claim that the results of third quarter GDP derive...

Boasting of Glory

Last week, to the delight of its media cheerleaders, the government announced that economic growth had returned and the recession had ended. But before we start celebrating one quarter of modest growth, we should realize the only force driving this apparent recovery is an enormous increase in government...

Yuan to Swap?

On March 23, 2009, China made public announcements to overhaul the global monetary system, thereby questioning the role of the US dollar as the reserve currency.1 Chinese officials have gone on record saying they want to move the global currency peg away from the dollar in favour of currency diversification...

Hair of the Dog

The GDP numbers out yesterday, which showed economic growth at 3.5% in the third quarter, brought a deafening chorus from public and private economists who all agreed that the recession is officially over. With such a strong report, they are happy to tell us that not only has the Fat Lady finished her...

Inflation by Stealth

Economic Optimism: Reading Between The Lines

Dollar Forced to Abdicate

Media Litmus Test

When Is a Recovery Not a Recovery?

The Currency Cabal

The Price of Pretense in Pittsburgh

The United States of America vs. Andrew Hall

Trade Battle Explained

Lehman Brothers Revisited

The Time To End The Fed Is Now PDF  | Print |
Written by Robert Fredericks   

Most people know very little about the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. Throughout their schooling years they have heard next to nothing about this institution. Beyond the touting of simplistic general concepts, little exposure to the actual workings of the Federal Reserve is ever given the chance. It is told that the Federal Reserve is the lender of last resort, a safety net put in place to save the people from the dangers of unbridled capitalism, an institution created to maintain near full employment, and a protector of the nation’s money. But those familiar with the workings of the central bank know that this institution, and the whole banking system under it, is the real danger.

So here we are, nearly a century after the inception of the Fed, and everywhere you turn you can hear all sorts of chatter negatively directed toward the institution. No longer are those that shined such a dissenting light on central banking quickly discredited and ignored. Those sympathetic to a true free market find themselves less likely nowadays to be written off as conspiracy theorists, cranks, or contrarians…as if these are invalidating qualities anyway.

But why the sudden change of tone? Why now? Have the masses suddenly realized the destructive methods of the central bank? Is it all of a sudden apparent that the Federal Reserve is simply ripping the people off?

Some claim that it is merely our current economic circumstances that have triggered us to question our rulers more than before, to finally investigate how the government affords to sustain the unsustainable, to realize that the American economy is nothing like a free market, and to even ponder the existence of the Federal Reserve?

The crisis most certainly has much to do with sobering up the masses. But I am convinced that the only reason we can now productively discuss the imperious history, methodology, and necessity of the Federal Reserve is because of one man - Ron Paul.

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