The Case Against the Fed
Author: Murray N. Rothbard
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ISBN: 094546617X
Publisher: Ludwig Von Mises Inst (June, 1994)
Sales Rank: 9,466
Average Customer Rating: 4.77 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
One Nation Under the Fed
Ever since the creation of the Federal Reserve Board ("the Fed"), the American economy has been subject to a cycle of boom and bust. Most recently, we saw a bubble in technology stocks in general and telecommunication stocks in particular, fueled by the creation of credit. But no one wants to blame the culprit -- the Fed. Why has an institution that was created allegedly to bring stability to the economy caused such havoc? Equally importantly, why is an institution that has so much power so unaccountable?Murray Rothbard (1926-1995) provides in this book an outstanding discussion of money, banking, the Fed, and U.S. monetary policy. As usual, Rothbard sees the "big picture." There was no need for a central bank, however the Banksters ' in combination with Big Business and Big Intellectuals -- pushed for the creation of the Fed. Rothbard's discussion of the battles between the Rockefellers and the House of Morgan is fascinating. (See his Wall Street, Banks and American Foreign Policy for a more elaborate discussion of this great "conspiracy" in U.S. history.)
The foundation for this work is Austrian economic theory. Through fractional reserve banking ' which is little more than legal counterfeiting ' banks are permitted to print new money, thus creating inflation. Yet the central insight of Austrian theory is that this creation of money doesn't simply increase prices, but distorts the cycle of production as it works its way through the economy. This creates the boom and bust cycles that have plagued our economy.
For a more detailed discussion of many of the issues raised in this book, the interested reader should consult Rothbard's The Mystery of Banking.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Rothbard Exposes Americas Greatest Counterfeiter: The Fed
Murray Rothbard once again cuts through the popular dogma and conventional knowledge which government would prefer we all simply take on faith. In this case, the subject is money and the creation of it. Rothbard, an exceptional economist, showcases his ability to set aside the technical jargon and higher mathematics of the profession in favor of language accessible to everyone. In "The Case Against the Fed," Professor Rothbard examines the roots of money, as a commodity with subjective value which, because of wide-spread acceptance and other desireable qualities, becomes a medium of exchange for a people. Furthermore, he exposes the government's, via the Federal Reserve, monopolization of money. Rothbard shows how the Fed uses the power of the printing press to tax the people via inflation, to redistribute income, and to artificailly lower the interest rate leading to the infamous "business cycle" and the roller coaster of depressions and booms which our eceonomy is regualraly subjected to. Anyone who is concerned about the purchasing power of their income and about the unemployment which the business cycle regularly brings should read this book. Professor Rothbard portrays the federal government as what it is: the self-proclaimed, legitimate counterfeiter
Rating: 3 out of 5
An opinion worth reading.
For the realtively uninitiated. These days, anything related to the Austrian school of economics is worth al least looking at. Rothbard is a bit extreme, proposing that un-backed credit creation is equivalent to counterfeiting. In my opinion there is a difference, since money supply based solely on credit can evaporate into bad debt write-offs if a credit bubble bursts, while money supply cannot evaporate if based on the issuance of counterfeit currency. Nevertheless, this is interesting material in a concise book with no fluff. If you're reading a dozen books on the Fed and money, this might as well be one of them. Similar Products
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The Dollar Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Cures
America's Great Depression
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