A few months ago, I was driving home and passing by the Boston Federal Reserve building and saw a huge protest against the Fed. Ever since my UMASS days I have always thought that protesters are usually...well, stupid. Okay, I'm not a "protest" guy. Not so much because I don't believe (hey, it's meaningful in Tehran), but more that the activity gets so watered down when people protest at the drop of a hat.
My first reaction the protestors, which included small childred with signs demanding "End the FED!" (you have to be an adult to even remotely understand the arcana of "the FED"), was that these people were moonbat, beatnick, nutjobs... I mean hey, someone has to clear our checks, and set interest rates....right? Right?
After reading Ron Paul's book, The Revolution, A Manifesto, I signed up for a Ron Paul mailing list somewhere, and the Congressman Paul's recomendation of this book is what turned me on to it. Well, I have to say that after reading Meltdown: A Free Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse, next time, I might be making my own sign and joinging the protest.
If you're a free market guy, or proclaim to be, this is a must read. It hits home. This book makes a whole hell of a lot of sense. The ENTIRE point of the belief in free markets is that individuals (in aggregate) will always make better decisions with their money and resources than a third party (e.g. government). As any economist will tell you, the "price" of anything is a piece of information. In order for free markets to work...prices must float and be determined by supply and demand. Allowing the market to work is what sets the right price for any product or service.
What this book does best, is explain the problem of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is essentially a central planning entity that sets the price of money. It's price controls. The Fed's price controls essentially screw up the free market by setting prices at the most basic level of a free market economy. "Fiat money," that is money that is controlled by a centrally planned entity (in this case the Federal Reserve board) drives the business boom/bust cycle that we experience in our economy. It also provides an irresistable, crack-cocaine-like opportunity for governments to devalue money by just printing more.
It's government's fault. Centrally planned money is subject to the whims, foibles, and just plain corrupt motives of a small set of people in our goverment (The Fed, plus the political pressure of Washington D.C.). The right solution, as this book also advocates, is "Commodity money." The United States should go to the Gold standard as fast as possible. Do not "pass Go," and we WILL collect "$200" in the form of stable money that will gain value over time.
"Hey, hey, ho, ho, the Federal Reserve has got to go!"
