Money, Where it Comes From, and The Federal Reserve System

Over the last year or so I've been reading about money. For about 10 years I've wondered how the whole system works, and now I pretty much know. I also see that the system, legal or not (some people think the system is unconstitutional), is not designed for the common good.

First, two video links:

Money as Debt (45 mins).

The Money Masters (3 hours 35 mins).

"Money as Debt" is a quick and fairly concise pieces that covers where money comes from, an overview of how the current system came about, and an explanation of why the historic practice of fractional reserve lending is critically flawed.

The Money Masters is a much longer historical documentary that examines the causes of many familiar conflicts from American and European history (ranging from before the American Revolution to WWI and WWII and on to today) from the perspective of the struggle of banks and governments to maintain control of the money supply.

Money as Debt lays out the problem and suggests a possible solution. The Money Masters provides substantial depth to the story of how we got where we are and who many of the key players were. I recommend watching them in the order listed.

Here is a short recap.

First, and importantly, money is a commodity. It is an item that can be traded for other items. One who controls the supply of a commodity controls it's price. The same goes for money, if one can control how much money there is and who gets to buy it, then one has immense economic and political power.

Money, in almost all countries, is currently 'debt based'. That is, to create money, one must create debt. This is the effect of the fractional reserve system. When a bank receives a deposit, it may lend out many times the amount of the deposit in loans. These loans are new money created by the bank based on a debt. As the debt is repaid, the money created by that debt is destroyed, unless new debt is created to replace what is repaid.

When the quantity of money is reduced, we have recession or depression. When it is increased, we have an economic boom because people have access to the cash necessary to conduct their business.

Debt creates a pool of money in the economy. Because the total interest on the total debt is always larger than the pool of money, new debt must always be created or the total quantity of money must decrease, creating recession, depression, and the inability for existing debt to be paid. If all debt was repaid, there would be no money.

As the difference between the quantity of debt and money increases, as it must, the rate of increase must increase. Increasing quantities of money and productivity allow increased rates of consumption. They also encourage waste, as efficiency is not as profitable as production (without legislated costs, such as carbon caps). Eventually some limit must be encountered. Whatever is produced must be consumed, a process that can be thought of as a machine for turning natural resources into garbage. If wide-scale recycling of materials is instituted to increase the efficiency of use of natural resources the machine becomes a method for converting high-grade energy (such as fossil fuels) into low-grade energy (heat, mostly).

There are environmental impacts, global climate change, pollution, exponentially increasing human population, and etc. If we had fully renewable energy sources we would be able to extract resources without fear of system collapse as a result of energy source depletion. Thus our consumer culture could continue. If we did not have fully renewable energy before we depleted our energy sources (for the record, that is coal, oil and natural gas, generally, 'fossil fuel') we would release massive quantities of CO2, have epic wars over dwindling energy resources, then, possibly, experience massive economic and social collapse as the price of providing the energy to move our infrastructure exceeded our ability to produce.

The government does not have the ability to control the supply of money in the United States. The private banking corporation called the Federal Reserve controls the money. It's board is appointed by the President, but wields the power to wreak economic havoc, and so has the ability to dictate who the President will nominate for it's board.

Clearly, this is a bad situation that makes it difficult for the government to do the right things. Only one Presidential candidate recognizes this. He ran previously as a Libertarian, but recognizes that it is impossible for a third party to win an election. So now he's running as a Republican. He isn't perfect, but he's far and away better than the rest. Support Ron Paul and the abolition of fractional reserve banking, individual income taxes and banker control of the money issued by the US government.

Or, if you don't like Ron Paul or can't be bothered to get out and make something happen, just quit consuming. Consume the minimum you need in order to ensure that you are fed, warm, and able to enjoy the company of friends and family.