Predict the Future - Industry in 2020

[JohnDoe]

So where are the statements that the Federal Reserve is a private institution coming from? Is it something Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck stated on their shows recently? Who did the research before making these statements?

The federal reserve is often called a quasi-governmental agency. It has a public purpose, but it also has a private corporation aspect to it. That is an almost verbatim statement from the fed. reserves own website. It is not a branch of the government as is, say, the supreme court.

Certain member entities are "shareholders" in the federal reserve. As shareholders, they get to elect 6 out of the 9 positions on the federal reserve's Board of Directors. 6 out of 9 positions. In other words, a controlling majority.

Who are these members you ask? Private banks. Member banks which include: Jp morgan, citibank, AIG, goldman sachs.......Starting to see the picture here? Which banks received bailouts from the "government".....??

None of this information is "tinfoil" in nature. You can verify all of it yourself. If you do start to really dig into it you will be suprised IMHO, and not in a good way, when you find who really is controlling monetary policy in this country. Fox guarding the hen house comes to mind.

 

[Flybywire44]

Really interesting videos...Do you have more links??

Google/YouTube Alex Jones and Congressman Dennis Kucinich...

Check out www.infowars.com.

 

[NEDude]

The federal reserve is often called a quasi-governmental agency. It has a public purpose, but it also has a private corporation aspect to it. That is an almost verbatim statement from the fed. reserves own website. It is not a branch of the government as is, say, the supreme court.

Certain member entities are "shareholders" in the federal reserve. As shareholders, they get to elect 6 out of the 9 positions on the federal reserve's Board of Directors. 6 out of 9 positions. In other words, a controlling majority.

Who are these members you ask? Private banks. Member banks which include: Jp morgan, citibank, AIG, goldman sachs.......Starting to see the picture here? Which banks received bailouts from the "government".....??

None of this information is "tinfoil" in nature. You can verify all of it yourself. If you do start to really dig into it you will be suprised IMHO, and not in a good way, when you find who really is controlling monetary policy in this country. Fox guarding the hen house comes to mind.

What you are referring to is the structure of the 12 individual reserve banks, not the central Federal Reserve system.

According to the Federal Reserves own website, the fed is run by the seven members of the board of governors, which are all appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and must make an annual report to the speaker of the House. However they are independent in that they do not require Presidental or Congressional approval to act.

The cost and availability of money and credit is controlled Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC) which is a 12 member board consisting the seven members of the board of governors and five of the reserve bank presidents. So publicly appointed and confirmed representatives will always have at least a 7-5 majority when it comes dictating monetary policy in the USA.

In summary, the Federal Reserve System is owned by the Federal Government and is run by a board of governors made up of 7 Presidential appointed, Senate confirmed, individuals. Under their direction are 12 Federal Reserve Banks, of which shareholders include private banks within each district. Those 12 banks each has a board of directors who appoint a bank president. Five of the bank presidents serve along with the 7 members of the board of governors to control monetary policy in the Unted States.

So to state that the Federal Reserve is a "Private Institution" as I have heard from many people recently (mostly in conversation - not on this site) is at best an inaccurate simplification of the truth.

As to the benefits/drawbacks of the system setup, I am not going to discuss. My point was to discuss the actual structure of the Federal Reserve System and how it is controlled.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/frseries/frseri.htm

 

[JohnDoe]

NEdude: you are correct.

The Federal Open Market Committe (part of the fed) is the primary entity for determining montetary policy in the country.

5 of the 12 voting members of the FOMC are presidents of the reserve banks. Those presidents are elected by the boards of directors. Those boards of directors are elected by the member (private) banks. The other seven presidents of the reserve banks are on the FOMC, they just don't have a vote. But do you really think they don't have influence on the outcomes?

You also touched on another important point regarding the board of governors:

However they are independent in that they do not require Presidental or Congressional approval to act.

Combine that statement along with the former employers/backgrounds of some of the board of governors (goldman sachs anyone?), combined with the election process for the voting presidents....etc, I stand by my "fox watching the hen house" statement.

With regards to them being a "private corporation:" I agree corporation is a little strong. However, the fed's own website states:

"Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects." (emphasis mine)

There have been efforts made lately by some lawmakers to "audit the Fed." Most likely with very good reasons to do so.

 

[NEDude]

NEdude: you are correct.

The Federal Open Market Committe (part of the fed) is the primary entity for determining montetary policy in the country.

5 of the 12 voting members of the FOMC are presidents of the reserve banks. Those presidents are elected by the boards of directors. Those boards of directors are elected by the member (private) banks. The other seven presidents of the reserve banks are on the FOMC, they just don't have a vote. But do you really think they don't have influence on the outcomes?

You also touched on another important point regarding the board of governors:



Combine that statement along with the former employers/backgrounds of some of the board of governors (goldman sachs anyone?), combined with the election process for the voting presidents....etc, I stand by my "fox watching the hen house" statement.

With regards to them being a "private corporation:" I agree corporation is a little strong. However, the fed's own website states:

"Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects." (emphasis mine)

There have been efforts made lately by some lawmakers to "audit the Fed." Most likely with very good reasons to do so.

I understand perfectly that the fed does have private aspects, and as I stated earlier, I do not intend to discuss the merits of the system - my impression is our beliefs would be similar on that matter. My point was that I have heard numerous statements lately that the Fed is a private institution, or that it is not owned by the government/privately owned and that by all research those statements are at best inaccurate, misleading generalizations of the of how the federal reserve system is organized and operated.