End the Fed

End the Fed is a 2009 book by Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. The book debuted at number six on the New York Times Best Seller list^[1] and advocates the abolition of the United States Federal Reserve Bank.^[2]

Summary

Paul argues that "in the post-meltdown world, it is irresponsible, ineffective, and ultimately useless to have a serious economic debate without considering and challenging the role of the Federal Reserve."

In End the Fed, Paul draws on American history, economics, and anecdotes from his own political life to argue that the Fed is both corrupt and unconstitutional. He states that it is inflating currency today at nearly a Weimar or Zimbabwe level, which Paul asserts is a practice that threatens to put the United States into an inflationary depression where $100 bills are worthless. A major theme throughout the work also revolves around the idea of inflation as a hidden tax making warfare much easier to wage. He further maintains that most people are not aware that the Fed — created by the Morgans and Rockefellers at a private club off the coast of Georgia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jekyll_Island#Planning_of_the_Federal_Reserve_System — is actually working against their own personal interests.

Paul also draws on the historical links between the creation of central banks and war, explaining how inflation and devaluations have been used as war financing tools in the past by many governments from monarchies to democracies.

Critical reception

Charles Scaliger of The New American called the book a "must read."^[3] After an interview with Ron Paul about the book, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show called it "thought provoking" and "clearly from the heart."^[4]

James Pressley, writing for Bloomberg, took a critical view of the book's content, saying Paul was "right, yet draws the wrong conclusions."^[5]

References