The authors of this descriptive article are academic heavy-hitters so I'm not about to challenge the information. However, one is left with the impression from the last paragraph that the Federal Reserve is part of the US government. . . as they interchanged "Federal Reserve" and "government".

It would be a considerable service to your readers to let them know that the Federal Reserve is simply a private enterprise that has nothing to back up the billions of "dollars" it creates except printing presses and ink, and that the whole process only weakens the fiat US dollar in the eyes of the financial world.

We are not mushrooms.

What does it say that is noteworthy?

The Federal Reserve is a part of the US government. It is just not part of the administration although the President has the power to appoint/remove the board members. Ronald Reagan did that when he refused to renominate Paul Volker and instead named Alan Greenspan.

But I agree that we are not mushrooms, whatever that means. Perhaps it is just me and this statement has justified the checkmark.

the FRB, like the FDIC are quasi governmental agencies, meaning that they operate under the auspices of the federal goverment. they are supposed to be immune to politial pressure, which is why the terms for the chairman and directors overlap presidential administrative terms. (This is not to say that they are not swayed by the wishes of any particular president, just that their job does not depend on the good will of the administration.

The Federal Reserve is a merger of state and corporate power.

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Perhaps it was the reference to this long standing controversy that triggered the checkmark.

That's why the post gets a checkmark; duh, where have you been? The Federal Reserve is 100% stock owned; no different than any other public sector corporation... so the board of directors gets a rubber stamp from the US president; it is not any different than any other board of directors... it is not government; government just gave up money creation to the banks and that's exactly why the dollar is over inflated, the top post nailed it.

As a layperson, the issue seems quite complex. But with a bit of reserach, one might conclude that, by its recent actions, the Fed is straying from its charter by propping up the housing market. Apparently some restrictions in the Fed's guidelines were relaxed in preparation for the expected Y2K calamity (which never materialized), and now they are being further relaxed to allow the Fed more latitude. It smaks of a defacto government entity undully influencing the market. Might we call this statist scope creep?

Ataraxia:

The authors of this descriptive article are academic heavy-hitters so I'm not about to challenge the information. However, one is left with the impression from the last paragraph that the Federal Reserve is part of the US government. . . as they interchanged "Federal Reserve" and "government".

It would be a considerable service to your readers to let them know that the Federal Reserve is simply a private enterprise that has nothing to back up the billions of "dollars" it creates except printing presses and ink, and that the whole process only weakens the fiat US dollar in the eyes of the financial world.

We are not mushrooms.

The Federal Reserve Bank is in no way part of the Government. When people call it "quasi-governmental" what they should really say is that it holds the government's reins by controlling the money supply. It does not provide and account of its affairs to the public or the government. The president may appoint the chief but it is a selection made from a list provided by the governors of the board. Their meetings are closed and not subject to public or governmental review. They are a FOR PROFIT cartel and their profit comes from lending money to the government AT INTEREST and you and I are the ones burdened with paying that interest with our income taxes. The Fed is a corrupt banking extortion scheme in the tradition of the Bank of England (also a private, for-profit central bank) and the Rothschild dynasty.

DallasNE:

What does it say that is noteworthy?

The Federal Reserve is a part of the US government. It is just not part of the administration although the President has the power to appoint/remove the board members. Ronald Reagan did that when he refused to renominate Paul Volker and instead named Alan Greenspan.

But I agree that we are not mushrooms, whatever that means. Perhaps it is just me and this statement has justified the checkmark.