Federal Reserve

These are the guys who control the monetary supply of the country. The Federal Reserve Bank, a public-private organization, is one of the most important, powerful institutions not only in this country, but in the world. Entire markets are shaped by their actions. The basic idea behind the FED's regulation of the money supply is to keep the economy as healthy as possible by limiting inflation on the one hand and preventing recessions on the other. They contract and expand the money supply accordingly, theoretically tightening when there is too buying and inflation and loosening when credit goes slack and the lack of lending and business stimulation threatens recession. The FED gets its pseudo-religious aura from its ability to create money out of thin air, or to contract the money supply as it sees fit. In the days of ancient Egypt, the religious authorities were actually the same ones who controlled the graineries, which was the currency back in those days. Today, the Federal R... Read more