Liberty Maven

Thomas Woods, author of the new book Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse, has written a great piece at The American Conservative in which he discusses how it’s becoming more and more popular to dis the U.S. Federal Reserve. Starting with Ron Paul’s 2008 Presidential campaign and moving through blasts against the Fed by the likes of Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers, James Grant, “Mish” Shedlock, John Hussman he discusses the disastrous Keynesian policies the Fed has employed thus far.

The way Ron Paul tells it, his more than 30 years of speaking and writing about money, inflation, and the Federal Reserve System attracted only limited interest outside libertarian and constitutionalist circles. The subject, and Paul as its spokesman, were scarcely to be found in the media, even—or perhaps especially—on the business networks.

But Paul’s 2008 presidential bid changed that. Suddenly the Fed was on the table for discussion for the first time since Congress established it in 1913. With Paul making the evils of central banking and fiat money a theme of his campaign, the issue took on a vigor that few expected. Even calling for the Fed’s outright abolition was longer unheard of on the television news networks. [Continue article]