*”Paul makes it clear that the Fed isn’t the whole problem. It’s just one part of a system that first went wrong with the introduction of fractional reserve banking centuries ago (banks used to be warehouses, storing depositors’ money for a fee), followed by the spread of European central banks (really just scams to allow a few elite bankers and politicians to expand their own power at the expense of everyone else) and then, finally, the introduction of fiat currency, which freed governments to expand spending and borrowing without regard to, well, anything. The problem, in short, is the whole of modern banking and finance.
*The middle part of the book features transcripts of Congressman Paul grilling Fed chairmen Greenspan and Bernanke. Some of these transcripts date back to the early Reagan era, which means that for going on three decades Paul has been fighting this fight, and slamming into the same brick wall. The Chairmen feel no need to explain themselves to a lowly congressman, and respond with a mixture of lies and obfuscation that apparently fooled most of Washington. The generally-respectful Paul even refers to Greenspan as “pathetic” after one especially dishonest piece of testimony. Less charitable readers will, by the end of this section, want to take a congressional microphone and beat Greenspan and Bernanke senseless.
*Fractional reserve banking and fiat currency make war easier. Back when a ruler needed actual gold to field an army, invading a neighbor required some serious forethought. But once a dictator (or the world’s policeman) could just print a few billion pieces of paper and order some new tanks, “defending the national interest” got a whole lot easier. Hence the bloodbath of the 20th century, and perhaps the mess of the coming decade.
*Paul knows all the major sound money/Austrian economics classics, and he cites them liberally. The “recommended reading” list contains a year’s worth of serious research.
*Though he continues to fight, he’s not optimistic about averting the coming train wreck, which he refers to as the “BIG ONE”.