OK, I accept that, but I wouldn't say that puts the Fed in the same category as private corporations. Or even in the same category as the Red Cross. The government still appoints and approves the majority of the Fed governors, and still maintains strict oversight with frequent congressional testimony.
how come the president cant attend any meeting that he wants too? Also, check out how the fed actually was passed by congress....christmas break...small group of congressman....in all honesty, to truly understand the situation you need to read a book titled “The Creature from Jekyll Island” really fascinating and full of information and what could be called prophecy....read the chapter about saddam and what would happen if we tried to get rid of him....it was dead on
Yes, and since these governors are then employees of the Fed and are almost impossible to remove once appointed, what does this mean with respect to *ownership*? The Fed is normally responsive to the political atmosphere, but it is disconnected from it by structure. This is called an “independent” central bank, as compared to a central bank full of political hacks which is what happened to various previous US government central banks.
Even so, the only real leverage that the President has on the Fed is to get Congress to change the law. To even touch on that threat touches political forces that go to the heart and core of power-oriented politicians, which is to say, almost every one of them.
The US Government does not hold any shares in the corporation, and never has. Indeed, when Roosevelt under Presidential Executive Order number 6102, confiscated all privately held Gold in the United States on April 5, 1933, he directed citizens to “exchange” their all their gold for Federal Reserve Notes. To whom did the financial benefit accrue? Only to the shareholders of the Federal Reserve corporation (the national banks) because the Federal Reserve was able to print money to pay for it.
This was not an inconsequential amount of gold. The Fort Knox Bullion Depository was constructed to provide the necessary storage for the flood of gold that was smelted into bar form.
Some followers of the history of fiat money/central banking in the United States call this forced liquidation a de-facto bankruptcy. With the addition of the outlawing of the “gold clause” in contracts, this forced citizens to only use Federal Reserve money as tender in their business transactions. Today with electronic money, in truth, all forms of dollars reside in sub-accounts of the Federal Reserve, meaning that the Federal Reserve owns all money in the US.
If you think that you own, in the full legal meaning of the word, the Federal Reserve Notes that are in your wallet, just change one of them, say by putting Alfred E. Newman’s drawing over Lincoln’s face, and then take it down to your local bank to deposit.
If you own your car, you can paint it any color you want. It is a felony to do the same with US currency, even if you don’t change the face value or attempt to defraud anyone.
See: “Feds Call Silver Surfer Quarters Illegal” at: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/news/articles/3647.asp