The Hamilton Post

Ron Paul’s latest book, End the Fed, is the culmination of his years of working to promote sound money. With the popularity of his presidential campaign coinciding with the predicted financial meltdown, the time is right for this book. With the government’s responding to the meltdown by bailing out failed institutions and putting citizens on the hook for mountains of debt, the solution is to cut them off at the source: creating money out of thin air. The topic of inflating a currency affects everybody, and this book is important for everyone to read in order to get an understanding of how the monetary system actually works.

It is an excellent book for those first being introduced to the Federal Reserve (Fed). Ron Paul’s literary style is accessible so that the topic of economics does not read like an economics textbook. He details the history of inflationary currencies and the political environment that allowed the Fed to come into existence. He also discusses how he became interested in money by learning the value of money in his youth. Later, he discovered the works of Austrian economists such as Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Murray Rothbard, who all had an impact on his economic philosophy. He also details the importance of using sound money such as gold to place an automatic restriction on governments and banking institutions.

Additionally, the book will not disappoint those already in favor of abolishing the Fed. Ron Paul provides examples for how to get out from under the Fed’s grasp on our economy. He also details philosophical, constitutional, economic, and libertarian arguments for ending the Fed.

Perhaps my favorite quote from the book is as follows:

Some of our political allies charge that the powerful elites who run things and are found repeatedly in the Fed, the Treasury, and the presidency, plan and purposely cause certain events like 9/11 and our current financial crisis. I don’t believe that. But I do believe that many members of the elite make the best they can out of certain events because they facilitate their efforts to achieve their goals. p. 120

I’m glad he addresses the conspiracy theorists who also support this cause. While he doesn’t go into detail on this matter, he does not need to. This book is about the real implications of the Federal Reserve and its policies, not conspiracy theories.

End the Fed is a fantastic book that I read the day I received it. After reading, pass it on to your friends and family to help spread the knowledge of the most important political issue we face today.