[Note: I will speaking this Sunday, November 22nd in Philadelphia at the Constitution rEVOLution Tea Party event at City Hall and in front of the FED. Following the protest in the Independence Hall Visitor's Center I will give a talk entitled "END THE FED.... Then What? - The Transition to Sound Money." Details are here. My plank on the Federal Reserve can be read here.]
CARTEL – n. a combination of independent commercial or industrial enterprises designed to limit competition or fix prices (per Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary) (emblem)
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“Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But if you wish to remain the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits.“
- Josiah Stamp, President of the Bank of England in the 1920s
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[Note: This article is updated with more infomation and the March 2009 figures released from this February article in response to a couple press requests. The figures were calculated from the FED data here, using the same method described here.]
So, who owns the Federal Reserve? Well, it certainly is not the US government, as many would suppose. In fact, I have found that quite a few – including myself last year – who are roughly aware of how the FED works but believe that the owners of the FED is a secret. Well, it is not. The FED’s Purposes and Functions (page 21/146) reads:
“As of March 2004, of the nation’s approximately 7,700 commercial banks approximately 2,900 were members of the Federal Reserve Systema – approximately 2,000 national banks and 900 state banks. Member banks must subscribe to stock in their regional Federal Reserve Bank in an amount equal to 6 percent of their capital and surplus, half of which must be paid in while the other half is subject to call by the Board of Governors. The holding of this stock, however, does not carry with it the control and financial interest conveyed to holders of common stock in for-profit organizations. It is merely a legal obligation of Federal Reserve membership, and the stock may not be sold or pledged as collateral for loans. Member banks receive a 6 percent dividend annually on their stock, as specified by law, and vote for the Class A and Class B directors of the Reserve Bank. Stock in Federal Reserve Banks is not available for purchase by individuals or entities other than member banks.”
So, the owners of the FED are simply other national and state banks. What is rather interesting is that this is no normal company stock! First, they are paid a perpetual annual dividend of 6% per the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 which is not a “law” in the technical sense that the FED implies. Second, apparently this “stock” is part of each member bank’s balance sheet as only half is “paid in” to the FED and the “other half is subject to call” by the FED. The FED restates this here.
While many become quite alarmed by the mandated 6% dividend paid, please understand that this is just a babbling brook when compared to the powerful monetary torrents of fractional reserve banking and FED Open Market Operation’s money creation/destruction as explained in Part 6. As I described here, in 2007 the FED earned $40.3 Billion from its security holdings, but passed $34.6 Billion to the government. The FED spent $3.3 Billion to run itself. Taking into account its revenue stream, I estimate the FED paid out roughly “just” $3.9 Billion in dividends in 2007.
Why do the owners of the FED not matter?
Well, as stated, the member banks have no ownership or decision-making rights as the shareholders of a corporation would. Their sole privilege is to influence the selection of several of the Reserve Bank division’s directors who in turn may have a chance to influence a rotating chair on the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) or appoint the Federal Advisory Council. As seen in the below diagram, this is not much power at all.
So, why does who owns the FED matter?
Well, no American citizen, nor the American government, nor any other non-bank entity or corporation for that matter, can purchase stock. The FED is truly a “bank of banks” ruled by a small oligarchy of prominent central bankers. Ben Bernanke is just the current ringleader paraded out to the public. Given the vast power of the FED, I can claim with confidence that the Federal Reserve is a banking cartel. It has a monopoly over the money supply and credit of the United States. It is at best an unconstitutional quasi-governmental entity setup by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. For an easy-to-understand FED analogy, please read “Ron Paul’s rEVOLution Versus the “One Ring” of the Federal Reserve“.
Note the lack of limits the government has on auditing or overruling the FED.
- “Monetary policy is exempt from audit by the Government Accountability Office.” – (page 15/146)
- “The Federal Reserve is an independent agency, and that means, basically, that there is no other agency of government which can overrule actions that we take.” -Alan Greenspan when asked by Jim Lehrer about the FED’s relationship with the President.
[There is a movement to audit the FED as I last reported on here: STATUS REPORT: Ron Paul's Audit the FED Act, HR 1207 and S 604 ]
For the best estimate on the FED ownership please see below, note that the top 4 banks Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo-Wachovia, control roughly 54% of the stock of the Federal Reserve Bank, and the top 10 banks, including Government Sachs, HSBC, and the Bank of New York, would control roughly 70% of the stock.
[My dataset is here, but it won't be readable unless you download the XLS file and view it. I encourage anyone to check my work and offer comments.]
Of course, as I explained above, stock ownership in the FED does not confer control over the FED, but it is just more information pointing at the entire immoral cartel. There is complete documentation on the FED’s website that it has acted in secret in the past to suppress the price of gold, and plenty of evidence that the same is going on today. Even Ben Bernanke admitted the FED caused the Great Depression! Since 1990, the FED has been orchestrating the outright ROBBERY of the savings of the American people by STEALING from the dollar’s purchasing power.
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The FED cartel is the arch-enemy not just of the free market, but of every living adult and child on the planet. It must be destroyed and the money powers returned to We the People.
Not nationalized. Not just audited. Not just more regulated. Destroyed. This topic must be debated in not just the halls of Congress but across the land, and there are plenty of viable replacement plans – mine is summarized here.
For the Republic!
Jake Towne is running for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s 15th District in the 2010 election as a citizen unaffiliated with any political parties. Jake also writes at www.LibertyMaven.com and www.CampaignForLiberty.com. A master campaign presentation for internet viewing is available. [Reach the Author Here!]
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We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic.
Veritas numquam perit. Veritas odit moras. Veritas vincit. Truth never perishes. Truth hates delay. Truth conquers.
Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito. Do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.
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Other Articles on this subject by the Author
Fractional Reserve Banking in Pictures (PART 1/2)
Yes, Virginia, There Are No Reserve Requirements (PART 2/2)
The Money Matrix – How the FED Works (PART 6/15)
The Money Matrix – Who Owns the FED (PART 7/15)
Unlocking the Money Matrix – The Real Interest Rate (PART 12/15)
Ron Paul’s rEVOLution Versus the “One Ring” of the Federal Reserve
R.I.P. – The London Gold Pool, 1961-1968
MY PROPHECY – The Federal Reserve Will End!
