NationStates Jolt Archive

I do not know a lot about this, so I am asking, as I was researching banking for an roleplay thread in Nationstates and came across some interesting facts about the Federal Reserve.

Even that when it is listed in phone books, it is not listed under government offices, but in the business white pages. It does not answer to the government, but is owned by its member banks.

Is it true or can it be said the Federal Reserve is "privately" owned?

Neither purely public or private, it's a hybrid entity where private banks and the federal government have combined their interests to help facilitate a stable and effective central banking system.

Are those black helicopters landing outside your house?

The best way to think about the federal reserve is that it's a business managed by the government.

It functions as kind of a bank for banks. This is overly simplistic definition, but it'll do generally.

As for not being controlled by the government, the chairman of the bank is appointed by the federal government.

Fanhamia: How does asking about the Federal Reserve entail that?

LOL is it conspiracy theory that the rich and powerful control the United States with old boys clubs and networks just the same as the British Empire was. Nothing has really changed that much...

it's worth noting that the quasi state, and perhaps part of your confusion, is that there are two things here, the individual member banks, and the institution of "the federal reserve".

The individual member banks are private, when you find osmething in the phone book you're looking up a private bank that is part of the federal reserve system.

The system ITSELF, the overarching mechanism that controls and regulates these private banks is controlled by the government.

What you are finding in the phonebook are private banks that are part of the system. The system headquarters itself is in the Eccles building in Washington DC, which is most definitly a federal building.

Fanhamia: How does asking about the Federal Reserve entail that?

LOL is it conspiracy theory that the rich and powerful control the United States with old boys clubs and networks just the same as the British Empire was. Nothing has really changed that much...

Everything is a conspiracy today. It's one of those days when chewing through the restraints this morning wasn't really worth it.

Wiki is your friend:

The Federal Reserve System is a quasi-governmental banking system composed of (1) a presidentially-appointed Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C.; (2) the Federal Open Market Committee; (3) 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the nation; and (4) numerous private member banks, which own varying amounts of stock in the regional Federal Reserve Banks. Ben Bernanke serves as the current Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Are those black helicopters landing outside your house?

I chuckled. :D

It is actually ignorant on the part of people who group everything and throw it out as "conspiracy" or "wacky conspiracy theories".

Saying that a rich and powerful minority (Almost a statistical fact) has immense power and possibly controls many things through various institutions is not the same as saying an UFO is hidden under Roswell.

You just have to look in the public media available to see the blatant conflict of interest that is everywhere. (Most politicians, the wealthy, and intellectual elite attend the same social functions, are usually friends with each other, etc.)

The Federal Reserve sucks.