Is The Federal Reserve Beneficial To United States Citizens"

The Fed arguably does have a role- to manage the currency and its value essentially. And no, collecting interest from the Federal government is not a notable argument (especially considering they return any "profits" to the Treasury every year anyway).

Self Sufficient said:

Does the Federal Reserve make a positive contribution toward helping individual citizens achieve The American Dream? According to my sources, the Federal Reserve is neither Federal nor a Reserve. It is a private corporation, authorized in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson to loan money to the United States Treasury at interest. Taxpayers pay the interest on the money the Treasury borrows from the private Federal Reserve. Prior to 1913, there was no federal income tax. The IRS is the collection agency of the private Federal Reserve. This is why the end-the-fed movement continues to grow.

Click to expand...

So, I gather that you don't like private corporations having a fiduciary function in our society? Good thinking. So I take it that you also don't like the citizens united decision that gave away our citizenship to corporations. I like how you think. We should not have corporations that claim free speech. We should not have corporations that have all rights of a citizen, without the accountability of an individual. By definition, corporations are an entity that protects the financial interests of individuals from liability. But to award them free speech (meaning, of course, the ability to invest huge amounts of money in their own best interest), means that they actually enjoy more rights than any citizen. But, be as that may, a few people blown up in corporate malfeasance is a small price to pay for arrogance. Or not, your opinion may vary.

The fact that the Federal Reserve is a secretive, privately owned corporations, with the majority share owners also owning big banks, I am dubious that they care at all about the American Dream. I don't have time right now, I'll be back.

ElectoralReform said:

The fact that the Federal Reserve is a secretive, privately owned corporations, with the majority share owners also owning big banks, I am dubious that they care at all about the American Dream. I don't have time right now, I'll be back.

Click to expand...

That is a very misleading statement. The Fed returns all profits to the Treasury every year. It is not as secretive as you think - it is secretive when it has to be because of information issues in markets (you can't just tell everyone everything about Fed actions or it becomes counterproductive- there are well studied phenomena behind this). And if you want more transparency you should be looking at getting the Fed to use more equation or value-tracked systems such as NGDP targeting.

Ok, but why should a private entity even be in this position to begin with? And individuals be allowed to be invested and have control over both the Federal Reserve and the banks?

ElectoralReform said:

Ok, but why should a private entity even be in this position to begin with? And individuals be allowed to be invested and have control over both the Federal Reserve and the banks?

Click to expand...

Individuals don't invest in it like that- 1000s of private banks hold stock but they can't buy or sell the stock and they are required to keep 3% of capital in Fed banks. In exchange they get a dividend. They don't have any say in monetary policy or the actions of the Fed.