Thomas Jefferson got it right when he said:
"I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared."
The United States attempted to create a central bank twice, but these attempts failed. In 1913, a secret meeting between the nation's top finance magnates took place on Jekyll Island, just off the coast of Georgia. Interesting choice for a location considering that in the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the character Dr. Jekyll represents the dark, deviant side of human nature. But the fact that X-Men: First Class was filmed there redeems the island's reputation a little.
Anyways, this secret meeting was the origin of the Federal Reserve System. The House and Senate voted in favor of this bill on December 23, 1913 and President Woodrow Wilson signed it later that day. The primary duty of the Fed is to manage the nation's money supply and maintain financial stability (source).
The sad part about this system is that is flawed and corrupt, and what makes it worse is that everyone knows this and little has been done to change it. There are petitions, such as Audit the Fed, that strive to force the institution to be upfront and accountable for where money is actually going. It is becoming harder and harder to ignore the site's claims:
"Over its nearly 100 year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar while Congress has kept its hands off and its eyes closed. Since 1913, the dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy"
The most apt description of the National Debt Crisis comes from Cracked.com:
"A National Debt happens when governments spend more than they actually have, and everyone getting the money agrees that's absolutely fine."
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