07/14/2009
Above Money� The Federal Reserve Bank Secrets Of Money
By Benjamin Gisin
Mention the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed) and you will likely get
one of two responses. The most common is no response due to not
understanding it. The other is one of outrage, conspiracy and dark
deeds. Neither are much help. The Fed performs functions whose
processes (and consequences) are difficult for the public, elected
officials and even accomplished economists to understand.
The Fed has three primary functions: 1) Help banks create virtual
money (bank deposits) and to clear those deposits between banks. 2)
Encourage an interest rate environment that gives money a return
above inflation when invested. 3) Issue the nation�s debt-backed
currency. The Fed, with its banking partners, do two things the
public wants a lot of: 1) The public wants money. The Fed and
banking system manufacture that money (bank deposits and currency).
2) The public wants interest on their savings and financial
investments.
In keeping with the principle of the �time value of money,� banks
charge interest on what they manufacture out of nothing. The Fed is
always on the watch for inflation and a reason to raise interest
rates to meet investor demand for a return on investment above
inflation. The Fed, the banking system and secondary lenders perform
the activities necessary to give the investing public what it wants
� money and a return on financial investments.
Unfortunately, the physical economy of goods, services and jobs is
of lesser priority and therein accrues the problem of escalating
unemployment. What little service the banking system�s money
products perform as a means of exchange is inferior to the service
the banking system�s money products do to garner a return on
investment. The financial system and the investing and saving
public, have been working diligently to saturate the economy with
the maximum amount of debt to provide the maximum return.
When the economy gets saturated with debt, as it is today, and
investors are unable to find qualified borrowers to saddle with
their investment-return expectations, money stops flowing, the
economy begins to seize up and debts go unpaid. Everyone loses, the
economy, the investors and the debtors. It has the ear markings of a
lose/lose/lose system.
The banking and larger financial system provide the tools used to
exploit people and the environment first and as a means of exchange
second. The future lies in extracting our children and the economy
from this system. The banking and financial system, with public
demand for its money and investment-return principles, are in the
process of not just limiting economic growth, but curtailing what�s
there.
Since 1996, for every $1 trillion in the GDP growth, debt grew by
$4.7 trillion � an amazing feat by financial investors and a public
fighting for money by getting in debt. Chasing after a return on
investment (and the colossal debt empires that this activity
requires) is slowing the economy.
America farms only one-fourth the acres (on a per capita basis) than
it did in 1900. America�s infrastructure (roads, bridges, levees,
etc.) is in such sad shape, the American Society of Civil Engineers
now estimates a need of $2.2 trillion to bring basic infrastructure
up to par. Food banking is one of the fastest growing grocery
chains. Job loss continues to grow. The economy is shrinking to fit
within a fickle system of money and investment. The nation (public
and private) must incur ever increasing levels of debt for a
declining level of economic activity.
We can point fingers at bankers and ourselves which solves very
little. We need a change in perspective and a commitment to start
looking at a new process of exchange based upon principles of love,
service and cooperation. Our process of exchange must evolve beyond
one of competitive weaponry. Only then will we discover what it
takes to create the next Golden Age. It is then that the unseen
reality � that which is greater than us � can come into service for
human progression.
For more information and discovering what options are emerging,
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editor@touchthesoil.com.
Benjamin Gisin is a veteran banker and former senior agricultural
approval officer for one of the nation�s largest agricultural banks.
Since 1998, he consults businesses and agricultural producers facing
credit challenges. He writes and lectures extensively on the
evolution of money, economics and food security.
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