“The various conspiracy theories about the Fed do glimpse one important truth: central banking and bank regulation has long been a way for governments to extract resources from the private sector, most often for activities that would be difficult to support through taxation or debt. Central banks such as the Fed do operate in ways that are not especially visible to the public.”

“This was no ‘conspiracy.’ It was, again, a classic Baptists and Bootleggers story, much like one could tell about a number of other government interventions throughout American history.”

“The damage the Fed has done in its 100 years is significant enough on its own. There is no need to invent wild conspiracy theories to explain its history when the same tools that explain the origin and failure of so much of what government tries to do apply equally to the Fed.”