The Creature from Jekyll Island

"In some ways, this is one of the most important books I’ve ever read. The history of money and our financial markets is essential to being wealthy for anyone who doesn’t inherit riches. This is a long book and it does have a fair share of conspiracy theory, especially towards the future. But the underlying history is all true...the gap between the haves and the have nots is a product of a system that was designed that way."

"A conspiracy theory classic! Diving deep into the history of banking, "The Creature from Jekyll Island" claims that the unholy union of politicians and "monetary scientists" is responsible for every major conflict from the Civil War to WWII. And let's not forget the international Fabian cabal siphoning off money to weaken the United States and create the One World Government!<br/><br/>So clearly, we're a couple miles into crazy town. But that's not to say that there aren't interesting things to be learned. Part of the appeal of this book is that it presents a (mostly) internally consistent worldview that is completely at odds with the mainstream interpretation of history. As readers, our task is to take this competing narrative seriously and then judge it on its merits.<br/><br/>In this particular case, we can distinguish between two major arguments in this book. The first is a condemnation of the nature of the banking system - the instability of fractional reserve banking and the use of taxation-by-inflation to achieve political objectives. I hadn't thought about the banking system like this before and found it to be a compelling perspective. The second argument is about a global socialist conspiracy to create a New World order dominated by English people and the Rothschilds. That part... not so much. I'm going to ignore that dimension of the book for the rest of this review (and is also why I'm giving this book 3 stars rather than 4 or 5). Although I will say that the "Report from Iron Mountain" stuff is fascinating, even if it truly is a hoax.<br/><br/>I read this book because I wanted to - as they say in "All the President's Men" - "follow the money." Griffin does a great job of explaining the complicated money flows that fuel our government. I found myself completely convinced about the moral hazard of the "lender of last resort" and the strategy of having the public pick up the losses with bailouts. I also found Griffin's description of the alliance between policymakers and bankers to be compelling. If there's a central bank that can print money to buy government debt, it doesn't _look_ like the government is debasing currency directly. The bankers are happy because they collect interest on a massive amount of principal that they create out of nothing. The policymakers are happy because they can fund their initiatives without raising taxes. Ultimately, we all end up paying for this with an "inflation tax" that falls disproportionately on the middle class who has much of their net worth in cash rather than in inflation-agnostic real assets.<br/><br/>As I slogged my way through this monster of a book, I appreciated Griffin's acerbic wit, but I worry that it detracts from his credibility. When writing a book so full of bold, contrarian claims, biting sarcasm and cynicism don't do you any favors. I also found myself wondering - if he actually believes all this stuff... why hasn't he started a bank! (And why haven't I??)<br/><br/>I'm not sure I believe Griffin's claim about the Federal Reserve bank oscillating interest rates to cause the Great Depression and then buy up a bunch of real assets for cheap when the borrowers defaulted. But I was reminded of Sven Beckert's description of a very similar mechanism in "Empire of Cotton" that was used by colonizing powers to dispossess indigenous people of their lands. Worth further reading.<br/><br/>Throughout the book, Griffin extensively quotes Chernow's work on the Warburgs and the House of Morgan. Going to have to add those to my list too.<br/><br/>I'm also looking for a good counterpoint to this book too, if anyone has any recommendations.<br/><br/>Full review at <a href="http://books.max-nova.com/creature-from-jekyll-island/">http://books.max-nova.com/creature-from-jekyll-island/</a>"