re: It's not really privately owned:
[broken link removed]
Not completely correct. As per Wikipedia:
The
Federal Reserve System (also the
Federal Reserve; informally
The Fed) is the
central banking system of the United States. Created in 1913 by the enactment of the
Federal Reserve Act, it is a quasi-public (
government entity with private components) banking system.
A large and varied group of criticisms has been directed against the Federal Reserve System. One critique, typified by the
Austrian School, is that the Federal Reserve is an unnecessary and counterproductive interference in the economy.
[108] According to this theory, interest rates should be naturally low during times of excessive consumer saving (because lendable money is abundant) and naturally high when high net volumes of consumer credit are extended (because lendable money is scarce). These critics argue that setting a baseline lending rate amounts to centralized economic planning; a hallmark of socialist and communist societies; and inflating the currency amounts to a regressive, incremental redistribution of wealth.
[109]
Some people who criticize the Federal Reserve System also criticize
fiat currency and support a return to the
gold standard.
[110] Some critics state that the Federal Reserve System is unconstitutional because Congress is empowered by the Constitution to coin money, and is not empowered to print money.
[111] Others state that the Federal Reserve System supports fractional reserve banking, which they claim resembles an unsustainable
pyramid scheme.
[109] Some critics argue that the Fed lacks accountability and transparency or that there is a culture of secrecy within the Reserve.
[112] In addition, the Fed sponsors much of the monetary economics research in the US. Some believe this makes it less likely for researchers to publish findings challenging the
status quo that is the Federal Reserve.
[113] The
Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act is a proposed remedy to these issues.
[edit] Historical criticisms
Criticisms of the Federal Reserve System are not new, and some historical criticisms reflect current concerns.
At one end of the spectrum are economists from the
Austrian School and the
Chicago School who want the Federal Reserve System abolished.
[114] They criticize the Federal Reserve System’s expansionary monetary policy in the 1920s, arguing that the policy allowed misallocations of capital resources and supported a massive stock price bubble. They also cite politically motivated expansions or tightening of currency in the 1970s and 1980s.
[114]
Thomas Jefferson stated "The central bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an Enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but Coin. If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."
[115]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve