Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country

by William Greider

book data

65 ratings, 3.82 average rating, 15 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		27%
4		41%
3		18%
2		9%
1		3%

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published

January 15th 1989 (first published 1987) by Simon & Schuster

binding

Paperback, 800 pages

isbn

0671675567 (isbn13: 9780671675561)

description

This ground-breaking best-seller reveals for the first time how the mighty and mysterious Federal Reserve operates -- and how it manipulated and trans...more

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02/10/09

Peterna rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in March, 2009

recommends it for: people curious about the Fed

This book would be a kind of companion to "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by Edward Griffin, about the creation and inside workings of the Federal Reserve, Greider's book is more up to date, adds much detail. In fact, you might say he adds a bit too much detail, repeating himself, jumping around in the natural chronology. He does not appear to have a conspiracy plot in mind, but mentions many of them. He is a very respected journalist and would like to keep his large readership and a...more This book would be a kind of companion to "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by Edward Griffin, about the creation and inside workings of the Federal Reserve, Greider's book is more up to date, adds much detail. In fact, you might say he adds a bit too much detail, repeating himself, jumping around in the natural chronology. He does not appear to have a conspiracy plot in mind, but mentions many of them. He is a very respected journalist and would like to keep his large readership and access to many valuable sources. So he does not step on toes too much, except those of the departed and long retired.

The story is familiar. The Fed is a creation from sensitive compromise, and like Social Security, is a matter that Congress does not have the Will and/or Courage to alter significantly. The Fed is largely a private institution, pays rent for its land on the Washington DC Mall, pays local taxes, can be sued, pays dividends to member (owner?) banks, but maintains it is just a very independent part of government. What do you think?

William Greider, "a prominent political journalist and author, has been a reporter for more than 35 years for newspapers, magazines and television. Over the past two decades, he has persistently challenged mainstream thinking on economics.

"For 17 years Greider was the National Affairs Editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where his investigation of the defense establishment began. He is a former assistant managing editor at the Washington Post, where he worked for fifteen years as a national correspondent, editor and columnist. While at the Post, he broke the story of how David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's budget director, grew disillusioned with supply-side economics and the budget deficits that policy caused, which still burden the American economy.

"He is the author of the national bestsellers One World, Ready or Not, Secrets of the Temple and Who Will Tell The People. In the award-winning Secrets of the Temple, he offered a critique of the Federal Reserve system. Greider has also served as a correspondent for six Frontline documentaries on PBS, including "Return to Beirut," which won an Emmy in 1985.

"Greider's next book (due in September) will be The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to A Moral Economy. In it, he untangles the systemic mysteries of American capitalism, details its destructive collisions with society and demonstrates how people can achieve decisive influence to reform the system's structure and operating values." The Nation, October 7, 2008(less)

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09/13/07

Beth in SF rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction

A very good attempt at explaining the mechanics of controlling the capital of an empire of capitalism. Complicated and eye opening.

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03/18/09

Brian rated it:

bookshelves: corporate-lies, evil-men, government-lies, new-world-order

What the bought-and-paid-for mainstream media calls "balanced" is more like apologist propaganda for world financial elites. For one thing, Grider beats around the bush about whether the Federal Reserve is a private or governmental body. In truth, it is completely private. The Federal Reserve is no more "federal" than Federal Express. Further, Greider is downright dismissive of the idea that the entire system is a conspiratorial ponzi scheme ultimately designed to fail (in a ...more

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12/09/08

Eric_W rated it:

Read in January, 1990

It's always fun to observe values changing over time, depending on the needs of society. William Greider, in Secrets of the Temple, a history of the Federal Reserve System, relates how usury was once considered a heinous offense against the church. There are perhaps a dozen clear prohibitions against charging interest in the Bible. It was considered an immoral way to make money, as it resulted from no work. The wealthy had an obligation to help those less fortunate, without profiting from their ...more

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09/27/07

Hilary Johnson rated it:

bookshelves: money

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: People determined to understand our money system

I didn't finish this because I had to return it to the library, but here's what I learned:

1. Over time, money has become less tied to anything real or practical, BUT it has always ultimately been based on agreement between people about value. For example, when money was cattle, people agreed that the value of a service or whatever was so many cattle and not more or less.

2. The gold standard did not guarantee price or economic stability. The value of gold and silver alway...more I didn't finish this because I had to return it to the library, but here's what I learned:

1. Over time, money has become less tied to anything real or practical, BUT it has always ultimately been based on agreement between people about value. For example, when money was cattle, people agreed that the value of a service or whatever was so many cattle and not more or less.

2. The gold standard did not guarantee price or economic stability. The value of gold and silver always fluctuated based on how much of each was being mined, and while their value in comparison to each other was supposed to be stable based on this ancient alchemical relationship, in reality that changed a lot too.

3. During the Civil War, Lincoln issued "greenbacks" for the first time in US history. This was money not based on gold, backed solely by gov't promise. This caused a boom, because there was more money available for people to start or expand businesses. After the war, gov't went back to the gold standard, causing massive deflation, hitting farmers hard. Also, because the gold standard limited the amount of money available, frontier banks did not always have enough cash reserves to back loans farmers asked for seasonally, as well as their deposits. This caused 'bank runs" - when rumors flew that a bank was running out of cash, people raced to withdraw their money so they wouldn't lose it when the bank failed. Farmers organized the Populist movement, which wanted gov't to go back to greenbacks and abandon the gold standard. They called for an "elastic currency," which would make credit available when it was needed, rather than being tied to gold markets. They demanded democratic control of money, thru elected gov't. They were scorned as hicks by the East Coast banking industry, who saw a threat to their control over money. Wm. Jennings Bryan was kind of Populist, but watered down.

4. The Federal Reserve System started because of the problems the Populists identified. It wasn't born from their movement, but gov't and East Coast bankers eventually figured out that an elastic currency was necessary to create more stability in the economy (because credit demands are seasonal). The big NY banks used to cooperate (under JP Morgan's leadership) to bail out failing banks, but around the 1900s, this happened a lot and they even had to bail out the gov't. Eventually they realized they needed elastic currency. The Fed was a compromise between private banking interests and public democratic interests. The privates made out way better. The Fed is HIGHLY anti-democratic - its structure is based on distrusting public opinion about monetary policy. Its culture tries to maintain the "mystique of central banking," the attitude that these things are too complicated for normal people to understand. The Fed is not "privately owned," though part of its governance comes from private banking. It is protected from gov't oversight by the length of its governors' terms and by the freedom they have to determine monetary policy. Basically, it's like the gov't said, "We appoint you to do this job, but we won't tell you how to do it or hold you accountable for how you do it."

5. The Fed controls how much money/credit there is by adjusting interest rates and by buying and selling gov't securities. Money is created and destroyed simply by entering and erasing numbers in an electronic ledger. One Fed chairman described the Fed's role as "leaning against the wind" -- the Fed should moderate growth and contraction in the economy by adjusting monetary policy to slow speculative investing or to boost flagging investment. An important question that doesn't get addressed directly is who benefits? The US has 2 classes - creditors and debtors. Inflation actually aids debtors, as long as wages rise at the same or higher rate, because loans they take out during an inflationary period, they pay back in depreciated dollars.

That's all I can remember now.(less)

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04/01/09

Byron rated it:

bookshelves: finance

Read in May, 2009

I slogged through most of the 700 dense pages (not including appendix). This could have easily been two books: one about the history of the Federal Reserve and its place in the financial and political history of the US, and another book about the story of Paul Volker as head of the Fed during the Carter and Reagan years. For the most part this is a fascinating book especially in light of the current financial situation. The really intriguing aspect of the book is the author's assertion that ...more

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12/28/08

Sean rated it:

Read in June, 2003

the author brings a certain bias to this book that was too difficult to avoid. that being said, i was fairly ignorant on this topic so that's why i bought this book. i wanted to better understand the federal reserve and that part of the economy and this book managed to bring me up to a level where i could converse with people who were in the know, so that's why it gets 4 stars. but i wouldn't recommend this book to anyone else. i was just very motivated at the time to learn.

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02/15/09

Dave rated it:

Read in May, 2009

Man, I learned all kindsa stuff reading this book! Here are three instances of the droppage of science done by the Greider! And I only had to read 150 pages to learn all this awesome shit!

1. The Fed either is or is not a government body. Mr. G does not say whether it is or not, but he let me know that it either is or is not.

2. Inflation is good for one segment of the population (low-income borrowers). This makes it cool for the Fed to inflate the money supply for everyone...more

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11/19/08

Radioanngal rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading

Wow! What a timely read! Gives you an appreciation for the role independent agencies play in our democracy, and how much power they have. Reading Greider though has a tendency to turn you into an anarchist. I don't know if that's his goal as a journalist, but the outlook is pretty grim. Why do I do this to myself?

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01/05/09

Krisette Spangler rated it:

bookshelves: nonfiction

Read in January, 2009

O.K., so I only read 1/2 of it. I did learn some interesting things about how the Fed controls our economy through manipulation of the money supply. I didn't like the way the information was presented. It kept jumping back and forth through different periods of history, which made it difficult to follow.

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12/10/08

Derek rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading

great so far.....you need to have a little base on wall street and how it functions before you dive into it. good book though

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02/12/08

Cailean rated it:

bookshelves: have-read

Read in January, 2004

So while perusing the aisles at Barnes and Noble years ago, this title struck me not only because of the words used but because it was in the Business section! It was a very fascinating insight into indeed how the Fed really does determine the health of our country.

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01/31/08

Mike Applegate rated it:

I have a Ph.D in economics, but I learned a great deal from this book about the history of money and the inner workings of the Fed. It illuminates very well the interface between politics, economic policy and the resulting effects on all of us.

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02/01/08

Andy added it

Read in January, 2008

just started in on this one...not sure how deep i'll be able to go before terminal
boredom sets in

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10/28/08

Jerry is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading

PRetty good so far. The Feds are in charge!