The Federal Reserve Is Starting to Prepare fot Its Centennial

So is William Greider:

A few months back, I ran into a retired Fed official who had been a good source twenty years ago when I was writing my book about the central bank, Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country. He is a Fed loyalist and did not leak damaging secrets. But he helped me understand how the supposedly nonpolitical Fed does its politics, behind the veil of disinterested expertise. When we met recently, he said the central bank is already making preparations to celebrate its approaching centennial. Some of us, I responded, have a different idea for 2013.

"We think that would be a good time to dismantle the temple," I playfully told my old friend...The Fed man did not react well to my teasing.

He got a stricken look. His voice tightened. Please, he pleaded, do not go down that road. The Fed has made mistakes, he agreed, but the country needs itscentral bank. His nervous reaction told me this venerable institution is feeling insecure about its future.

The Fed is clearly spooked. It has lost its reputation with the general public as a sound, sober organization. It is being replaced with a more accurate view, the Fed is at the core of the insider's club and it is run strictly for insiders.

However, in a twisted kind of way the Fed may be right about the dangers of an audit. They should know.

After the Panic of 1907, the U.S. Congress set up the Pujo Committee to investigate the so-called "money trust."

That investigation resulted in the creation of the Federal Reserve.