Edward Griffin: The Creation of The Federal Reserve Told by the Author of The Creature From Jekyll Island
This week, we are delighted to present a new guest, Mr. G. Edward Griffin. Mr. Griffin is the author of the widely popular book, The Creature From Jekyll Island, published in 1994. The topic of the book is The Federal Reserve, and it tells the story of how The Fed was created, for what purpose it was created, and by whom it was created by. You might not expect that The Fed actually was created by the most powerful bankers on Wall street….
Mr. Griffin initially found the story so captivating after finding out about a secret meeting that occurred in the middle of a freezing night, where 7 of Americas most powerful men met at a New Jersey train station in 1910. They arrived at different times and all boarded the same train car. They were directed to only use first names, with some even using aliases.
Mr. Griffin emphasizes that at this time in history, there was a lot of pressure from the citizens of America to pass a law to control the “Big, Bad Bankers” on Wall Street (because of bank failures and widespread fraud in the banking sector.) The bankers decided that they should draft the law themselves, which would seem to control them, but really would benefit them and give them more power.
Back to the story… The seven men travelled 2000 miles to a place called Jekyll Island. In those days the island was completely owned by a small group of billionaires from New York (J.P Morgan, Rockefeller, etc). It was a very elite place to go. It was there that the men drafted the Federal Reserve Act, with the purpose of providing the bankers with even more power. However, it was given the appearance of a Federal program that would put new controls and regulations against the big banks.
Everything that has happened since the creation of the Fed, all the bailouts, all the loans to foreign banks, has happened because that’s what The Federal Reserve was designed for. Mr. Griffin emphasizes that people don’t understand why big banks receive special bailouts. The creation of The Federal Reserve, as one of the greatest cartels in the world, gives the banks flexibility to do whatever they please.
Mr. Griffin emphasizes that The Federal Reserve isn’t a government agency, made for the American people, but rather, The Federal Reserve is a cartel. It is a banking cartel made up by the biggest banks in The United States.
Going back to what happened on Jekyll Island, Edward points out that the men that came together at the meeting collectively represented about a quarter of the total wealth in the world at the time. Mostly they were bankers, representing the largest financial institutions in America. Also present was a member of the Rothschild banking dynasty in England and France – Paul Wallberg.
Moving on to the implications of this banking system, Mr. Griffin points out that as a direct result of the Fed, banks can now take financial risks that they wouldn’t otherwise take, knowing that they will be bailed out by the American tax payers if they fail. Then they take more and more risks. “They privatize their profits and socialize their losses.”
When you give control of the money supply (which happened with the creation of The Federal Reserve) to a few number of people, they will take advantage of that power. They’ve been able to create money in an unlimited amount, from nothing. They’ve lent out more and more money into the economy, “and the ugly bird that shows up is inflation”. This hurts the average American.
From his work, Mr. Griffin has had a lot of positive feedback from people in the banking sector. He hasn’t run into the “top dogs” like Bernanke or Greenspan, but many at high levels have confirmed to him that his research is valid. Most bankers at the “working level” have been very interested to read his book and learn how the banking system really works.
Finally, looking at the future, Mr. Griffin is pessimistic. What has happened lately is that all the world’s central banks have joined together to cooperate, they are all inflating their currencies at the same time, they’re all passing draconian laws benefiting themselves. What we see is a transformation of the world’s former system into an amalgam of government and banking, so that the two are now inseparable. There might not be a collapse of the banking system, but a collapse of freedom. In his view, if we don’t turn this around, this thing might end up in a huge world wide, Soviet-like police state.
G. Edward Griffin is a writer and documentary film producer with many successful titles to his credit. Listed in Who’s Who in America, he is well known because of his unique talent for researching difficult topics and presenting them in clear terms that all can understand. He has dealt with such diversified subjects as archaeology and ancient earth history, international banking, internal subversion, terrorism, the history of taxation, U.S. foreign policy, the science and politics of cancer therapy, the Supreme Court, and the United Nations. Some of his better known works include The Discovery of Noah’s Ark, Moles in High Places, The Open Gates of Troy, No Place to Hide, World Without Cancer, The Life and Words of Robert Welch, The Capitalist Conspiracy, The Grand Design, The Great Prison Break, and The Fearful Master. His most recent book is entitled The Creature From Jekyll Island: A Second Look At The Federal Reserve.