Rating: 
Summary: THE MAN WHO PENNED "NADER'S RAIDERS"
Review: I've imagined a Nader cabinet...well, it's ok to dream the impossible dream, isn't it? Mr. Greider or Mr. Galbreaith would be Fed chairman, and it wouldn't be a very strong agency, eiether, the Federal Reserve. Or I could see Mr. Greider as Defense Secretary...LockMartin would not be a winner but the young people in uniform would get good raises. Oh, well, enough dreaming. Greider's book on the Fed brings us into a history of the U.S. that history books and cable channels don't even want to get near. Superb political reading.
Rating:
Summary: THE MAN WHO PENNED "NADER'S RAIDERS"
Review: I've imagined a Nader cabinet...well, it's ok to dream the impossible dream, isn't it? Mr. Greider or Mr. Galbreaith would be Fed chairman, and it wouldn't be a very strong agency, eiether, the Federal Reserve. Or I could see Mr. Greider as Defense Secretary...LockMartin would not be a winner but the young people in uniform would get good raises. Oh, well, enough dreaming. Greider's book on the Fed brings us into a history of the U.S. that history books and cable channels don't even want to get near. Superb political reading.
Rating: 
Summary: The First Step...
Review: If you loved this book, my GOD wait until you get your hands on THE UNSEEN HAND by A. Ralph Epperson. Published in 1985 this book clearly explains how the FED came about, and yes, the private international bankers ARE running the world through this PRIVATELY held institution. The war amongst the classes is a sham and most of us are the pawns led astray by a complacent spirit of real justice and a duplicitous Fourth Estate. Premised on the hypothesis that history is not an accident, this book answered questions I've long held about historical events whose stated causes never seemed to match up to the events and surroundings of their time. As I told my lawyer friend the other day "IT GETS DEEPER!" The Fed is just the culmination of the attempts of the International Bankers and their secret societies to impose The New World Order that former President Bush was bold enough to openly declare. That should tell us all how "THEY" obviously feel that their centuries old dream is within grasp. Starting from the Revolutionary War on up (Did you know that Russia was our ally in that war and the war of 1812? I never learned that in history class. Or that a young Karl Marx and his wealthy friend Mr.Engels, the fathers of Communism played and made money on the British Stock Market? The bastion of Capitalism at the time. And that Mr.Marx despised work and the working class? That he basically was a liar or politician, take your pick of the synonyms. He was an agent, a pawn, a complici-tor in The Great Deception.) it's always been about money and CENTRALISED BANKS. Now I understand the saying that the British (BANKERS) actually won the war. Wars take financing. Who was behind the wars? The INTERNATIONAL BANKERS. These facts should not be shocking. They were openly debated throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Presidents, Statesmen, Generals, and the Captains of Industry, who weren't a part of the dubious affairs, all warned us about the inherent danger in letting banks lay hold to the Mechanisms of the Republic. Wouldn't we all love to be able to print money with out a real backing? Jefferson warned us. Hamilton took part in the scam. Lincoln feared the POWER. The Zero Factor Presidents died because of their defiance. Taft lost his reelection for open courage and blatant defiance. They tried to bankrupt Henry Ford for his resistance to them. As a previous reviewer noted M. Rothchild said it matters not who makes the laws, as long as he and his ilk controlled the money supply. How right he was. Please revisit all the so-called Panics and Crashes and see what really happened. I'll explode if I start to delve into them just now. There was hope however as some banks woke up and started to leave the FED during the Seventies, but corrupt liars/politicians, the aforementioned (in other reviews) Fed Res. Chairman Volcker, and a wimpy President Carter, passed and signed into law The Monetary Control Act of 1980 which gave complete control of all banking institutions and the Money Supply to The FED. My GOD and as Jan Novak said, "Not a SHOT was fired." The dupe was complete. We were fully bamboozled, hoodwinked, whatever... As many feel Grieder should be required reading, it makes me wonder how many of our so called educators are in on the game as I feel The Unseen Hand should be given to all Americans at birth so that the lies won't have a chance to take root in their believing minds. Aside from the Autobiography of Malcolm X this is the most important book I have ever read and I'm only a third of the way through it. If Grieder opened your eyes, Epperson's light of TRUTH may blind you. (....) . The Truth will definitely set us all free. Best Regards, Sav44
Rating:
Summary: The First Step...
Review: If you loved this book, my GOD wait until you get your hands on THE UNSEEN HAND by A. Ralph Epperson. Published in 1985 this book clearly explains how the FED came about, and yes, the private international bankers ARE running the world through this PRIVATELY held institution. The war amongst the classes is a sham and most of us are the pawns led astray by a complacent spirit of real justice and a duplicitous Fourth Estate. Premised on the hypothesis that history is not an accident, this book answered questions I've long held about historical events whose stated causes never seemed to match up to the events and surroundings of their time. As I told my lawyer friend the other day "IT GETS DEEPER!" The Fed is just the culmination of the attempts of the International Bankers and their secret societies to impose The New World Order that former President Bush was bold enough to openly declare. That should tell us all how "THEY" obviously feel that their centuries old dream is within grasp. Starting from the Revolutionary War on up (Did you know that Russia was our ally in that war and the war of 1812? I never learned that in history class. Or that a young Karl Marx and his wealthy friend Mr.Engels, the fathers of Communism played and made money on the British Stock Market? The bastion of Capitalism at the time. And that Mr.Marx despised work and the working class? That he basically was a liar or politician, take your pick of the synonyms. He was an agent, a pawn, a complici-tor in The Great Deception.) it's always been about money and CENTRALISED BANKS. Now I understand the saying that the British (BANKERS) actually won the war. Wars take financing. Who was behind the wars? The INTERNATIONAL BANKERS. These facts should not be shocking. They were openly debated throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Presidents, Statesmen, Generals, and the Captains of Industry, who weren't a part of the dubious affairs, all warned us about the inherent danger in letting banks lay hold to the Mechanisms of the Republic. Wouldn't we all love to be able to print money with out a real backing? Jefferson warned us. Hamilton took part in the scam. Lincoln feared the POWER. The Zero Factor Presidents died because of their defiance. Taft lost his reelection for open courage and blatant defiance. They tried to bankrupt Henry Ford for his resistance to them. As a previous reviewer noted M. Rothchild said it matters not who makes the laws, as long as he and his ilk controlled the money supply. How right he was. Please revisit all the so-called Panics and Crashes and see what really happened. I'll explode if I start to delve into them just now. There was hope however as some banks woke up and started to leave the FED during the Seventies, but corrupt liars/politicians, the aforementioned (in other reviews) Fed Res. Chairman Volcker, and a wimpy President Carter, passed and signed into law The Monetary Control Act of 1980 which gave complete control of all banking institutions and the Money Supply to The FED. My GOD and as Jan Novak said, "Not a SHOT was fired." The dupe was complete. We were fully bamboozled, hoodwinked, whatever... As many feel Grieder should be required reading, it makes me wonder how many of our so called educators are in on the game as I feel The Unseen Hand should be given to all Americans at birth so that the lies won't have a chance to take root in their believing minds. Aside from the Autobiography of Malcolm X this is the most important book I have ever read and I'm only a third of the way through it. If Grieder opened your eyes, Epperson's light of TRUTH may blind you. (....) . The Truth will definitely set us all free. Best Regards, Sav44
Rating:
Summary: Worth the effort
Review: It is fervently wished from this quarter that more readers will invest the time to digest this remarkable synthesis of the financial overworld.Given that the typical lifestyle is more hustle and bustle with little time for self-improvement and knowledge acquistion, I would heartily urge the reader to get a copy of "Transfer-the end of the beginning, by Jerry Furland. It is a most remarkable vision of where we are headed as a nation. One caution: You will lose sleep as a result. One reward: You will have learned more that you could believe possible from a novel. And, it's only a couple of hundred pages long. I like that...
Rating:
Summary: Superb book ... Required Reading!
Review: It's 1978 and houses are going up like wildfire all across the country. It's 1972 and Nixon Federal Reserve Chairman lights a inflationary fire that will burn out of control for a generation. It's 1880 and the farmers are screaming bloody murder, prices have been dropping for 15 years. It's 1987, and the stock market has just crashed ... no big deal. The real doomsday dragon was met and slayed in 1983, but the public never knew about it !!! Why is inflation worse than deflation ??? Did you know that deflation causes economic mayhem, but inflation causes REVOLUTIONS ??? I learned about the discount window, M1, M2, M3, M4; I was amazed to find out that banks leverage their deposits by a factor of 12x (most of the time the borrowers just re-deposit the money or spend it with a business that re-deposits the money right back in the bank anyway...) This book is a masterpiece. It's required reading as Greenspan gets ready to take away the "1999 punch bowl". Why has the stock-market investor been given a "golden handshake" by Alan Greenspan over the last 5 years ?? Why are the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer ?? All the answers lay within this book.
Rating:
Summary: An important book - regardless of your politcial ideology
Review: Mr. Greider's book is a serious and controversial attempt to unlock the mysteries of the Federal Reserve Board - an institution that remains an enigma to most Americans. After reading this book, you will see why Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan is described as the second most powerful man in America. Greider not only goes behind the scenes to explain Federal Reserve policy from 1979 to 1986, he challenges the reader in a debate about the direction of monetary policy and more importantly, the desirability of having a Federal Reserve Board in the first place. I applaud Mr. Greider for bringing up this question that trancends the current political debate. But I do not agree with his proposal to put the Fed's powers in Congressional hands. That would only bring us back to the 1970s where political pressure on the Fed produced an easy money policy and inflation. Reversing this trend led to the harsh recession of 1981-82, which Greider despairs over. Our best hope is to keep the Fed in the hands of sober, intelligent people who put the needs of citizens over the needs of politicians.
Rating:
Summary: Central Banking for Poets
Review: One might think of William Greider's "Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country" as "Central Banking for Poets." If you've ever scratched your head in wonder when reading how Alan Greenspan and the Fed have "lowered interest rates" or are "easing monetary policy," this book will be extremely enlightening and well worth the time it will take you to plow through all 700 plus pages. If (like me) you majored in economics, you'll be surprised how much better Greider is in explaining arcane economic theory than your college professors (and you'll probably learn -- or re-learn -- quite a bit in the process). The focal point of the book is the celebrated and controversial tenure of Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker (1979-1987), but the mechanics of central banking so clearly and concisely explained are just as much applicable today as in 1980 - or 1950 for that matter. Greider divides the book into three more-or-less equal thirds. The first covers the inflationary surge of the 1970s, Carter's tenuous decision to appoint Volker, and Volker's radical move of abandoning the control of interest rates in favor of controlling the nation's money supply. (In other words, a shift from the Keynesian orthodoxy dominant in the post-War period in favor of a monetarist approach more in line with the theories of the iconoclastic economist Milton Friedman.) The second, and most informative third provides an historical overview of central banking and its development in the United States. For those solely interested in a better understanding of central banking and the US Federal Reserve in particular, this book will be worth your while even if you only read this middle section. The final third deals with Volker's punishing monetary policy during the early 1980s, as he attempted to destroy lingering anticipation of inflation and the incredibly simulative effects of the Reagan era federal deficits and tax cuts. Greider is highly critical of Volker's performance as Fed chairman. In short, he argues that far from being the independent and benevolent Shepard of the economy it often claims to be, the Fed, in practice, is beholden to its most powerful constituency: the major money-center financial institutions (i.e. Citibank, Bank of America, etc.). Traditional central bankers view combating inflation as their primary professional objective, which tends to favor creditors at the expense of debtors. Grieder suggests that in waging war on inflation the Fed in effect was waging war on the millions of ordinary Americans struggling to make end meets and keep their heads above water. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, Greider's "Secrets of the Temple" is exhaustively researched, expertly written, and extremely enlightening.
Rating:
Summary: Central Banking for Poets
Review: One might think of William Greider's "Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country" as "Central Banking for Poets." If you've ever scratched your head in wonder when reading how Alan Greenspan and the Fed have "lowered interest rates" or are "easing monetary policy," this book will be extremely enlightening and well worth the time it will take you to plow through all 700 plus pages. If (like me) you majored in economics, you'll be surprised how much better Greider is in explaining arcane economic theory than your college professors (and you'll probably learn -- or re-learn -- quite a bit in the process). The focal point of the book is the celebrated and controversial tenure of Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker (1979-1987), but the mechanics of central banking so clearly and concisely explained are just as much applicable today as in 1980 - or 1950 for that matter. Greider divides the book into three more-or-less equal thirds. The first covers the inflationary surge of the 1970s, Carter's tenuous decision to appoint Volker, and Volker's radical move of abandoning the control of interest rates in favor of controlling the nation's money supply. (In other words, a shift from the Keynesian orthodoxy dominant in the post-War period in favor of a monetarist approach more in line with the theories of the iconoclastic economist Milton Friedman.) The second, and most informative third provides an historical overview of central banking and its development in the United States. For those solely interested in a better understanding of central banking and the US Federal Reserve in particular, this book will be worth your while even if you only read this middle section. The final third deals with Volker's punishing monetary policy during the early 1980s, as he attempted to destroy lingering anticipation of inflation and the incredibly simulative effects of the Reagan era federal deficits and tax cuts. Greider is highly critical of Volker's performance as Fed chairman. In short, he argues that far from being the independent and benevolent Shepard of the economy it often claims to be, the Fed, in practice, is beholden to its most powerful constituency: the major money-center financial institutions (i.e. Citibank, Bank of America, etc.). Traditional central bankers view combating inflation as their primary professional objective, which tends to favor creditors at the expense of debtors. Grieder suggests that in waging war on inflation the Fed in effect was waging war on the millions of ordinary Americans struggling to make end meets and keep their heads above water. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, Greider's "Secrets of the Temple" is exhaustively researched, expertly written, and extremely enlightening.
Rating: 
Summary: Love-Hate Relationship
Review: Reviewers either loved or hated this book. I fit in the middle. This book would have been a 5 Star, 400 page review of the workings of the Fed and an introduction to the study of money our country. Unfortunately, Secrets of the Temple is over 700 pages. A little tedious, but just worth the wait.
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