Greider, William. Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the
Country. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989. 798 pages.
Greider's massive book aims to break down the "religious awe" many
Americans feel when they contemplate the Federal Reserve Board or "Fed"
(the secretive "temple" of Greider's title). The Fed's 12 key members,
usually bankers or similar establishment types vetted by Wall Street,
effectively control the U.S. economy by setting interest rates and guiding
the national money supply. The press commonly kowtows to Fed members as
dispassionate wizards, whose decisions are based on technical criteria
lying outside (or above) politics. Long-time Fed chairman Paul Volcker was
often portrayed as the father who saved his children (us) from self-
indulgence and 70s inflation.
Greider's contrary view is as simple as his arguments for it are
longwinded. He sees the Fed as a racket designed to insulate crucial
economic decisions from popular control. The Fed's propaganda war against
"inflation" justifies the high interest rates that have wrecked the
economy, while providing mega-payoffs to the superrich. Such populism is
anathema to the respectable press, which virtually ignored Greider's
important book. His latest ("Who Will Tell the People?", 1992) may fare
better.
-- Steve Badrich
ISBN 0-671-67556-7
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