Banks & Banking Books

The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve

G. Edward Griffin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 183 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Highly Recommended Book!! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This Book traces the International Bankers attempt to control the nations of the world through a privately owned central bank, manipulating and controlling the money supply creating recessions, depressions and financing wars.our Founding Fathers who wrote the Constitution warned the nation of an institution like a central bank.''Give me control over a nations currency and I care not who writes its laws''wrote Rothschild! those that control the federal Reserve control the world.



Fiat money created out of nothing(unbacked by gold) issued by a private bank the federal reserve and charging interest on it,what a scam!!this is the cause of our current global economic crises!!!

Editorial Review:

Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magicians' secrets are unveiled. We get a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, their pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A dry and boring subject? Just wait! You'll be hooked in five minutes. Reads like a detective story — which it really is. But it's all true. This book is about the most blatant scam of all history. It's all here: the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation, depression, prosperity. Creature from Jekyll Island will change the way you view the world, politics, and money. Your world view will definitely change. You'll never trust a politician again — or a banker.

The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It

Robert J. Shiller

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Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The subprime mortgage crisis has already wreaked havoc on the lives of millions of people and now it threatens to derail the U.S. economy and economies around the world. In this trenchant book, best-selling economist Robert Shiller reveals the origins of this crisis and puts forward bold measures to solve it. He calls for an aggressive response--a restructuring of the institutional foundations of the financial system that will not only allow people once again to buy and sell homes with confidence, but will create the conditions for greater prosperity in America and throughout the deeply interconnected world economy.

Shiller blames the subprime crisis on the irrational exuberance that drove the economy's two most recent bubbles--in stocks in the 1990s and in housing between 2000 and 2007. He shows how these bubbles led to the dangerous overextension of credit now resulting in foreclosures, bankruptcies, and write-offs, as well as a global credit crunch. To restore confidence in the markets, Shiller argues, bailouts are needed in the short run. But he insists that these bailouts must be targeted at low-income victims of subprime deals. In the longer term, the subprime solution will require leaders to revamp the financial framework by deploying an ambitious package of initiatives to inhibit the formation of bubbles and limit risks, including better financial information; simplified legal contracts and regulations; expanded markets for managing risks; home equity insurance policies; income-linked home loans; and new measures to protect consumers against hidden inflationary effects.

This powerful book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we got into the subprime mess--and how we can get out.

The Origin of Financial Crises: Central Banks, Credit Bubbles, and the Efficient Market Fallacy (Vintage)

George Cooper

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

4.5 stars-Cooper has connected all of the dots except one-he missed Keynes 5 out of 5 stars.
21 of 32 people found this review helpful.

Cooper has written a book that currently must be judged to be superior to any other book written on the Subprime mortgage backed bond catastrope that has led the American Treasury Secretary Paulson to advocate the government purchase of about 1 trillion dollars of bank and investment bank assets about which no one has the slightest idea of what their true worth is.
Cooper simply and easily dismantles the Efficient Market Hypothesis(EMH)that is the foundation of modern finance theory.This hypothesis is also the foundation of ALL modern macroeconomic theory.The EMH goes under the name rational expectations,real business cycles,New Classical Economics,and New Keynesian Economics in macroeconomics.Underlying both is the Subjective Expected Utility(SEU)decision theory,a hybrid of the Frank Ramsey,Bruno De Finetti,and Leonard J. Savage subjectivist theory of probability that is combined with the Von Neumann and Morgenstern expected utility theory.This theory assumes that the weight of the evidence available to decision makers is complete.This means that all decision makers know and can apply a unique probability distribution's mean and standard deviation, or act " as if " they did,before they make any decision.This case is a very special case of Keynes's weight of the evidence variable,w, where w=1.w is defined on the unit interval between 0 and 1 (Ellsberg's rho variable gives the same results as Keynes's w because rho is also defined on the unit interval.A rho =1 means that the decision maker has complete confidence in his information set and can specify a unique probability distribution).

The efficient market hypothesis assumes that w and rho =1,just as the rational expectations hypothesis does.Cooper,unfortunately,overlooks the fact that Minsky's financial fragility hypothesis,which shows how waves of speculation ,magnified and amplified by bank loans to speculators ,will morph into Ponzi finance schemes that lead to the collapse of the bubble and a crash , is directly built on Keynes's Chapter 21 analysis in his General Theory(1936;GT) which integrated Keynes's weight of the evidence analysis concerning w from chapters 6 and 26(sections 7 and 8) of the A Treatise on Probability(1921;TP)into his elasticity analysis on pp.304-306 of the GT.The crucial result is that a complete information set requires that the macro elasticity e = 1(or ed subscript =1).A e = 1(this means the same thing as w = 1 or rho = 1)means that there is a complete information set that allows decison makers to calculate the riskiness of different alternative portfolios.The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Rational Expectations hypothesis will both hold.There will be no uncertainty or ambiguity(Ellsberg's term),only risk.However,Keynes points out that the general case is that e < 1(so both w < 1 and rho < 1).Uncertainty exists and results in a speculative demand for money.The greater the speculative demand for money is the greater the amount of involuntary unemployment and economic instability that will result.I have deducted 1/2 of a star because Cooper overlooks the fact that Keynes had already demonstrated theoretically that a Minsky crisis can occur whenever w or rho or e is less than 1.Minsky himself had absolutely no understanding of the technical results derived by Keynes in chapter 21 of the GT because he never read either chapter 20 or chapter 21.There is nothing new,original,or innovative in Minsky's work.
Cooper redeems himself by showing how Mandelbrot's analysis of his general 4-parameter model, built around the Cauchy distribution's dangerous wild risk ,that, practically, goes out as far as 25 standard deviations ,demonstrates the special case nature of both modern finance theory and modern macroeconomic theory.Both theories are built on the Normal distribution's plus or minus 3 standard deviations covering 99.7 % of all outcomes.The Normal distribution is a special case of the Cauchy distribution.Heavy government regulation of the financial and banking system,aimed at stopping banker financed speculation ,can, as argued by Adam Smith(The Wealth of Nations,1776,Modern Library(Cannan)edition,pp.260-340) over 230 years ago in his 80 page discussion of why a central bank was needed,prevent the boom-bust turbulence of the Cauchy distribution from arising.A heavily regulated financial and macroscopic system can artificially create normally distributed outcomes with no more than plus or minus 3 standard deviations ,thus preventing the wild risk of the Cauchy from destroying the financial system.Deregulation and privatization automatically unleach the destructive potential of the Cauchy.Cooper covers this satisfactorily,but somewhat unevenly,in chapters 2,4,7,and 8 of his book.

This book is not meant for the general reader.The potential buyer needs to be familiar with both modern finance theory(EMH) and macroeconomic theory(REH) ,as well as Mandelbrot's work,to understand why the world's financial markets can be destroyed in a deregulated environment of the type that has been constructed between 1978 and 2008 in the United States and the World.

Editorial Review:

In a series of disarmingly simple arguments financial market analyst George Cooper challenges the core principles of today's economic orthodoxy and explains how we have created an economy that is inherently unstable and crisis prone. With great skill, he examines the very foundations of today's economic philosophy and adds a compelling analysis of the forces behind economic crisis. His goal is nothing less than preventing the seemingly endless procession of damaging boom-bust cycles, unsustainable economic bubbles, crippling credit crunches, and debilitating inflation. His direct, conscientious, and honest approach will captivate any reader and is an invaluable aid in understanding today's economy.

Web of Debt: The Shocking Truth About Our Money System and How We Can Break Free

Ellen Hodgson Brown

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 57 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

MUST READ 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

A must read. Read this book if you want to understand the severity of our economic crisis and the causes of it.

Editorial Review:

EXPLODING THE MYTHS ABOUT MONEY Our money system is not what we have been led to believe. The creation of money has been "privatized," or taken over by a private money cartel. Except for coins, all of our money is now created as loans advanced by private banking institutions -- including the private Federal Reserve. Banks create the principal but not the interest to service their loans. To find the interest, new loans must continually be taken out, expanding the money supply, inflating prices -- and robbing you of the value of your money. Web of Debt unravels the deception and presents a crystal clear picture of the financial abyss towards which we are heading. Then it explores a workable alternative, one that was tested in colonial America and is grounded in the best of American economic thought, including the writings of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. If you care about financial security, your own or the nation's, you should read this book.

Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty

Muhammad Yunus

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Total reviews: 77 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Muhammad Yunus is that rare thing: a bona fide visionary. His dream is the total eradication of poverty from the world. In 1983, against the advice of banking and government officials, Yunus established Grameen, a bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with minuscule loans. Grameen Bank, based on the belief that credit is a basic human right, not the privilege of a fortunate few, now provides over 2.5 billion dollars of micro-loans to more than two million families in rural Bangladesh. Ninety-four percent of Yunus's clients are women, and repayment rates are near 100 percent. Around the world, micro-lending programs inspired by Grameen are blossoming, with more than three hundred programs established in the United States alone.

Banker to the Poor is Muhammad Yunus's memoir of how he decided to change his life in order to help the world's poor. In it he traces the intellectual and spiritual journey that led him to fundamentally rethink the economic relationship between rich and poor, and the challenges he and his colleagues faced in founding Grameen. He also provides wise, hopeful guidance for anyone who would like to join him in "putting homelessness and destitution in a museum so that one day our children will visit it and ask how we could have allowed such a terrible thing to go on for so long." The definitive history of micro-credit direct from the man that conceived of it, Banker to the Poor is necessary and inspirational reading for anyone interested in economics, public policy, philanthropy, social history, and business.

Muhammad Yunus was born in Bangladesh and earned his Ph.D. in economics in the United States at Vanderbilt University, where he was deeply influenced by the civil rights movement. He still lives in Bangladesh, and travels widely around the world on behalf of Grameen Bank and the concept of micro-credit.

The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Ron Chernow

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Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The winner of the National Book Award and now considered a classic, The House of Morgan is the most ambitious history ever written about an American banking dynasty. Acclaimed by The Wall Street Journal as "brilliantly researched and written," the book tells the rich, panoramic story of four generations of Morgans and the powerful, secretive firms they spawned. It is the definitive account of the rise of the modern financial world. A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P. Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece, a compelling account of a remarkable institution and the men who ran it, and an essential book for understanding the money and power behind the major historical events of the last 150 years.

The Case Against the Fed

Murray N. Rothbard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Bewildering Case Against the Fed 2 out of 5 stars.
7 of 19 people found this review helpful.

Recently I read a book by Ron Paul and in a review I questioned some of his criticisms of the Federal Reserve. It's not that I'm some kind of defender of the Federal Reserve it's just that his alternative (having Congress in charge of monetary policy) seemed horrifying. Some folks politely urged me to do some further research on the subject suggesting this book so I've done my due diligence and read it.

There is a reoccurring theme when I speak to or read material from self described Libertarians. Apparently the Federal Reserve is a very devious organization that illegally counterfeits money. Counterfeiting is one of the most repeated charges I've heard leveled against the Federal Reserve and it never really made sense to me so I looked up the words definition in the American Heritage Dictionary. Counterfeiting is defined as, "To make a copy of, usually with the intent to defraud; forge". Other definitions said basically the same thing. Is U.S. currency a fraud or forgery given the fact that it is printed with the permission of the Federal government? The accusation seems baseless and bizarre. Since this is one of the primary legs of Mr. Rothbard's argument it leads me to question his entire case.

The main crux of the author's argument, if I understand it correctly, is that the Federal Reserve was created by and for the protection of United States banks to allow them to reap profits above and beyond what would naturally be possible. By going off the gold standard and allowing the Federal Reserve to create money out of thin air, inflation is driven up. The author writes, "The gold standard no longer servers as any kind of check upon the Central Bank's expansion of its credit" but I'm not even sure how the gold standard operated as a speed bump. Is it because it's a finite resource?

Much of the rest of the book is nothing more than a history of how the central bank was initially pushed in the United States. The author lists all the players involved and I do mean ALL the players. Page after page lists name after name until I became dizzy. I guess it's all supposed to sound very conspiratorial but it grew tiresome. His point was that the central bank was created at the behest of wealthy bankers. Is this shocking? I'm not sure. Unless I'm mistaken it WAS created to protect the integrity of banks to ensure customer confidence. Considering the book is a mere 151 pages this lengthy section seemed to be completely superfluous filler. This was the section that dragged the book down to two stars for me.

So in the end the author suggests abolishing the Federal Reserve, liquidating its assets and going back on the gold standard. Somehow I feel as if I'm missing some salient point. Hard currency has become rather quaint in this day and age. Well over 90% of my purchases are done without physical cash ever changing hands. It seems that just about anyone can create money out of thin air by purchasing using credit. I will agree that many of the regulating agencies in our country are set up more to lock out competition than to regulate industry but there seems to be no lack of banks. If the authors point was that the FDIC causes banks to engage in risky behavior I'm not sure that that's true either. I really have to question whether the advocates of returning to the gold standard and abolishing the Federal Reserve actually understand the ramifications or if it just feels good to get rid of a powerful institution. Getting rid of institutions seems to be one of the great pleasures of Libertarians with the Federal Reserve joining the IRS and the public school systems as primary targets. Seems like a bad idea to me but what do I know.

Editorial Review:

The most powerful case against the American central bank ever written. This work begins with a mini-treatment of money and banking theory, and then plunges right in with the real history of the Federal Reserve System. Rothbard covers the struggle between competing elites and how they converged with the Fed.

Rothbard calls for the abolition of the central bank and a restoration of the gold standard. His popular treatment incorporates the best and most up-to-date scholarship on the Fed's origins and effects.

Damn, it Feels Good to Be a Banker: And Other Baller Things You Only Get to Say If You Work On Wall Street

Leveraged Sellout

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In one word: egregious.

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker is a Wall Street epic, a war cry for the masses of young professionals behind desks at Investment Banks, Hedge Funds, and Private Equity shops around the world. With chapters like "No. We do not have any `hot stock tips' for you," "Mergers are a girl's best friend," and "Georgetown? I wouldn't let my maids' kids go there," the book captures the true essence of being in high finance.

DIFGTBAB thematically walks through Wall Street culture, pointing out its intricacies: the bushleagueness of a Men's Warehouse suit or squared-toe shoes, the power of 80s pop, and the importance of Microsoft Excel shortcut keys as related to ever being able to have any significant global impact.

The book features various, vivid illustrations of Bankers in their natural state (ballin'), and, in true Book 2.0 fashion, numerous, insightful comments from actual readers of the widely popular website LeveragedSellOut.com.

Thorough and well-executed, it's lens into the heart of an often misunderstood, unfairly stereotyped subset of our society. The view--breathtaking.

Reader Responses

"After reading this clueless propaganda, I strongly believe that you are a racist, misogynist jerk. FYI, Size 6 is not fat." --Banker Chick

"Strong to very strong." --John Carney, Editor-In-Chief, Dealbreaker.com

"I used to feel pretty good about making $200K/year." --Poor person

Fibonacci Analysis (Bloomberg Market Essentials: Technical Analysis)

Constance Brown

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Only someone who is both a successful trader and a successful writer could pull off what Constance Brown has accomplished in this book: distilling Fibonacci analysis to two hundred or so comprehensive, clearly written, eminently practical pages. Brown knows exactly what a professional trying to come up to speed on a new trading tool needs and she provides it, covering what Fibonacci analysis is, how it works, where it comes from, pitfalls and dangers, and, of course, how to use it. Basic trading strategies are touched upon in virtually every chapter. Fibonacci analysis is one of the most popular technical analysis tools, yet it is often used incorrectly. Brown quickly clears up common misconceptions and moves on to show, step by step, the correct way to apply the technique in any market. Those with Fibonacci analysis software will learn how to use it with maximum effectiveness; those without will chart the market the old-fashioned way. All will find answers to the trader's most important questions: where is the market going; at what level should my stop be entered; based on the size of my trading account, how much should I leverage into a trading position; can I tell if I am in trouble before my stop is hit; how much should I buy or sell if given a second or third opportunity? Occasional references to other tools--including Elliott Wave, W.D. Gann, and candlestick charts--and an extensive bibliography make this book richer for accomplished technical analysts without confounding the less experienced. Plentiful real-life examples and dozens of carefully annotated charts insure every reader will get maximum value from every minute spent with this book.

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

William Greider

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Tom Potts Review is simply erroneous about the ownership questions 3 out of 5 stars.
10 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Tom Potts of Ottowa chose to review this book, and he erroneously comments that:
"The Federal Reserve is a 100% privately owned corporation, carefully set up to appear as though it is an arm of government. It was created solely for the benefit of it's shareholders, a significant proportion of which are foreign. Greider could have mentioned this extremely important fact at the outset. Instead he deliberately helps perpetuate the myth that "The Fed" is public."
That short paragraph is simply not correct. Please understand that as a libertarian, I have no reason nor any desire to favor the Fed. But, I do favor getting the facts straight, and, in just the snippet quoted above, Mr. Potts' has more than one or two facts incorrect.
The 12 Federal Reserve banks, facially organized like a private corporation, do indeed issue shares of stock to "member banks." But owning such stock is NOT like owning stock in a private corporation. To start with, member banks have no choice - they must both "own stock" and they also must have reserves on deposit with the Federal Reserve Banks. Yet their "stock" can't be bought, sold or pledged as security and memeber banks get no interest for the funds must they must have held in reserve by their Federal Reserve bank. And, the dividends paid are limited to, at most 6%, which is supposedly partial compensation for the fact that no interest is paid on the amount the member banks are required to have on reserve. And, if you review the weekly statement or balance sheet the Fed issues, you'll see the "total capital" which, you might say represents the Fed's "profit." The Fed's excess capital is then paid over to the U.S. treasuery.
So, to say that the Federal Reserve was created solely for the "benefit of is shareholders" misstates the situation.

Editorial Review:

This ground-breaking best-seller reveals for the first time how the mighty and mysterious Federal Reserve operates -- and how it manipulated and transformed both the American economy and the world's during the last eight crucial years. Based on extensive interviews with all the major players, Secrets of the Temple takes us inside the government institution that is in some ways more secretive than the CIA and more powerful than the President or Congress.