The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy

... a description of recent Federal Reserve policies, written as if management of interest rates were the primary tool available. Given that the New York Fed is the depository of the U.S. government, which was missing $21 trillion as of fiscal 2015, and is the agent for the Treasury Department’s Exchange Stabilization Fund—the mother of all slush funds—it seems like there is a lot more show more going on than just raising and lowering the Fed funds rate. Not to mention, the NY Fed owners serve as correspondent banks for most, if not all, of the nations in the world, and the U.S. banking system is the leading money laundry for illegal and covert global flows.

Nevertheless, I read The Lords of Easy Money as Leonard does a good job of describing and documenting the basis of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s personal fortune. show less

"In a year defined by inflation and sinking asset prices, Christopher Leonard’s character-driven narrative of Federal Reserve decision-making provides insight into how we got here. The author takes us into the halls of power but also highlights the workers, investors and entrepreneurs whose strategies were distorted by years of near-zero interest rates. Their stories illuminate how show more startlingly little the Fed’s policymakers understand about how their actions affect Main Street." show less