Ron Paul and the Fed.

Showing off his dyed-in-the-wool schooling in Austrian economics, Representative Ron Paul accurately explains the perils of the Fed and the reason for money in this insightful article appearing in The Wall Street Journal:

To know what is wrong with the Federal Reserve, one must first understand the nature of money. Money is like any other good in our economy that emerges from the market to satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. Its particular usefulness is that it helps facilitate indirect exchange, making it easier for us to buy and sell goods because there is a common way of measuring their value. Money is not a government phenomenon, and it need not and should not be managed by government. When central banks like the Fed manage money they are engaging in price fixing, which leads not to prosperity but to disaster.