Review of Ron Paul's "End the Fed"

If you haven’t yet bought a copy of Congressman Ron Paul’s latest book, End the Fed, why the hell haven’t you? Everything our favorite Republican does garners a lot of attention these days, so I’ll keep this review brief.

Congressman Paul covers a lot of ground in a fairly short book; the shady founding of the Federal Reserve, the threat of fiat currency to a free society, the case for a gold-backed currency, and the Fed’s role in creating the current economic crisis, among other related topics, are discussed clearly and concisely, all in layman’s terms. To those already familiar with Austrian Economics, or even libertarianism or (traditional) conservatism generally, most of this material will already be familiar, and those well-versed in the topic can, honestly, safely skip over the book. However, as an introduction to what is arguably the most dangerous single institution in the United States, End the Fed will prove and invaluable tool for those who have not paid much attention to such seemingly arcane topics as monetary policy.

So, buy a copy for yourself, read it, donate a copy to your local library, give a copy to all your friends and relations. With the possible exception of Murray Rothbard’s What Has Government Done to Our Money? (which is available here for free), this is the best introduction to the case against fiat currency I’m aware of, so take full advantage.