Instead of reading the rabid nonsense referred to in the previous post in this thread, try http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/articles/reinvent.htm wherein it is revealed that (gasp!) the Federal Reserve is an independent federal agency, but that (private) federal reserve banks have five of the twelve votes (the rest belong to government officials) on the Open Market Committee, an important policy-setting body that has an influence over the money supply. Incidentally, this practice was upheld in Melcher v. Federal Open Mkt. Comm., 644 F. Supp. 510 (D.D.C. 1986). My article discusses the tangled legality of letting private parties exercise goverment powers -- a practice that, like it or not, is as old as the Republic. (Documentation for that claim appears at http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/articles/reinvent.htm#ENDNOTE9 ) and thus about as clearly within the original intent as anything gets. Incidentally, the practice of giving private parties partial or full control over seemingly public functions affects a very large number of bodies, not just the Open Market Committee. On Mon, 11 Nov 1996, Doug Renner wrote: [pointer to rabid nonsense] A. Michael Froomkin | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax) Associate Professor of Law | U. Miami School of Law | froomkin@law.miami.edu P.O. Box 248087 | http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA | It's warm here.