The American money capture

[werner at mc.ab.com]

>Date: Mon, 2 May 94 10:35:54 -0700
>From: hughes at ah.com (Eric Hughes)
>The Great Depression was pretty clearly caused by deflation in the
>money supply.  To quote Milton Friedman:
>
>	"All told, from July 1929 to March 1933, the money stock in
>	the United States fell by one-third [...]"
>		Capitalism and Freedom, p. 50

On this subject (really from the original post about money), I have several
times tried to convince people that the Federal Reserve Bank is a private
deal.  I don't know where I got this impression, but no one will believe
me.

Are there some conspicuous facts that I could quote in support of this
position?  Or, perhaps, an easily obtained and authoritative document which
explains just what the heck the Fed really is?

I know the head is apppointed by the US gov, but my impression was that the
rest of it was just a consortium of bankers to whom the national debt is
owed.

thanks,
tw