"Why Was the Fed Created?" with George Selgin -- Ron Paul Fed Lecture Series, Pt 1/3
Channel: CongressmanRonPaul
Date: 2012-03-02

Rep. Ron Paul sponsored this Congressional lecture on "Why Was the Federal Reserve Created?", the introductory lecture in a three part series on the Federal Reserve System for Congressional staff. As a continuing educational tool this lecture was filmed and is provided to the public. The lecture was delivered by Dr. George Selgin, Professor of Economics at the Terry School of Business at the University of Georgia and author of a number of books on money and banking, such as "Bank Deregulation and Monetary Order" and "Good Money."  

Prof. Selgin provides a short but comprehensive explanation of the institutional drawbacks of the United States banking system during the 19th century and how this fueled desire for financial reform.  Unfortunately, as Prof. Selgin goes on to describe, the solution of allowing a free market in banking was rejected and instead another layer of government regulation was placed on the banking sector in the form of the Federal Reserve System.  

Other lectures in the Fed series to follow:
Pt. 2: What Does the Fed Do? -- http://youtu.be/pRipVd5wxhI
Pt. 3: What is the Fed's Future? -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdX60JgPTmA

Related: Ron Paul Money Lecture Series
Pt. 1: "What is Money" -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vowbrq_g5NM 
Pt. 2: "What is Constitutional Money?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6gMkKmQSW4
Pt. 3: "What About Money Causes Economic Crises?" -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npJ0CUT8d_Y