the mission and the dream president of after writing "wealth and poverty," among the first people that came to me and asking me to speak was bane and company. and bain and company was a great force in the supply side. they provided the microeconomics of supply side theory. the learning curve, the fact that lower prices expand market share which meets the lower cost and more prosperity. and this is both for the government, which also administrates prices, and called taxes, and so lower tax rates expand the economy and lead to more revenues for the government. and last zerosome struggle over government favors. >> we have been talking here on

booktv with george author of several books including a new edition of "wealth and poverty" which came out originally in the early '0eus. this is booktv on c-span2. coming up next edward griffin. the an libertarian conference held in las vegas. he talks about the book the creature from jekyll island. the creation of the federal reserve system. it's over fifteen minutes. the book on your screen written in 1994. it is currently in the 32nd print. this sphift edition. and the author is g. edward griffin. these joining us on c-span2 in las vegas. who is the creature from jekyll island? >> what is the creature. >> yes. i had fun with the tight. i thought if anybody saw it this

the bookstore, they might think it was a equal to jurassic park. it is they are the federal reserve m and the reason for the jekyll island connection was because one of the most springing thebt about the federal reserve it was created. it was there mission to draft the reserve act. i see you are going to show the picture. those the guys and the funny thing about the piece of history is that the federal reserve bill was being sold to the american people of that time as a piece of legislation that was going somehow control those big bad bankers. and what they didn't realize is the big bad bankers the epitome

of the great power centers. they were busy writing the bill that was supposed to control. with who are the six gentleman. >> you can walk us through. >> primarily senator old ridge was the only one not a banker. he was spearheading. >> the father-in-law to john rockefeller. >> he is tied in closely with the banking industry and the industrial complex. a wealthy guy in his own right. probably the most political figure in the united states short of the president who was wood row will sob in those days. the rest guys are bankers and they represented the din city of jpmorgan and the rockefeller dynasty. they had connections. they were connectioned to the roth childs in england. and max there. there was. he had connections to the brother max who was the head of the banks that banking

consortium in germany and the nether land. we have a international group here, really. representing international people. and it was the e peed my of the bad bankers of the world theeps were quites. what happened is they knew that there was going to be a move to control banking. they knew that congress was going to pass some kind of haw to regulate banking. instead of being stupid and sitting back and saying i hope they don't too bad. they decided to take the lead. they said we'll write the bill and make sure it toast to our liking. that's what it is about. they tboant yessing l high land. nobody knew their going there. they had meeting with a great deal of sect sei. they denied that they went. but they actually drafted the federal reserve act on jekyll island in 1910. the next three years. they to be that much time to promote it and get through

congress. william howard after it was president. >> yep. >> and the six gentleman that was the opinion of the journalist at the time who were writing about the people in connection with with the federal reserve. they really promised bankers about it the jekyll island group and these bankers in particular and in the inviement -- but they said these men represented directly through the power they

held in their own hands and indirectly through the money that was concentratessed in the investment firms like the insurance company and thebacking company put it all together. they said one-fourth of the wealth of the entire world and that concentration of wealth has only increased since then. >> who was the federal reserve act at the time it was being debated in congress, was it a controversial thing where newspapers full of articles about it? >> yes, it was. it did receive a lot of publicity at the time. but there was a lot of discussion that somehow some people were aware that the banks had an influence in the legislation. and when senator ailed risker released the legislation, it was called the bill. that was bad. he said don't do that.

people know that you're a republican and you're rich and that your connected with the investment. don't call that. and he apparently a great deal of' go and probably said i'm well respect and so he called it. that's when the controversy started. people said exactly what he said they going to say. they pulled the bill back. a lot of bad negativity about it. and then they reissued it almost the same bill. they got some deocrats carter glass called the glass bill. and he was a democrat. that was okay. you see. people still even in those days had the idea that somehow democrats were hard working people, you know, blue collar and dirt under the finger nail like ted kennedy. [laughter] the point is it worked. it was a bill being sponsored by the common man. they how that they did.

>> the bill federal reserve from the begins of a employ. >> absolutely it was a ploy. it was a bril i can't specious of strategy. the people were not stupid this they were great politician and strategies. in fight while it was debated in congress, some of the people went before the public. they gave speeching know it would be reported in the press. they were interviewed by journalist and said this bill they written on the side nobody knew about it. it's not going to be good for business. bad for america and they actually did that ploy. and it turns out the average guy would read out newspaper and say the big bankers don't like it, it must be pretty god. the fellows were bril i can't. that's how they sold it. grow ask the question in your book creature from yessing l island. what is the federal reserve bap your answer?

>> a cartel. it's not a government agency. it has the appearance of being a government agency. they went great lengths to give it that pa sad. it does have the power of government. the congress voted to give the power to it. in the ens sense underneath. it's a cartel. nothing different than a ban that that or oil cartel or shoe daughter. it happens to be a banking cartel. they got together and drew up the rules and regulations to self-regulate their own industry and accident to congress and they took off the label at the top that saiding banking cartel and erased that and said federal reserve act. congress passed ited in the law. we think it's a government agency because if you don't obey the rules u they set down, you go to prison. it looks like a government agency. basically the answer of your question is it's the banking cartel. when did you get interested in

the topic. in the 1960s. i was producing low budget documentary. i thought a god documentary would be on inflation. what's the cause of inflation. i wasn't too sure. it had something to do with manipulation of the money supply. i never produce the documentary. i got my interest in to it. i a box full of research and then anyway eventually got the box back out and started to get some talks on it. it do grew. there was no great milestone. more i learned it was a important topic to the future of our country.

that's is called morm hazard. that's the name the insurance agency gives it. when you have a government industry that guarantee that banks cannot fail. they are going that take taxpayer money and make the banks whole again if they go belly up or if there's a run in the bank. you are encouraging banks to make risky investments and loans. what have they got to lose? they know they're not going to be allowed to suffer the cons sequences for their own act.

and secondliedly, they have fdic isn't really insurance. it doesn't really rate the banks. in other words the more risky banks don't pay a higher premium. they pay the same rate. it's a another form of moral hazard. those are concerned with it and doing the best for their stockholders and the investors are making less money and the reckless money are making reasoningless loans and making more money. the conservative banks are reckless too. and that is a short pen way of explaining what happened to the banking industry in the last, well, next year the federal reserve will be 100 years old. it has been going on for 100 years. >> mr. griffin what should be done in your view? >> there's only one thing with the fed. they are a cartel.

they are the monopoly. it needs to be abolished. you cannot take the power to create money out of nothing and give it men and expect the power not to corrupt the men. i don't care if it's bankers or pollations. you give it to anybody and enevently that will be corrupted. it is a cartel and i think america needs to abolish it before it abolishes america. >> is that political my possible. >> it's not political my possible now because the average person doesn't support it. they wouldn't support it. with the passage of every month and year as more and more people are waking up to the fact that our banking industry is based upon fraud. and the bailouts and stomach plus program are become done, it's not helpingto people. it's plundering the people as more ame more people come to the

awareness. it becomes more and more politically possible. right now i don't think it is. when i wrote the bock some years ago there was practically zero interest in the topic. now we have demonstrations and the fed investigate and in the mow. to abolish. it e see it on college campuses once awhile. i have an e indication to speak before a university group. you see them tend. it's a new generation coming up. again, back to your question, it's not possible now but the smiew. growing. i think probably in the next eight to ten years probably will happen. >> would you advocate something replacing it? >> i don't think anything needs to replace it except honest banking. remember, it's a cartel. i don't think that ban that thats have to have