http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/1996/19961205.htm

One of my CFO colleagues from Oracle days was railing the other day about the Federal Reserve, vilifying them for causing most of the current economic crisis. Before we start pulling down any of our current institutions in a major paradigm shift, it’s important to understand why they’re there in the first place. This speech by Alan Greenspan given before The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research on Dec 5th, 1996 is still one of the best historic and current day perspectives I’ve seen on the subject; it gives a good historical context for central banking issues. Please have a read and comment with your thoughts.