The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy Paperback – January 10, 2023

This is a fine book. I'd order nine copies to be sent to each member of the Bank of Japan's Policy Boardif I thought it would do any good, but I won't, because it wouldn't. The Bank's Governor, Kazuo Uedawas 17 years old when the movie, "Night of the Living Dead, " was released. He was, undoubtedly,so taken by it, that the Zombie settings of the Bank's meetings emulate it. After the obligatory bowing,the members stare at one another for two days, after which they do nothing,except stagger back totheir desks, until it's time for the next meeting. The interest rate in Japan remains at minus 0.10%,which, to put it bluntly, is somewhat different than everyplace else. Then again, years ago, the Japanesegovernment said that they could not import American beef, because Japanese intestines were different.Arithmetic in Japan is also different. 1+1 do not equal 2. Mr. Leonard could not write a book about, "Nichigin,"because the pages would be blank.

The 2008 crisis happened as a result of President Clinton's amendments in the 90's to President Carter 1977 Community Reinvestment Act where banks were required to make a specific number of low-income housing loans which would be backed by Freddie MAC and Fannie MAE. The fallout of the 2008 crisis such as Quantitative Easing, Zero Interest Rate Policy, Asset Bubbles, and Bailouts, and the chain reactions from the unintended consequences of short-term thinking is brilliantly described in this book. The research and the behind-the-scenes information on the Federal Reserve's day-to-day operation are eye-opening. Every elected congressional office person should be required to read this book before assuming duties in Washington. Never again will I believe the Federal Reserve is the right way to handle the money supply. All Bernanke did was experiment and shoot from the hip... and Powell panics and thinks he can make short-term fixes in an economy that needs to be steered like an aircraft carrier when he is not going where no one has gone before....just like Bernanke. This country needs better.

This is a fascinating, eye-opening view inside the Federal Reserve. The writing is engaging and makes for a readable tale which every American should read. I learned much about the unintended impact of wealth redistribution due to Fed policy which is THE untold story of the past decade.The reason for four stars is the occasional howler which reveals the author’s bias and life inside a bubble. Trump’s appeal was many things, primarily on illegal immigration and trade with China, but it was not as Leonard has it: “One of Trump’s primary appeals was that he would work diligently to dismantle whatever was left of America’s fiscal policy institutions.” Right.He also claims “the federal government failed entirely to implement any kind of unified response to the [covid] virus” - that is a feature (not a bug) of our system of federalism. States have powers too and given the unintended malicious affects of lockdowns we can be grateful that there was nothing imposed from on high. In the following paragraph he then undermines this statement by highlighting how huge and unprecedented the CARES Act was (a federal program).But these are nitpicks. In this era an author writing a book this long on any subject should be commended for keeping his prejudices under leash as well as he did. You can say this book is the work of a true journalist, which is a very rare thing these days.

Brilliant book that reveals the consequences of short-term thinking and reckless money printing that has characterized the Fed over the past 20 years, exactly the opposite approach from what you would hope for from an independent Fed. Extremely eye opening on how QE has been abused for far too long and created a doom spiral where the Fed is constantly mopping up new messes of its own making. The book is structured essentially as twin biographies of two key figures: Tom Hoenig, the former chair of the KC Fed, and Jay Powell, the current Fed Chair. It shows Hoenig to be a lone voice of monetary responsibility during the era the book covers in depth (2008 to 2022) . Extremely well written and accessible to non-experts with an interest in the Fed.

Learned a lot!!

When it comes to exposing the Federal Reserve's loss of institutional integrity, Mr. Leonard has the tenacity and self-discipline to search out the data, the intelligence and knowledge to decipher the data's meaning, and the courage to reveal to the public the truth of the Feds loss of institutional integrity. This is a story told with a riveting narrative. One reviewer made much or the author "confusing" a T-bill with a Treasury bond. While the reviewers criticism is technically correct, the definition between the two is not always distinct and well-defined as the reviewer wishes implies. My advice is to go read this book if you want to see how the Federal Reserve has been co-opted by the Big Bank Financial Barrons and is now setting Fed policy to move money away Main Street to the vaults of Wall Streets. their goal is to remove wealth and income from middle America and give it to the Big Banks. . The Board of Governors of the Fed are now corrupt and have become nothing more than the minions of Wall Street and billionaire corporatist.

Does a great job of explaining how money works in America.