If we are to achieve real freedom, it is imperative that monetary reform be pursued with the same vigour and intensity as was displayed towards political reform during the struggle years. But that requires understanding the complex issues of how money is created, whom it belongs to and whose interests it serves.

It also provides a record, both ancient and modern, of societies and civilizations that have flourished in an environment free from the burden of usury. The author offered the economic history behind the murders of Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Muammar Qaddafi (Real spelling Mu’ammar Muhammed al-Qathafi as the author provides it), JFK, and United States Congressman Louis T. McFadden after delivering a speech (fully included in the book) on the floor of Congress in which he exposed the Federal Reserve System in 1932. As time went on, the Romans took to using, instead of cattle, irregular lumps of copper or bronze. These lumps were called aes rude (rough metal) and had to be weighed for each transaction.The Hidden Origins of the Bank of England ...all great events have been distorted, most of the important causes concealed…If the history of England is ever written by one who has the knowledge and the courage, the world would be astonished. - Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of Great Britain

Stephen Mitford Goodson recently passed away and something about his eulogy inspired me to find this book. Rudyard Kipling’s poem If was included in the eulogy at his funeral and it immediately triggered my curiosity.

The cultural and material progress of a civilization will often relate to the degree by which it is free from the influence of debt, and the degradation that results when the money-lenders are permitted to abuse their power. Hence, Goodson shows that both World Wars, the Napoleonic wars, the American Revolution, the rise and fall of Julius Caesar, the regicide of Charles I of England, the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya and the revolution against Tsar Nicholas, among much else in history relate to this "Hidden Hand".

This book is bound to be controversial and engender strong reactions. Why would a seemingly arid subject matter such as the history of central banking and of the monetary system give rise to such strong reactions? Central banks learned to be lenders of last resort and provide financial stability but the pursuit of “too big to fail” led to the development of fiscally resolved banking crises. The Global Financial Crisis was a major departure from the post–Great Depression experience for many advanced countries, but the lessons learned then prevented another financial crisis in 2020. However, the expansion of banks’ toolkits to include credit policy, a form of fiscal policy, threatens central-bank independence.To help understand the central-banking landscape of today, it might be of value to revisit how such banks and monetary policy evolved through history. If you wish to have a real understanding of history - look for the influence of the bankers. This is the key to understanding the past, the present and the future.