Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	viii
FOREWORD by Reed Simpson, Banker and Developer	ix
INTRODUCTION: Captured by the Debt Spider	1

Section I

THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD: FROM GOLD TO FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES

9

Chapter
1	Lessons from The Wizard of Oz	11
2	Behind the Curtain: The Federal Reserve and the Federal Debt	23
3	Experiments in Utopia: Colonial Paper Money as Legal Tender	35
4	How the Government Was Persuaded to Borrow Its Own Money	47
5	From Matriarchies of Abundance to Patriarchies of Debt	57
6	Pulling the Strings of the King: The Moneylenders Take England	65
7	While Congress Dozes in the Poppy Fields: Jefferson and Jackson Sound the Alarm	75
8	Scarecrow with a Brain: Lincoln Foils the Bankers	83
9	Lincoln Loses the Battle with the Masters of European Finance	91
10	The Great Humbug: The Gold Standard and the Straw Man of Inflation	99

Section II

THE BANKERS CAPTURE THE MONEY MACHINE

107

11	No Place Like Home: Fighting for the Family Farm	109
12	Talking Heads and Invisible Hands: The Secret Government	117
13	Witches’ Coven: The Jekyll Island Affair and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913	125
14	Harnessing the Lion: The Federal Income Tax	135
15	Reaping the Whirlwind: The Great Depression	143
16	Oiling the Rusted Joints of the Economy: Roosevelt, Keynes and the New Deal	153
17	Wright Patman Exposes the Money Machine	163
18	A Look Inside the Fed’s Playbook: “Modern Money Mechanics”	173
19	Bear Raids and Short Sales: Devouring Capital Markets	183
20	Hedge Funds and Derivatives: A Horse of a Different Color	193

Section III

ENSLAVED BY DEBT: THE BANKERS’ NET SPREADS OVER THE GLOBE

203

21	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: From Gold Reserves to Petrodollars	205
22	The Tequila Trap: The Real Story Behind the Illegal Alien Invasion	217
23	Freeing the Yellow Winkies: The Greenback System Flourishes Abroad	225
24	Sneering at Doom: “Germany Finances a War Without Money”	235
25	Another Look at the Inflation Humbug: Some “Textbook” Hyperinflations Revisited	241
26	Poppy Fields, Opium Wars and Asian Tigers	251
27	Waking the Sleeping Giant: Lincoln’s Greenback System Comes to China	259
28	Recovering the Jewel of the British Empire: A People’s Movement Takes Back India	267

Section IV

THE DEBT SPIDER CAPTURES AMERICA

277

29	Breaking the Back of the Tin Man: Debt Serfdom for American Workers	279
30	The Lure in the Consumer Debt Trap: The Illusion of Home Ownership	287
31	The Perfect Financial Storm	293
32	In the Eye of the Cyclone: How the Derivatives Crisis Has Gridlocked the Banking System	303
33	Maintaining the Illusion: Rigging Financial Markets	315
34	Meltdown: The Secret Bankruptcy of the Banks	325

Section V

THE MAGIC SLIPPERS: TAKING BACK THE MONEY POWER

335

35	Stepping from Scarcity into Technicolor Abundance	337
36	The Community Currency Movement: Sidestepping the Debt Web with “Parallel” Currencies	347
37	The Money Question: Goldbugs and Greenbackers Debate	357
38	The Federal Debt: A Case of Disorganized Thinking	367
39	Liquidating the Federal Debt Without Causing Inflation	375
40	“Helicopter” Money: The Fed’s New Hot Air Balloon	383

Section VI

VANQUISHING THE DEBT SPIDER: A BANKING SYSTEM THAT SERVES THE PEOPLE

391

41	Restoring National Sovereignty with a Truly National Banking System	393
42	The Question of Interest: Ben Franklin Solves the Impossible Contract Problem	407
43	Bailout, Buyout, or Corporate Takeover? Beating the Robber Barons at Their Own Game	417
44	The Quick Fix: Government That Pays for Itself	425
45	The Tin Man Gets a Heart: Solving the Problem of Third World Debt	435
46	Building a Bridge: Toward a New Bretton Woods	441
47	Over the Rainbow: Government Without Taxes or Debt	451
Glossary		463
Selected Bibliography of Books and Suggested Reading		471
Notes		473
Index		503