[tzs]

> It's as "federal" as Federal Express.

That's not really correct. The Federal Reserve's Board of Governors are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. More than half of the members of its Federal Open Market Committee come from the Board of Governors (and so are Presidential appointees).

The Federal Reserve is not a normal government agency, but neither is it a non-government entity like Federal Express. It is something in between.

[mark_edward]

The libertarian and gold bug stuff about the Fed actually being a secret private bank drives me wild. I think it's because the shriven government does so little, in terms of producing and not redistribution compared to other nations.

I mean there's all kinds of arms length government agencies. There's state broadcasters like the CBC or BBC with similar independent board of governors/directors. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's Real Estate Disciplinary and Enforcement Boards is something like half real estate professionals as provided by law. There's sewage districts and stuff that nobody knows about with taxation powers and independent election of leaders are they private? It's such a weird meme to have such persistence, especially among techies.