“Robert Morris’s nationalist vision was not confined to a strong central government, the power of the federal government to tax, and a massive pubic debt fastened permanently upon the taxpayers. Shortly after he assumed total economic power in Congress in the spring of 1781, Morris introduced a bill to create . . . the first central bank . . . the Bank of North America . .. modeled after the Bank of England.”
–Murray Rothbard, A History of Money and Banking in the United States
“The Bank of the United States promptly fulfilled its inflationary potential . . . . The result of the outpouring of credit and paper money by the new Bank of the United States was . . . an increase [in prices] of 72 percent [from 1791 to 1796)."
--Murray Rothbard, A History of Money and Banking in the United States
The Bank of the United States "ran into grave difficulties through mismanagement, speculation, and fraud."
--James J. Kilpatrick, The Sovereign States
"[Henry Clay's] income from this business [general counsel to the Bank of the United States] apparently amounted to what he needed: three thousand dollars a year from the bank as chief counsel; more for appearing in specific cases; and a sizable amount of real estate in Ohio and Kentucky in addition to the cash . . . . When he resigned to become Secretary of State in 1825, he was pleased with his compensation.”
–Maurice Baxter, Henry Clay and the American System
“I believe my retainer has not been renewed or refreshed as usual. If it be wished that my relation to the Bank [of the United States] should be continued, it may be well to send me the usual retainer.”
–Letter from Daniel Webster to Nicholas Biddle, president of the Bank of the United States
The Bank of the United States “is a monster, a hydra-headed monster equipped with horns, hoofs, and tail so dangerous that it impaired the morals of our people, corrupted our statesmen, and threatened our liberty. It bought up members of Congress by the Dozen . . . subverted the electoral process, and sought to destroy our republican institutitons.”
–President Andrew Jackson
“Congress gave [Treasury Secretary] Hank Paulson. . . $700 billion, and the first thing he did was to take $125 billion out of the bag and give it to his pals at the nine biggest banks and investment banks in the country. Never one to display ingratitude, he gave $10 billion to Goldman Sachs, the firm he had headed before passing through the revolving door to the Treasury.”
–Robert Higgs
If you would like to learn more about the history and economics of American banksterism, consider taking my new Mises Academy online course entitled American Bankster, which will feature Murray Rothbard’s power elite analysis of banksterism in history. The course begins on the evening of March 14 and runs for five weeks.
