Cronyism: The Origins of the Federal Reserve

Drawing on his new book Cronyism: Rise of the Corporate Estate, 1849–1929, Patrick Newman makes the case that the Federal Reserve is the signature example of policy that serves a special interest at the public’s expense. He first dismantles the standard justification — modern research finds the pre-Fed panics were less severe than advertised, and the real problems traced to regulations like the branch-banking ban. He then follows the money: Wall Street’s declining market share, its campaign for a New York–controlled central bank, the Jekyll Island meeting, and what followed — a rising share of bank reserves, the dollar’s ascent over the pound, and a credit expansion that ended in 1929.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 22, 2026.

Mises University is the world’s leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.