The Origins of the Federal Reserve

The Panic of 1907 and Mobilization for a Central Bank

The Origins of the Federal Reserve
Murray N. Rothbard

The Panic of 1907 becomes the catalyst. Rothbard traces the response—the Aldrich-Vreeland Act and the Aldrich-led National Monetary Commission—as elites studied European central banks and mobilized expert and business opinion toward a central bank.