If you want to understand the Federal Reserve read The Creature from Jekyll Island. Government was bankrupted via bankers wars. The government is prohibited from making pure fiat currency, so they made a deal with the creditor banks to borrow the pure fiat currency instead, giving the bankers full control of the fiat (the fed determines what is 'real' money and what is not) A mere sidestep of a constitutional prohibition (unconstitutional as hell). Though the book doesn't directly mention it, Satan is personally involved.