Episode Details

In this episode, we explore the secret origin of the federal reserve. In November of 1910, some of the wealthiest and most powerful men in America boarded a train in the dead of night. Oh, yeah. The whole thing is incredibly dramatic. Right. I mean, they were literally using fake names. The shades on their private rail car were completely drawn shut, and they were heading to this highly exclusive secret club on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia. And their mission was to, well, completely rewrite the United States financial system. entirely from the shatters. It really does sound like, I don't know, the opening scene of a heist movie or something. Oh boy. But this is the actual documented origin story of the institution that controls the money in your pocket right now. Welcome to the deep dive. We are so thrilled you're here with us. Yeah. We know you, the learner, are always looking to get past those there. If the top bankers had a functional plan to stop the panics, to pour oil back into the engine so businesses wouldn't collapse, why didn't Congress just pass it immediately? Well, didn't the rural and western states want protection from another crash? What's fascinating here is that for the average American, The cure proposed by the Aldrich plan was actually far scarier than the disease of the panics. Really? Oh, yeah. The public was terrified of what was known as the Money Trust. From 1912 into 1913, a congressional group called the Pujo Committee held these explosive hearings investigating Wall Street. OK. And they mathematically exposed something called interlocking directorate. OK, let's define that because it's a crucial piece of the puzzle. Imagine looking at the board of directors for the biggest railroad, the biggest steel company, and the biggest bank. Interlocking directorates meant the exact same small group