Conceived in corruption, nurtured in secrecy and practiced in economic folly, the Federal Reserve will continue playing its role right up until Y2K; then, like some unregulated tourist bus in Mexico with bad brakes, will plunge over the cliff. Gold-Eagle readers should really read up on the origin of the Federal Reserve: the secret rendezvous on a small offshore island of the nation's economic and political elite, the unstated goal of suppressing any banking threat to New York City economic dominance from Southern or Western Banks, the perversion of the United States Constitution's clauses expressly forbidding a central bank, the usurpation of the Congress' role in monetary policy; finally, the replacement of constitutionally mandated gold and silver with toilet paper, fiat, money.

Badly done fiat money at that. The Fed's first fatal flaw is that as it enters the final 40 days to Y2k, it's technically incompetent. There can be no doubt that the Fed has badly underestimated domestic gold demand and is thus forced into a situation where American Eagle gold coins are sold at a premium. Some may feel this is a plot to maximize profits, but I think it is a sign of the incompetence that the Fed now exhibits in all areas. The Clinton administration whined they needed a politically correct Sacajawea coin, in the final year before Y2k no less, and both the Fed and the Treasury caved. They decided they needed new quarters this year too. Presto! When gold coin demand soared, due to Y2k concerns, spot shortages happened and continue to happen. Sheer, blundering stupidity on the Federal Reserve's part.

The technical incompetence has spread to the fiat money sector also. I guess if you're going to have worthless, toilet paper money at least it should line up right. Yet I continue to see brand new 20 dollar bills that look crooked. Really, I'm not kidding. One border is bigger than the other. I went to my gold coin dealer thinking I had a gold mine, pun intended, due to the obvious printing error. Much to my amazement, he calmly replied that such printing errors were so common among the new twenties that my offside 20 was only worth 20 dollars. He told me that there had been a decline in the quality of the new bills to such an extent that once unthinkable printing errors were now routine.

The cash shortage the Fed feared has already started. There is also no doubt in my mind that I underestimated, seriously underestimated I think, the amount of cash being slowly "hoarded" by people. I really didn't think the "peons" could hoard enough cash to matter, but I'm seeing signs that this is true. For instance, Wells Fargo instituted a $400 a day ATM cash withdrawal limit on August 1, 1999. How do I know? Because I withdrew $500 on one July day and couldn't take out the same in August-ATM 6523B, 6th and Morrison, Portland, OR for you purists. I've also began noticing signs at the local coffee shops, Starbucks, Coffee People, Seattle's Best, not accepting 50 or 100 hundred dollar bills. On several occasions in November, I've even had trouble paying for coffee with a twenty out of a cash machine. The look on one minimum wage drone at a local pizza shop when I paid with 9 one dollar bills says it all. She profusely thanked me because, "they have trouble keeping and getting one dollar bills." There is increasing difficulty in cashing large bills, 50 and 100 dollars, that is now starting to creep down to the $20. The only reasonable explanation is a cash shortage. This cash shortage could be caused by either the individual consumer or small business owner holding "some extra for the Y2K 72 hour storm." All those polls showing 40% of the people planning to hold extra cash are coming home to haunt the Fed. And I defy anyone to find a $10 bill, much less one in good condition. Someone at the Fed must have made a decision to print $5 bills only, since that is about all that is out there now. The physical condition of the fiat money has gotten worse too. I routinely get soiled money, money with things written on it, torn money, etc. etc. etc. My personal favorite was a one dollar bill that someone had taken a red marker and painted George into a Native American. It's obvious the Fed has panicked and is desperately trying to maintain cash liquidity in the system. Just wait till December when the sheeple go to get their Y2K cash stash. Good luck Alan; then good riddance.

The second area of Federal Reserve incompetence is their Strategic Stupidity. This was briefly touched on above with a whole series of stupid mistakes and political compromises Alan made with his buddy William Jefferson Clinton. The Fed's stupidity goes much deeper than that though. Considering his roots as a goldbug, Ayn Rand conservative, Mr. Greenspan deserves everything history is going to do to him. Both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Greenspan should be worried less about their place in history than in their place in the prison chow line. Mr. Clinton in particular will soon be replacing "Hail to the Chief" with "Jailhouse Rock" as his theme song.

After all, it was Mr. GreenSpan who so hungered for political acceptance that he turned the Federal Reserve into Mr. Clinton's private political machine. It was Mr. Greenspan who sat waving at Hillary and clapping wildly during Mr. Clinton's State of the Union speech. It was Mr. Greenspan, Treasury Secretary Rubin and President Clinton, an unholy trinity if ever there was one, who engineered the rigged stock market central to Clinton's reelection. The three stooges of economics inflated the money supply, rigged the stock and gold markets, bailed out their Fat Cat Wall Street buddies when they had money problems and in general have created a bubble economy beyond belief. Someone should have told Alan that when one is taking an economic bubble bath, you only pour a capful, not the whole bottle, into the bathtub. Not to worry, Mr. Greenspan knows all things economic. Even the newly anointed George Bush Jr. wants to make Mr. Greenspan his Federal Reserve Chairman when he is appointed President next year. America has become an imperial monarchy while I wasn't looking. The rabble is so messy you know, we elitist @#$%@@ really do know better. Just look at how good everything is now. By the way, George Sr. is the one who didn't know the United States was in a economic recession. George Jr.. is the rich little brat who now calls himself the future king. George Jr. wants to replace the little brat who now is king. America can be so complicated sometimes.

Mr. Greenspan is America's very own version of Arthur's Merlin the Magician. Our own economic alchemist who can take paper and ink and turn it into money. The Federal Reserve is now reduced to raising interest rates in a frantic attempt to deflate the bubbles now pouring out from underneath the bathroom door into the hallway. Government of the Fat Cats, by the Fat Cats and for the Fat Cats. America in late 1999. The American banking oligarchy, with their high priest Alan GreenSpan, serenely sailing into Y2K's uncharted waters oblivious to the distant sound of the waterfall. The Federal Reserve's fatal flaw is stupidity combined with arrogance and blindness. What is that sound in the distance Alan? The sound we'll all hear after Y2K on 1-1-2000. Is it Niagara Falls, or just a "bump in the river?"