Uneven. Not worth even $1

This book is what I envision was produced when the author wrote down a bunch of campaign speeches and then just inserted enough extra linking sentences to turn it into a book.(He uses "I" to start nearly every other paragraph.) Overall, this book was not very even and you could have just as easily bought "Capitalism and Freedom" (for a lower price) which also dealt with a limited number of topics in moderate detail. (This book dealt with a whole bunch of topics with almost no development whatsoever. It' not on the level of people like Milton Friedman.)

1. The author said a lot of......inconsistent things (quotable).

--"....precipitating the greatest financial bubble in human history..." (p. 137). Really. How do we know? It's not as though there is any bibliography from which we can find from where he got this information.

--"This false information generated by the Federal Reserve policy led to a false confidence that all would be well. This illusion is referred to as moral hazard." (p. 130) Actually, "moral hazard" is taken to mean the case where someone does something that could be costly and that someone else has to pay for. One dictionary gives this definition: "A risk to an insurance company resulting from uncertainty about the honesty of the insured" and another still gives a more general definition as "a special case of information asymmetry, a situation in which one party in a transaction has more information than another." Whatever it really means, it is not what Paul was using it to mean.

--"A recongnizable substance that was easily portable and had inherent value was called for." (p.144). Sorry, but the Marxists were wrong when the tried to talk about inherent value in manufactured goods. This makes no more sense when it is resurrected by a confused/ inconsistent libertarian.

--"...world's most powerful central planner who sets the price of money worldwide" (p. 109, referring to Ben Bernanke). Um, sorry, I thought that the US Fed followed a policy of benign neglect. And even so, if there are over 150 other currencies in th world, is there anyone everywhere that can set the US dollar in terms of all of them? If someone is setting their currency, they are either setting it against a commodity (Switzerland) or another currency (HK/ China). What is Paul talking about? Does he even know?

There are other points. MANY OTHER POINTS. But I think this is enough for you to get the idea.

2. Was he confusing the gold standard with what Milton Friedman suggested (which was small and constant increases in the money supply)? Two very different issues. Was he talking about the evil of the Federal Reserve (period) or the problem of its acting as a lender of last resort (compared to letting bad banks fail before they became too big to fail) and saying that a Federal Reserve is fine to act in the capacity of setting the money supply?

3. Is a 10% loss of the value of the US dollar on Forex automatically equivalent to a loss of purchasing power in every aspect of life? I didn't now.

4. Can we really believe that business cycles will cease to exist upon the elimination of a central bank? Um, sorry, but business cycles have long antedated central banks. There may be no immutable relationship between the two.

5. No index. No bibliography.

6. 210 pages of text, but reads like 630 since so much of what he says is rubbish that it takes more time to go back through and try to separate a very little bit of wheat from a whole lot of chaff.

7. Paul got into the issue of moralizing. (I *really* hate it when people do that--i.e., try to reinterpret everything as a moral issue that can't be subject to old fashioned cost/benefit analysis.) Why not give us some examples where there are no Federal Reserves (i.e. any place with a Monetary Authority) and then demonstrate some of the costs benefits of each?

Save your money. This is an excellent example of what happens when someone stretches their expertise (in this case, physician/ politician) into something about which they don't really know anything (Economics).

End The Fed by Ron Paul

Ron Paul has written this amazing account of the toxic finance, and 'money' manipulation that has developed over the last 100 years by the US Government. How drastic the effects are becoming day by day, simply by diverting attention away from the exactness of the Constitution which was put in place to protect every citizen.
It is so well written with his understanding, experience, research and study of wise economists from around the world.
I have learnt so much and understand a little better how we, all over the world have been lured into control mechanisms by Governments, that deprive us of real freedom and financial security. Through this global secrecy, ignorance has prevailed, putting us at the mercy of the 'all powerful others.' ie Evil others who want control through greed and covert extortion.
I pray that everyone wakes up very quickly and reads this type of 'Truth' to understand the urgency and follow what Ron Paul and the many statesmen he has quoted, suggest.
Thank God for the Internet and believe in people power.
I believe in the '100th monkey syndrome' If enough people are truth seeking, it will be found and then maybe our freedom to choose can be restored. We get to do what we want with what we earn and keep what belongs to us. Governments do not dictate or steal from their citizens.

A good idea horribly argued

I'm a Ron Paul fan, even though I don't agree with everything he says. However, I do agree with his views on the Fed.

Ron Paul makes many conclusions without properly substantiating them. He also doesn't footnote anything. He doesn't even clearly explain things and uses economic terms without explaining them. He also quotes people that aren't known except to those that already agree with Ron Paul and people that have studied economics.
Very early on, Ron Paul quotes F. A. Hayek to bolster a point. If one doesn't know who he is, it doesn't matter what Hayek says. Paul also concluded very early on that the fed helps fund wars and is out to enrich its friend. Ok. But where is the evidence for this? Paul also speaks about the evils of inflation; however, people are taught that inflation goes hand-in-hand with economic progress. Paul says no, which is fine, but he needs to provide evidence.

It's not just the lack of evidence that problematic with this book. Paul mentions things without defining what it is. Not everyone knows what "M3" means.

Paul doesn't even argue well for his conclusions. He speaks of the good of gold and the evil of fiat currencies, but doesn't make a great argument for why gold is good and fiat currency is bad. He indeed states and mentions the evils that can come from it, but doesn't mean HOW. He needs to show HOW fiat currency is destructive. You can't just say that X is evil and causes cancer to a skeptic without showing how X causes cancer.

His book does have a lot of interesting tidbits. I enjoyed it when he quoted Greenspan contradicting himself. However nice his speeches make fans feel in this book, a reader is not going to get a well-structured heavily substantiated argument on why the fed should end.

Should Be Required Reading

This book should be required reading for all Economics classes as well as anyone wishing to run for public office. Ron Paul made a believer of me in a quick 200 pages. If everyone would read this book our future would be much brighter.

Essential reading

At this time it is now urgent that as many people as possible understand the content of this book. Its high time we put an end to the irresponsible printing of vast sums of money by central banking to finance wars, bail outs, quangos and other governmental ambitions. As a result we see our Euros, Pounds and Dollars devaluing in front of our faces whilst we loose our freedoms and constitutional rights as government controls become ever more invasive. Ron Paul`s book "End the Fed" (Federal Reserve) clearly states the reasons and dangers we citizens are facing today. Important reading no doubt.