User:Jeffrey.Rodriguez/The Money Masters


 * This article concerns the 1995 film. The film is not related to either Money Masters LLC, a Registered Investment Advisory Firm, or the book The Money Masters.

The Money Masters is a 1995 documentary, produced by Patrick S. J. Carmack and directed and narrated by William T. Still. It discusses the concepts of money, debt, and taxes, and describes their development from biblical times onward. It covers the history of fractional-reserve banking, central banking, monetary policy, the bond system, and the Federal Reserve System.

Argument
The film argues that the profit from issuing money is currently being used in the United States to benefit a few wealthy individuals. It goes further and argues that this situation should be remedied, so that the profit benefits the public good, as during four periods in the history of the United States. Finally it presents a bill, the Monetary Reform Act, to implement such a remedy. As support, the film provides many quotations from notable figures including economists, members of the financial system, kings of England and United States presidents.

Private central banking and fractional reserve banking
The film criticises fractional-reserve banking and the control aspects of both modern banking regulation and centralized banking systems such as the Federal Reserve System. It describes the history of money and banking, how central banks came to be and how they operate.

Money creation
The film describes how the U.S. Congress gave the power of money creation to private banks through the Federal Reserve Act and how the banks accumulate large amounts of interest using this power. It asserts that wealth is slowly being drawn into the hands of a small banking elite at the expense of the general population.

Federal Reserve gold
The film argues that there is no publicly owned gold left in Fort Knox because the gold belongs to private banks as collateral against the U.S. national debt. The film argues that since the gold was accumulated by prohibiting its possession, the public's gold has been stolen by private banks. The film also asserts that this gold was used as collateral against government loans used to escape the Great Depression and that the majority went to overseas banks who used it to fund Nazi Germany.

Depressions
The film asserts that the Federal Reserve System enables private banks to force recessions at will by refusing to offer new loans while simultaneously demanding payment on existing loans. It asserts that this power has been used a number of times since the 1913 creation of the Federal Reserve, resulting in several depressions.

Media control
The film asserts that by the end of World War I, private banks owned and controlled much of the United States' media, paper and film outlets and that they achieved this using consolidated wealth generated by fractional-reserve banking. It argues that these banks have influence over the mainstream media through their ownership and that this influence is used to prevent the financial monopoly from entering the general public's consciousness.

Tax
The film touches briefly on the U.S. federal income tax. See also Tax protester constitutional arguments.

Monetary Reform Act
By way of conclusion, the film presents an option for a different kind of monetary policy for the United States, the Monetary Reform Act. The film suggests that fractional-reserve banking and the Federal Reserve System be abolished in favour of 100% reserve banking. These reserves would come from the government, which would issue non-interest generating money to repay the public debt to the banks. This would happen over a gradual period of one year. As the government repaid its debt, the banks would be required to hold the government's new money as reserves and the reserve rate would slowly be increased to 100%. Thus, there would be no inflation or imbalance in the amount of money in circulation. The issuing of new money would then be controlled. In order to prevent inflation, issuance would be according to population statistics. After the public debt was repaid, money that would previously have been interest on the debt would be distributed by the government as a tax refund, leading to the abolition of income tax.

Film segments
Introduction


 * The Problem
 * The Money Changers; 14:50
 * Roman Empire; 16:05
 * The Goldsmiths of Medieval England; 17:40
 * Tally sticks; 22:20
 * The Bank of England; 27:14

The Export of Private Central Banking to America


 * The Rise of the Rothschilds; 31:34
 * The American Revolution; 37:08
 * The Bank of North America; 43:41
 * The Constitutional Convention; 46:12
 * First Bank of the U.S.; 49:02
 * Napoleon's Rise to Power; 53:25
 * Death of the First Bank of the United States; 56:07
 * War of 1812, Waterloo; 58:14

Andrew Jackson Kills the Second Bank of the U.S.


 * Second Bank of the U.S.; 1:04:21
 * Andrew Jackson; 1:05:40
 * Abe Lincoln and the Civil War; 1:15:34
 * The Return of the Gold Standard; 1:31:51
 * Free Silver; 1:42:33
 * J.P. Morgan / 1907 Crash; 1:46:43

The Rise of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913


 * Jekyll Island; 1:51:39
 * Federal Reserve Act of 1913; 2:03:24
 * J.P. Morgan / WWI; 2:15:01
 * Roaring 20s / Great Depression; 2:22:21
 * FDR / WWII / Fort Knox; 2:37:48

Conclusion and Monetary Reform Act


 * World Central Bank and Conclusions; 2:50:50 & 3:02:43.

Historical impact
According to the producer, 50,000 units of The Money Masters were sold between 1995 and 2001. An article containing the basic ideas presented in the documentary has appeared in Nexus magazine in various languages.