If you are building a fence and you try using a hammer rather
than a shovel to dig the postholes, progress will be slow if not
nonexistent. The Federal Reserve is supposed to maintain the
value of the currency and keep the banking system sound and
stable — which it has not done (more on that below). Yet, in
1978, Congress passed the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act,
which, in part, also gave the Fed some explicit responsibility
for maintaining full employment but did not provide the tools to
do so. The Fed does have the tools to increase or decrease the
money supply, which means it can control the rate of inflation
or deflation. However, the Fed has done a poor job of
maintaining the value of the currency, as the dollar is now
worth only about 1/22 of its 1913 value. The Fed also was
supposed to maintain a sound and stable banking system; however,
since the Fed was created in 1913, bank failures have been at a
higher rate than during the pre-Fed period. Despite its record
of failure, the Fed (as noted) wa