United Liberty

The Lakota people of the north-central U.S. have established the Free Lakota Bank. It is touted as the “world’s first non-reserve, non-fractional bank that issues, accepts for deposit, and circulates REAL money” in the spirit of Austrian economics.

The bank charges a fee for the protection of your savings, which are measured in ounces, and for those who wish to put their savings at risk, there is an investment fund. Deposits to the fund are frozen for one year, but have a healthy return of over 7%. Loans are granted from the investment fund are distributed to applicants based on the merit of the investment - imagine that!

Anti-government and bank rage reached a boiling point Monday in the small island nation of Iceland, where residents have seen unemployment and inflation skyrocket following the fall collapse of the Icelandic banking system. Iceland, a nation recently prided as a great example of the “Scandanavian Model” of a prosperous welfare system, has in a matter of months been transformed into the least politically and ecnomically stable nation in Europe. The International Herald Tribune reports below-

Since the middle of the 20th Century, when the Federal Reserve started compiling this measurement of non-borrowed bank deposit reserves there has been little short term deviation from its normal levels. Long Story short - Bank reserves, other than those achieved through loans (usually FED funds market, or discount window) have evaporated.

H/T Fincial Ninja.

Today the Federal Reserve invoked “Emergency Powers” in order to further expand its reach into the economy. There are many inherent problems with central banking. There are even more problems with central management of the day to day workings of the economy. Seeing the recent devastation in the credit markets - which was mostly created by the FED - the FED has been trying desperately to contain the situation, but its traditional policies are just showing little to no results.