The Mystery of Banking

I just finished reading this book and found that it filled in many inconsistencies that I have noted in my mainstream economic study. The author explains clearly and concisely the origins of and money and its importance to any economic system. He proceeds to describe the evolution of banking to its current inflationary state. He clearly shows that this inflationary states results from a combination of fractional reserve banking, the government's grant of monopoly powers through a cental bank (the U.S. Federal Reserve in the case of the U.S.), and the central banks open market operations to manipulate bank reserves (e.g., monetizing debt).I found this book to be the most interesting and revealing book I have ever read about the banking system and the Federal Reserve. He explains how fractional reserve banking makes banks inherently prone to bankruptcy, how the Federal Reserve and other central banks create inflation, and how money has evolved and been debased.