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HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
The Federal Reserve System (also known as the Federal Reserve, and informally as the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created in 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, and was largely a response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907. Over time, the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System have expanded and its structure has evolved. Events such as the Great Depression were major factors leading to changes in the system.[5] Its duties today, according to official Federal Reserve documentation, are to conduct the nation's monetary policy, supervise and regulate banking institutions, maintain the stability of the financial system and provide financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions.
The Federal Reserve System's structure is composed of the presidentially appointed Board of Governors (or Federal Reserve Board), the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the nation, numerous other private U.S. member banks and various advisory councils. This division of responsibilities of the central bank falls into several separate and independent parts, some private and some public. The result is a structure that is considered unique among central banks. It is also unusual in that an entity (the U.S. Department of the Treasury) outside of the central bank creates the currency used.
According to the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, "It is not 'owned' by anyone and is 'not a private, profit-making institution'. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects." The U.S. Government does not own shares in the Federal Reserve System or any of its component banks, but the Government does receive all of the system's annual profits after a statutory dividend of 6% on member banks' capital investment is paid and an account surplus is maintained. The government also exercises some control over the Federal Reserve by appointing and setting the salaries of the system's highest-level employees. The Federal Reserve transferred a record amount of $45 billion to the U.S. Treasury in 2009.
Purpose
The primary motivation for creating the Federal Reserve System was to address banking panics. Other purposes are stated in the Federal Reserve Act, such as "to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial Read more...

"It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart: the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you". Mark Twain (1835-1910)
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How old is the "Occupy Wall Street" movement?

'Occupy' Global Protests Were Years in Making
By Joe Deaux
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Communities that felt the impact of Occupy Wall Street demonstrations across the globe on Saturday were experiencing the product of unrest that has been mounting since the 2008 bailouts.

A scroll through the Occupy Wall Street Web site showed mass protests in Madrid, Hong Kong, London, Rome, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Los Angeles as the world responded to a "call to action" from lower Manhattan "occupiers."

"On October 15th the world will rise up as one and say, 'We have had enough! We are a new beginning, a global fight on all fronts that will usher in an era of shared prosperity, respect, mutual aid, and dignity,'" a message on occupywallst.org said.

Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan marched from its makeshift home at Zuccotti Park up to Times Square, where supporters lined streets of the historic location, but the daylong march was the result of years of building resentment.

"We [United States] have marketed ourselves as the financial geniuses of the world; we're spreading capitalism, we're spreading our understanding of finance," Arnie Arnesen, former Democratic nominee for New Hampshire governor, told TheStreet. "Well you know what, it's not surprising that if there's unhappiness here that it is going to spread everywhere, because they look to us for leadership." READ MORE >>