Jack Rasmus Knihy

The capitalist system has seen numerous restructurings, yet the aim of capitalist elites remains unchanged: to maintain and extend their dominance over domestic and global challengers. The current phase, known as "neoliberalism," serves to obscure the realities of US imperialism and domestic class warfare. This work explores the origins and evolution of the American variant of neoliberalism, which expanded from 1978 to 2008 until disrupted by the global crash of 2008-09. While the Obama administration partially restored it, Trump's efforts have birthed a more aggressive form of neoliberalism that, despite some successes, is a destabilizing force likely to collapse with the next global economic crisis, anticipated by 2020. The political fallout from the evolution of US neoliberal policies has resulted in weakened government institutions, declining political parties, diminished democratic practices, and attacks on civil liberties. Simultaneously, it has entrenched beliefs that tax cuts create jobs, free trade is universally beneficial, and markets are inherently efficient, among other unproven assertions. By tracing the evolution of neoliberal policies from Reagan through Clinton, the Bushes, Obama, and Trump, the author illustrates their role in the financialization of the US economy, the widening income and wealth inequality, and the increasing polarization of American society.

Exploring the history and evolution of central banking in the United States, this book delves into its establishment in 1913 as one of the last major economies to do so. It highlights the central bank's critical functions, including its role as an aggregator of private lending and its responsibilities as the government's fiscal agent, providing a comprehensive understanding of its significance in the financial system.