President Andrew Jackson fought many battles, but equally important, in the 1830s he campaigned passionately to limit the power of the federal government and that of the central bank. He argued vehemently that the Bank gave privilege and unfair advantage to the elite few at the expense of the public. The events retold in this book foreshadowed some of the conflicts dividing the U.S. today. Questions about how much power the President ought to have and how much the central bank could exercise in controlling the economy riled the nation. The Senate session of the 23rd Congress (often called the “Panic Session”) served as the main arena for two battles: what form the American presidency would take and the economic direction the country would follow. This became the most crucial political debate during the antebellum period, outside of the slavery issue. Offering a deep analysis of the arguments put forth by Jackson’s Senate allies and their opponents, this book fills an important void. These debates are crucial to understanding the formation of the second party system, the evolution of the presidency under Jackson, and the economic direction the country took as it spiraled uncontrollably towards the Civil War. The debates of the session are often condensed down to the words of Senate giants such as Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, but this book argues that others’ contributions to the session were equally significant. The Bank War altered the economic course the country had followed since its birth, but further, the manner in which Jackson waged the war forever changed the nature and power of the American president, as well as its relationship to the people.

An in-depth look at how politics and economics shape the relationship between Congress and the Federal Reserve Born out of crisis a century ago, the Federal Reserve has become the most powerful macroeconomic policymaker and financial regulator in the world. The Myth of Independence marshals archival sources, interviews, and statistical analyses to trace the Fed’s transformation from a weak, secretive, and decentralized institution in 1913 to a remarkably transparent central bank a century later. Offering a unique account of Congress’s role in steering this evolution, Sarah Binder and Mark Spindel explore the Fed’s past, present, and future and challenge the myth of its independence.

Written in an easy-to-use question-and-answer format, "When Every Moment Counts" provides Americans with an accessible, comprehensive guide to dealing with the realistic threat of bioterrorism.

"A best-seller, Michelle Remembers was the first book written on the subject of satanic ritual abuse and is an important part of the controversies beginning in the 1980s regarding satanic ritual abuse and "recovered" memory. The book has subsequently been discredited by several investigations which found no corroboration of the book's events, and that the events described in the book were extremely unlikely and in some cases impossible. ... Soon after the book's publication, Pazder was forced to withdraw his assertion that it was the Church of Satan that had abused Smith when Anton LaVey (who founded the church years after the alleged events of Michelle Remembers) threatened to sue for libel"--Wikipedia.

“Whatever it takes” That was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s vow as the worst financial panic in more than fifty years gripped the world and he struggled to avoid the once unthinkable: a repeat of the Great Depression. Brilliant but temperamentally cautious, Bernanke researched and wrote about the causes of the Depression during his career as an academic. Then when thrust into a role as one of the most important people in the world, he was compelled to boldness by circumstances he never anticipated. The president of the United States can respond instantly to a missile attack with America’s military might, but he cannot respond to a financial crisis with real money unless Congress acts. The Fed chairman can. Bernanke did. Under his leadership the Fed spearheaded the biggest government intervention in more than half a century and effectively became the fourth branch of government, with no direct accountability to the nation’s voters. Believing that the economic catastrophe of the 1930s was largely the fault of a sluggish and wrongheaded Federal Reserve, Bernanke was determined not to repeat that epic mistake. In this penetrating look inside the most powerful economic institution in the world, David Wessel illuminates its opaque and undemocratic inner workings, while revealing how the Bernanke Fed led the desperate effort to prevent the world’s financial engine from grinding to a halt. In piecing together the fullest, most authoritative, and alarming picture yet of this decisive moment in our nation’s history, In Fed We Trust answers the most critical questions. Among them: • What did Bernanke and his team at the Fed know–and what took them by surprise? Which of their actions stretched–or even ripped through–the Fed’s legal authority? Which chilling numbers and indicators made them feel they had no choice? • What were they thinking at pivotal moments during the race to sell Bear Stearns, the unsuccessful quest to save Lehman Brothers, and the virtual nationalization of AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac? What were they saying to one another when, as Bernanke put it to Wessel: “We came very close to Depression 2.0”? • How well did Bernanke, former treasury secretary Hank Paulson, and then New York Fed president Tim Geithner perform under intense pressure? • How did the crisis prompt a reappraisal of the once-impregnable reputation of Alan Greenspan? In Fed We Trust is a breathtaking and singularly perceptive look at a historic episode in American and global economic history.