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There is an often repeated mantra that the Federal Reserve is designed to buffer the United State's everyday citizen from the ups and downs of market bubbles and crashes. But is this really the case? Is it not more likely that the Federal Reserve's loose money policies actually help fuel bubbles and crashes which often tend to favor the wealthiest at the expense of the most vulnerable?  So why do we continue to drink the Kool-Aid? In this chapter, we explore the actual historical origins of the Federal Reserve: what it is, how it came to be, and how its creators were the wealthiest, most powerful businessmen with motives to expand big business, not protect ordinary citizens.