Here's Steve's recommended reading list.

The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin (If I had to choose one book that will teach
you all you need to know about the history of money and the scam going on in Washington,
this is it.)  Listen to a lecture by G. Edward Griffin (Click Here)

Other great books include:

Money, Whence it Came and Where it Went by John Kenneth Galbraith
Special Privilege: How the Monetary Elite Benefit...at Your Expense by Vincent R. LoCascio
What Has Government Done To Our Money by Murray Rothbard
Economics for Real People, An Introduction to the Austrian School by Gene Callahan
Human Action, A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises
The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek
Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States Constitution 
by Edwin Vieira

Do you know the origins of the Federal Reserve...

The following is a synopsis or summary of Chapter 1 of 
The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin 

Chapter 1
The Journey to Jekyll Island

In 1910, seven men (5 bankers and 2 politicians) met in complete secrecy 
at a small winter resort for the very wealthy known as Jekyll Island Georgia.

The five bankers represented the biggest names in New York City Banking, 
J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, Rothschild, Warburg, Kuhn, and Loeb.) The 
politicians were the Chairman of the National Monetary Commission and 
an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. 

The purpose of this group was to join together and create a single 
nationwide banking organization that would appear to be for the public
good but in fact would give their own banking interests complete 
control over all the banks in America as well as the country’s money supply. 

Although it would be a cartel, they decided that the word “cartel” was 
never to be used in reference to what they were creating. And although 
the organization would be centrally planned and controlled from New 
York City it would not appear this way because it would be set up with 
several regional locations throughout the country. 

“For purposes of public relations they would devise a name that would 
avoid the word bank altogether and which would conjure the image of 
the federal government itself.” Although it would legally be a 
completely private business entity, its name would sound as though 
it was of great federal importance. Thus they decided upon the name 
Federal Reserve. It would be a central bank with the power to make 
money out of thin air and it would designed after the German Reichsbank 
model that “incidentally would create the massive hyperinflation in 
Germany which wiped out the middle class and the entire economy as well.”

“The reason for secrecy was simple. Had it been known that rivbal 
factions of the banking community had joined together, the public 
would have been alerted to the possibility that the bankers were 
plotting an agreement in restraint of trade—which, of course, is 
exactly what they were doing.”

“What emerged was a cartel agreement with five objectives: stop 
the growing competition from the nation’s newer banks; obtain a 
franchise to create money out of nothing for the purpose of lending; 
get control of the reserves of all banks so that the more reckless 
ones would not be exposed to currency drains and bank runs; get 
the taxpayer to pick up the cartel’s inevitable losses; and convince 
Congress that the purpose was protect the public.”

Cartel - a combination of independent business organizations 
formed to regulate production, pricing, and marketing of goods 
by the members; www.dictionary.com

Read more about this amazing story in:

The Creature from Jekyll Island, A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
G. Edward Griffin

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The mainstream ideas of John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman have created the financially fraudulent mess that currently exists in Washington D.C. The Federal Reserve is neither a Federal
institution nor does it have any reserves.  It is a banking cartel plain and simple.  It was set up to 
fix prices and prevent competition.

The ideas of Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek and Murray Rothward (known as the Austrian School 
of Economics) are grounded in honesty, integrity, reason and common sense.  They are the only 
hope for our planet's future. It is imperative that all Americans learn the history of their money.  

Wake Up America!
The Current U.S. Dollar is a Lie!

Did you know that the current U.S. dollar is not constitutional and it literally has a lie above and below the picture of George Washington!? A true constitutional dollar cannot be a bank note. To print the words "Federal Reserve Note"  and "Dollar" on the same piece of paper is fraudulent by definition. Steve is quite concerned about the financial state of affairs in America and what it means for our children and grandchildren. He is a self-taught student of the Austrian School of Economics.  He sees financial ruin ahead for America unless enough people wake up and realize what their government has done to their Currency and their Constitution.

He favors a return to sound money as it was defined by our Founding Fathers (a Constitutional Currency - Silver Dollars and Gold Eagles)  This would not mean that we would all be carrying heavy metal around
in our pockets.  It simple means that the paper currency that we use in everyday life would be redeemable in tangible, and intrinsically valuable gold or silver.

Did you know...

In 1784 in the debate over the money issue, Thomas Jefferson said: "If we determine that a dollar shall be our unit, we must then say with precision what a dollar is."  Our Founding Fathers followed that advice and in 1792 the dollar was defined as 371 4/16 grains of silver.  From 1792 until August 15, 1971 the dollar was defined as a precise weight of either silver or gold.  Since 1971, the dollar has had no definition; the advice of Thomas Jefferson has been rejected entirely.  Since 1971 the dollar has been nothing more than a piece of paper with government ink on it.

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Did you know that Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve once defended gold as the only real money that exists.  His comments below are one of the greatest ironies in 
financial history.  Here's what Greenspan said:

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold," wrote Greenspan in 1966 for Ayn Rand's Objectivist magazine. He continued: "Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard."

The entire article written by Greenspan can be found  at : http://www.321gold.com/fed/greenspan/1966.html

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Question: How many times have paper currencies - un-backed by gold - become worthless?  
Answer: Every Time.

Question: And how many times has a gold currency lost its value? 
Answer: Never.

Man simply cannot resist the temptation to destroy paper money; it is something inherent in him. It is just too easy to print more and more. 

On the other hand, gold cannot be created easily. Each ounce is hard to come by. And it is such a durable metal that almost every single ounce that has ever been mined is still in circulation today. Compared to paper money, it goes up in value and it goes down, but it never goes away.

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The Tyranny of Paper Money
by Representative Ron Paul 

In an article entitled “Gold and Economic Freedom,” Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan wrote that “The excess credit which the Fed pumped into the economy spilled over into the stock market- triggering a fantastic speculative boom…The speculative imbalances had become overwhelming and unmanageable by the Fed… In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation.” The irony is that Mr. Greenspan’s words, written in 1966 to describe the era leading up to the Great Depression, could easily have been written in 2003 to describe the consequences of his own Fed policies during the 1990s. 

Mr. Greenspan once understood that a fiat money system represents nothing more than a sinister and evil form of hidden taxation. When the government can print money at will, it’s morally identical to the counterfeiter who illegally prints currency. Fiat money polices especially hurt savers and those on fixed incomes, who find the value of their dollars steadily eroded by the Fed’s printing presses. 

We need to understand why a fiat system is so popular with economists, the business community, bankers, and government officials. One explanation is that a fiat monetary system allows power and influence to fall into the hands of those who control the creation of new money, and to those who get to use the money or credit early in its circulation. The insidious and eventual cost falls on unidentified victims, who are usually oblivious to the cause of their plight. 

Another explanation is that it’s human nature to seek the comforts of wealth with the least amount of effort. This desire is quite positive when it inspires efficient work and innovation in a capitalist society. Productivity is improved and the standard of living goes up for everyone. But this human trait of seeking wealth and comfort with the least amount of effort is often abused. It leads some to believe that by certain monetary manipulations, wealth can be increased out of thin air. 

Most Americans are oblivious to the entire issue of monetary policy. We all deal with the consequences of our fiat money system, however. Every dollar created dilutes the value of existing dollars in circulation. Those individuals who worked hard, paid their taxes, and saved some money for a rainy day are hit the hardest. Their dollars depreciate in value while earning interest that is kept artificially low by the Federal Reserve easy-credit policy. The poor and those dependent on fixed incomes can’t keep up with the rising cost of living. 

We do hear some minor criticism directed toward the Federal Reserve, but the validity of the fiat system is never challenged. Both political parties want the Fed to print more money, either to support social spending or military adventurism. Politicians want the printing presses to run faster and create more credit, so that the economy will be healed like magic- or so they believe. 

Fiat dollars allow us to live beyond our means, but only for so long. History shows that when the destruction of monetary value becomes rampant, nearly everyone suffers and the economic and political structure becomes unstable. Spendthrift politicians may love a system that generates more and more money for their special interest projects, but the rest of us have good reason to be concerned about our monetary system and the future value of our dollars. 

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Capitalism is based on the premise that centralized economic planning is bad.  I’m always amazed that otherwise pro-market conservatives, who rightfully scorned disastrous Soviet economic policies, are so willing to accept centralized monetary planning by the Federal Reserve.  True capitalism requires a free market for money and interest rates, just as surely as it requires a free market for wages and prices.
Congressman Ron Paul 

Karl Marx knew that centralized money control was critical to control the masses: Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly. -5th Plank, Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx (1848) 

The destiny of a currency is, and always will be, the destiny of a nation. 
Franz Pick Austrian economist

How does it become a man to behave toward the American government today? 
I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.
Henry David Thoreau (Civil Disobedience)

Recommended Books to Understand Fiat Money, Sound Money and Austrian Economics

The mainstream ideas of Keynes and Friedman have created the financially fraudulent mess that currently exists in Washington D.C. and Japan. The Austrian school is grounded in honesty and integrity and is the future.

The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin
This is a MUST read, an incredible book that details the fraudulent nature of the Federal Reserve.

Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States Constitution 
by Edwin Vieira
The most comprehensive study in existence of American monetary law and history viewed from a constitutional perspective.  Mr. Vieira is a Constitutional lawyer who holds 4 degrees from Harvard University.  He has argued cases before the Supreme Court.  Click Here to listen to him discuss with Tom O'Brien the fraudulent nature of our financial system.

Special Privilege: How the Monetary Elite Benefit...at Your Expense
by Vincent R. LoCascio
The elite: create money out of thin air; use phony accounting; and act in secret. While you: guarantee their liabilities; bailout their losses; and protect their assets.

Anatomy of the State
by Murray Rothbard
An understanding of the true nature of central governments will change forever how
you view bureaucrats and the political process.  It is a mistake to think of our government as a benevolent 'social service’ organization.  The true definition of the State is "that organization in society which attempts to maintain a monopoly of the use of force and violence in a given territorial area; in particular, it is the only organization in society that obtains its revenue not by voluntary contribution or payment for services rendered but by coercion.”

There are two ways to obtain income or acquire wealth: 

1) The Natural/Economic Means - the production of goods and services in a peaceful manner and the sale of these goods and services to others.  It should be made clear that the peaceful use of reason and energy in production is the natural path for man.
2) The Political Means - confiscation, obtaining revenue by the use of compulsion, under threat of force and jail. 

While other individuals or institutions obtain their income by production of goods and services and by the peaceful and voluntary sale of these goods and services to others, the State obtains its revenue by the use of compulsion; that is , by the use and the threat of the jailhouse and the bayonet.

The State is the organization of the political means.  The State is the systematization of the predatory process over a given territory. 

The Mystery of Banking
by Murray Rothbard

Economics for Real People, An Introduction to the Austrian School 
by Gene Callahan
A great book that will make sense out of economics.  Value is subjective and true capital is within you. 

Human Action 
by Ludwig Von Mises
The most important book ever written concerning economics.  Mises is the great Light of Austrian economics.

For more info on Austrian Economics go to the Scholars Page at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.  There is an entire library of material and its free to download - http://www.mises.org/scholar.asp#Foundational

 “Give me liberty or Give me death.” 

Ron Paul for President!  (Click Here to Learn More About the Only Person in Congress that Steve has complete respect for)