The Fed Flunks: My Speech at the New York Federal Reserve Bank

by Robert Wenzel

The remarkable story of how Robert Wenzel ended up delivering a speech at the New York Federal Reserve that rocked the financial world. The Fed Flunks contains the speech he delivered, plus two other essays. In addition, Wenzel explains in The Fed Flunks just how it came about that he, a major critic of the Fed, was invited to deliver a speech at the Fed, how the event was almost sabotaged, who was at the speech and the reaction of the Fed economists there. This is a must read for anyone concerned about the US economy and anyone curious about what the Federal Reserve really does.

73 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2014

Reviews

[Russ Lemley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were to focus on the content of the pamphlet, this deserves five stars. Wenzel's speech clearly refutes the Keynesian thinking that permeates the Federal Reserve and contributes to the business cycles that have been created by the Fed since its inception.

However, if I were to focus on the typos and the formatting of the pamphlet, I'd be forced to give it one star. There are far too many typos, and the wide spaces between paragraphs is very distracting.

Putting it all together, if one can overlook the superficial problems with the book, the pamphlet provides a very clear and concise critique of Federal Reserve policy from an Austrian perspective. Hence, four stars.

[Dustin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is 50 pages of huge font and huge spacing. It almost seems that Bob just wanted to make some money so he turned a 5 minute speech into a book by using this deceptive font and spacing. Amazingly, I found many obvious typos. How hard can it be to edit a book with barely any words in it?? Bob could have given me $20 and I'd have gotten all the errors out for him. Incredible.

The speech itself takes up about 10 pages. The speech left a lot to be desired. While somewhat convincing, it did not have much substance. The speech can also be found online for free.

Bob is a smart guy; he is very principled, and I respect that, but this book is a total joke. It reinforces my thoughts that he is very supercilious. Listening to his podcasts, reading his blogs, and now reading this book demonstrates to me that he is completely out of touch with reality. He has no humility and probably has never said the words "I'm wrong" or "I made a mistake" in his life. Again, he is a very smart guy who knows Austrian economics extremely well, but lacks any form of graciousness. This book and the way he has built it up shows that. If you spend money on this book, you will feel swindled. Just read the speech online.

Bob, if your goal is to have more people accepting of Libertarianism, I suggest you stop being an a-hole. If you were to combine your expertise with a friendlier and less combative approach (like a Tom Woods), I guarantee more people would listen to your message.