Thomas Jefferson on Bank Control
on Saturday, May 28, 2011Thomas Jefferson Money Quotation saying controlling the ebb and flow of cash in our society is a complex process of regulation, taxation and legislation that banks should have less control of. Thomas Jefferson said:
If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation then by deflation, the banks and the corporations will grow up around them, will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs — Thomas Jefferson
This quote suggests that Thomas Jefferson strongly believed the power to issue currency (i.e. control the money supply) should not be delegated to private banks. He appears to be warning that if banks are allowed to freely inflate and deflate the currency for their own benefit, it would initially lead to rising prices through inflation.
This would be followed by a collapse in the money supply and severe deflation that deprives people of their property and wealth. Jefferson felt that concentrating this influential power in banks’ hands could ultimately leave future generations homeless after their ancestors had built the country.
He advocated for restoring currency control to the people and their elected leaders to whom it “properly belongs”, rather than being dictated by private financial interests. The quote conveys Jefferson’s firm conviction that independent central banking posed major risks to economic stability and average citizens’ well-being over the long run.
Birthday: April 13, 1743 – Death: July 4, 1826
Unfortunately this is not a Thomas J quote:
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/jefferson/banks.asp