The Federal Reserve Banks and the Federal Reserve System are ultimately controlled by the Federal Government and are not operated as private, for-profit institutions. How do we know this?
Those who run the Fed are appointed by the Federal Government, and Congress can amend the statutes governing the Federal Reserve System at any time. The so-called stockholders of the member banks receive a fixed 6% return on the shares, cannot sell the shares, etc. Holding stock in one of the Federal Reserve Banks is more like a club membership than ownership. The stockholders of the Federal Reserve Banks do not control the banks.
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