The 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks, which were established by the Congress as the operating arms of the nation's central banking system, are organized similarly to private corporations--possibly leading to some confusion about "ownership." For example, the Reserve Banks issue shares of stock to member banks. However, owning Reserve Bank stock is quite different from owning stock in a private company. The Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership in the System. The stock may not be sold, traded, or pledged as security for a loan; dividends are, by law, 6 percent per year.
That's a pretty darn good return on investment if you're one of the lucky ones. Especially given the huge sums we're talking about an since it was all printed out of "thin air" in the first place!
Then you have the private owners of each of the Federal Reserve "member banks" dividing up their share of the "loot" as well. Not to mention possible access to some of that "free money" which revelation of is protected by law. I see lots of ways of "plucking" this golden goose...
And you can't buy extra. Pretty weak ownership.
That's a pretty darn good return on investment if you're one of the lucky ones.
The "private owners" got $1.6 billion in dividends last year. The government "non-owners" got $89 billion. Guess who was luckier?
Especially given the huge sums we're talking about an
$1.6 billion, not so huge.