Alexander Hamilton Quotes
To attach full confidence to an institution of this nature, it appears to be an essential ingredient in its structure that it shall be under a private direction—under the guidance of individual interest, not of public policy.
Hamilton, then the Treasury Secretary, had proposed the creation of a national bank with the seemingly incredible notion of having it run by private individuals and not responsive to Congress. The experience of Europe and the individual states convinced Hamilton and some others that no government, monarchy or republic, could resist the temptation to print money rather than deal with basic economic problems. If in private hands, and least to protect their wealth, the bankers would not debase the national currency. Hamilton’s view actually prevailed with some Jacksonian adjustments and interruptions along the way. Today, the Federal Reserve Banks are to a great extent private. But neither Congress nor the President can control the money supply. There are some who object for just the reason that they feel that in a democracy all the levers of government should be under the control of the representatives of the people.
Alexander Hamilton, 1755-1804, Aide-de-camp to General Washington, Member of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, U. S. Secretary of the Treasury (Federalist, NY), Report on the Public Credit, January 14, 1790
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
During The Depression although business in general was doing very poorly, there were a few which had grown immensely powerful and abused the power as there was little or no regulation at the time.
The first part of this quotation has defined the attitude of most Americans towards private enterprise and government since then. The second part of the quotation—the undesirability of public ownership of railroads has given way to the modern problem that no passenger railroad can be operated profitably by anyone—private or public. So Roosevelt’s “far-reaching disaster” was finally complete with the Federal Government taking over responsibility for Amtrack.
He was discussion the role of the media in terms of psychological national security in the wake of the September 11 attack.
He was referring to the fact that Google was performing a wonderful public service of indexing and making searchable and readable all the books in the Harvard and other major libraries.
Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the founder of the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper. As the first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton was the main author of the economic policies of George Washington's administration. He took the lead in the federal government's funding of the states' debts, as well as establishing the nation's first two de facto central banks, the Bank of North America and the First Bank of the United States, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. His vision included a strong central government led by a vigorous executive branch, a strong commercial economy, government-controlled banks, support for manufacturing, and a strong military.
