American Money History — The true stories behind American money

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Premiere · Oct 23
The Fed Is $233 Billion in the Hole. Congress Never VotedPremiere · Friday, Oct 23 · 6 PM ET

Documentaries

Long-form investigations built from audits, hearings and archives.

Congress Can Shut Down the Fed. Why Hasn't It in 113 Years?The Fed Case · Episode 1 · 17 min

Who really controls the Federal Reserve — Trump, Congress or the banks? Congress can shut down the Fed with a single law, Trump couldn't fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and Kevin Warsh's Fed holds its last interest-rate meeting before the 2026 midterms.

Sources (24)
  1. U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 8 — National Archives
  2. Federal Reserve Act of 1913, Sec. 4 (12 U.S.C. §§ 302, 304); Dodd-Frank Act § 1107 — law.cornell.edu
  3. Trump v. Wilcox, No. 24A966 (May 22, 2025) — supremecourt.gov
  4. Woodrow Wilson "unwittingly ruined my country" quote check — Salon, Dec 21, 2007
  5. $100,000 Gold Certificate, Series 1934 — Bureau of Engraving and Printing (bep.gov)
  6. Federal Reserve Board press release, Jan 14, 2022 (2021 remittances, $107.4 billion) — federalreserve.gov
  7. Senate confirmation of Kevin Warsh, May 2026 (54–45) — Banking Dive; The Week, citing The Wall Street Journal
  8. Gold vault — Federal Reserve Bank of New York (newyorkfed.org)
  9. Ben Bernanke, remarks at the conference honoring Milton Friedman, Nov 8, 2002 — federalreserve.gov
  10. Milton Friedman & Anna Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States (NBER)
  11. Board of Governors membership; Banking Act of 1935 — federalreserve.gov
  12. House Financial Services Committee hearing, Jul 15, 2026 — House Recording Studio
  13. Bloomberg L.P. v. Board of Governors, 2d Cir., Nos. 09-4083 / 09-4097 (Mar 19, 2010)
  14. Clearing House Ass'n v. Bloomberg, No. 10-543 — cert. denied Mar 21, 2011 — supremecourt.gov
  15. Federal Reserve data releases: Dec 1, 2010 (Dodd-Frank) and Mar 31, 2011 (discount window) — federalreserve.gov
  16. GAO-11-696, Federal Reserve System emergency assistance audit (July 2011) — gao.gov
  17. 12 U.S.C. § 242 (removal "for cause") — law.cornell.edu
  18. The 1951 Treasury–Fed Accord — Federal Reserve History
  19. Trump v. Cook and Trump v. Slaughter (June 29, 2026) — supremecourt.gov
  20. Committee of inquiry on Gov. Lisa Cook — Federal Register, Oct 14, 2026; SCOTUSblog
  21. H.R. 2755 (110th), H.R. 833 (111th), H.R. 1094 (112th), H.R. 8421 (118th), H.R. 1846 and S. 869 (119th) — congress.gov
  22. Hearing "The Fed: Mend It or End It?", May 8, 2012 — U.S. House
  23. White House video: Warsh swearing-in, May 22, 2026; Cabinet meeting, Aug 26, 2025
  24. FOMC meeting calendar 2026 — federalreserve.gov
363 Tons of Cash Flew to BaghdadDocumentary
How America Really Prints Its MoneyDocumentary · 21 min
His Fake Dollars Spelled Washington Wrong. 10 Years FreeDocumentary · 20 min

Shorts

The numbers in under a minute.

Real US Dollars You're Not Allowed to Own
US Debt: $71 Million to $40 Trillion
It Costs 11 Cents to Print a $100 Bill
Where Old Dollar Bills Go to Die
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