At Tea Party rallies and at other get-togethers over the last two years, one could often see placards reading "End the Fed." That also happens to be the title of a worthy book by Rep. Ron Paul. If one googles those three words within quotation marks, one should get nigh on a million hits. One might conclude that there's a movement afoot in America to abolish our central bank, the Federal Reserve.Why are folks getting so exercised about this secretive quasi-governmental agency?One reason folks are riled at the Fed is that the Fed sets interest rates, and rates have been at historic lows for much of the last decade. This has really hurt savers. As we write, the highest rate nationwide for a one-year certificate of deposit is 1.35%. Such a rate would require a goodly chunk of change, and yet it doesn't even keep pace with the Fed's target inflation rate of 2%. The Fed's low interest rates are partly to blame for the real estate boom, which led to inflated home prices, which led...(Read Full Article)