Divided equally among the teeming millions of Americans, you'd only get a few dollars each.
Actually, not even that. There's literally no money in those vaults.
The system's been deregulated for decades. It's not based on real gold or real commodities but rather on borrowing and lending. The bank lends an amount which is only a promise of credit and gets its real money from the interest. The reserve has "lent" far more than it has ever had. Which means the system is ripe for a global financial meltdown if ever the institutions decide to insist on calling in their loans. It's all based on trust in the Emporer's new clothes. So where's the real capital? In the hands of big business and the multi-national corporations.
No ... the Federal Reserve doesn't have the machines. It's not even a part of the Federal government.
The US Treasury Department has the mints (where currency is created). Though it would be easier to get the machines and stock from a third party ... such as Libya, who for a time was printing $100 bills to devalue our currency ... using machines our government had sold them, to print their own currency.
There is nothing there Those coffers have been raided There is nothing there The wealthy have lined their pockets with the fruits of our labour There is nothing there We are a debtor nation living on a fiat currency. There is nothing there
inky 