What prompted the creation of the Federal Reserve and why do we know so little about its origins?

Roger Lowe and steam joins us to discuss his new book, America's Bank.

Every bank stood alone and whenever there was any bit of stress or unease in the financial system

or in the economy which happened then as it does today, instead of there being an institution

to step in and provide credit, there would be a panic.

What are the roots of America's special relationship with Israel?

Scott Anderson is here to discuss his review of Doomed to succeed by Dennis Ross.

Anytime there's any little overture, any movement towards some, you know,

the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of a possible solution,

both sides would just throw all these impediments in the way.

Alexander Alta will be here with an update from the literary world and Greg Cole's as bestseller news.

This is Inside the New York Times Book Review, standing in for Pamela Paul and Barrel Sago.

We're joined now by Roger Lowe and steam, author of America's Bank, an important new book on

the Federal Reserve, reviewed on this week's cover by former Treasury Secretary Richard Rubin,

who calls the book, quote, required reading. Hi, Roger.

Good morning.

So the review makes the point quite persuasively, I think, that, you know, most of us have at least

passing knowledge of the intellectual debates that gave rise to the Constitution,

but when it comes to the circumstances that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve,

we're clueless. Tell us a little bit about what was happening that precipitated the creation

of the Fed. Well, in many senses, it paralleled the conflicts that precipitated the Constitution

in the United States, where there was this great conflict between people who wanted local control

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