[spqrr]

As far as I understand the federal reserve is not technically part of the government but a private institution. It has shareholders not unlike a public company and those shareholders are the big banks like JPM. I'm not sure if those are the same as the so called primary dealers or if there is just an overlap. You are correct that the actual printing of physical cash is done by the government on behalf of the fed, I think by the treasury.

[pdonis]

> As far as I understand the federal reserve is not technically part of the government but a private institution.

It's established by Federal law; its Chairman is appointed by the President. It walks like a duck and quacks like a duck; it's a duck.

[throw0101d]

> It's established by Federal law; its Chairman is appointed by the President.

It's amusing that you think that the Fed is an instrument of the government, but other conspiracy theorists think it is an instrument of private banks:

> Griffin then turns his attention to the secret meeting that took place on Jekyll Island in 1910. He reveals how a small group of powerful bankers, including representatives from J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, and other influential figures, devised a plan to create a central banking system that would serve their own interests. They realized that they needed to present the Federal Reserve as a government entity to gain public support, despite the fact that it was, in essence, a private institution.

* https://medium.com/@casuallifellc/the-creature-from-jekyll-i...

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._Edward_Griffin