• Noteworthless: This Library of Congress illustration shows a parody of the often worthless fractional currencies, or 'shinplasters,' issued by banks, businesses and municipalities in lieu of coin. These fractional notes proliferated during the Panic of 1837. | THE WASHINGTON POST
    Noteworthless: This Library of Congress illustration shows a parody of the often worthless fractional currencies, or "shinplasters," issued by banks, businesses and municipalities in lieu of coin. These fractional notes proliferated during the Panic of 1837. | THE WASHINGTON POST
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WASHINGTON – A century ago this week, Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act, creating a central bank for a nation that was only beginning its economic ascendance. This is the story of how it came to be, from a nearly catastrophic financial panic to secret meetings of plutocrats on the Georgia coast to the pitched battle in the halls of Congress, excerpted from “The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire.”

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