Gertrude Coogan's Bluff: Greenback Populism as Conservative Economics

From the author:

“End the Fed.” With these words, Congressman Ron Paul has mobilized
a small army of political activists who did not know what the Federal
Reserve System was in 200⒌ This three-word slogan is the culmination of
Austrian School economist Murray Rothbard’s work, which began in the
1950s. People who had never heard of central banking in 2005 now know
that the Fed has been at the heart of the Federal government’s attempt to
save the big banks. They do not approve. I certainly share their antipathy.
All of this has increased the demand for Austrian School economics
materials as never before. The Mises Institute has benefited greatly.
But the Mises Institute is not the only beneficiary. Unbeknownst to
the vast majority of people who now call themselves conservatives another
movement has benefited. It also has been critical of actional reserve
banking. It also has been critical of the Federal Reserve System. It also
has published books against the Fed—books that extend back to the days
before the Fed was created by Federal law in 19⒔ This movement is an
extension of nineteenth-century Populism, which itself was an extension
of an earlier movement devoted to the creation of a system of pure fiat
money, a system run by the Federal government. This movement had
its own political party in the 1880s: the Greenback Party, also known
as the Greenback Labor Party. In 1890, this party merged with the
newly formed People’s Party, known as the Populist Party, three years
aer the Populist Party came into existence. Congressman James Weaver,
the Greenback Party’s leader, was the Populist Party’s first nominee for
President in 189⒉ He carried four states. The most famous spokesman for
Populist Party ideals was the far-le, anti-gold standard politician William
Jennings Bryan, who received the Populists’ nomination in 1896, the year
that he first received the Democrats’ nomination. The Populist Party
ended aer 1908, the year of Bryan’s third loss as a nominee.

From ReadCycle:

Economist Gary North gives an essay on the history of greenbackism and how it ties into contemporary political movements.