A special report from Shamus Gerry III
Just this week, a chilling phrase echoed from the highest echelons of American power, a phrase that should send a shiver down the spine of every citizen who believes in sound money and stable governance: the President of the United States believes he “certainly should have a role” in directing the Federal Reserve.
This isn’t just a stray comment. It’s a direct challenge to a century of American economic stability, a declaration of intent to subordinate the nation’s monetary policy to the whims of short-term political gain. The President’s top economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, amplified this sentiment, stating the Fed should “consider the president’s opinions.”
As the administration prepares to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the man President Trump derisively calls “Too Late Powell,” a line is being drawn in the sand. On one side stands the principle of an independent central bank, the bedrock of a stable economy. On the other, the raw assertion of political will.
To understand the terrifying stakes of this conflict, we must look back not decades, but centuries. We must travel to the heart of a mighty empire at the peak of its power, an empire that made the fatal mistake of allowing its ruler to control the money. This is the story of the Ottoman Empire, and the day its Sultan decided to debase the currency—a decision that triggered a 150-year spiral into economic ruin.
The Sultan’s Desperate Gamble
In 1585, the Ottoman Empire was the undisputed superpower of the world. Its dominion stretched from the gates of Vienna to the shores of the Indian Ocean. But beneath the gilded surface, a crisis was brewing. Sultan Murad III, a ruler more interested in the pleasures of the harem than the complexities of statecraft, found his treasury empty.
A long, brutal, and expensive war with the Safavid Empire in Persia had drained the state’s coffers. The traditional sources of revenue were not enough. The Sultan needed money, and he needed it now.
His advisors presented him with a seductive, simple, and catastrophic solution: debasement. The akçe, the empire’s trusted silver coin, would be melted down and re-minted with less silver. The state could pay its soldiers and creditors with these new, lighter coins, effectively creating money out of thin air. It was a power no ruler could resist.
In a stroke, the silver content of the akçe was slashed by 44%. The official exchange rate to foreign silver and gold coins was devalued by 100%. The Sultan had his money. But in doing so, he had unleashed an economic plague upon his own people.
The Great Inflationary Fire
The effect was immediate and devastating. Prices across the empire exploded. What a soldier could buy with a handful of akçes one day, he could not afford the next. Merchants, realizing the coins they received were worth less than their face value, jacked up their prices to protect themselves.
This wasn’t just a temporary shock. It was the beginning of a “price revolution” that consumed the Ottoman economy. The state, now addicted to the easy money of debasement, returned to the well again and again. By 1600, the akçe contained only 34% of its original silver. By 1700, a mere 15%.
The Janissaries, the elite soldiers of the empire, repeatedly revolted as their salaries, paid in the debased currency, became worthless. The economic chaos fueled social unrest and rebellion across the provinces. The very foundations of the empire began to crack.
The Ottoman state, once a model of fiscal strength, had destroyed the trust in its own currency. It had sacrificed long-term stability for the illusion of short-term solvency. The empire that had once stood at the crossroads of global trade slowly became the “Sick Man of Europe,” its economic weakness a primary cause of its eventual collapse.
The Echo in Washington
Four hundred and forty years later, the same dangerous logic is being whispered in the halls of Washington. When a political leader, facing his own pressures—be it an election, a trade war, or a desire to juice the stock market—seeks to control the nation’s money supply, he is walking the same path as Sultan Murad III.
The Federal Reserve was created as an independent body for a reason: to protect monetary policy from the short-term, self-interested goals of politicians. Its mandate is to ensure price stability and maximum employment, not to boost a president’s approval ratings.
When President Trump publicly berates the Fed chair and demands lower interest rates, he is attempting to do exactly what the Ottoman sultans did: force the monetary authority to serve his immediate political needs. The replacement of the Fed chair with a loyalist would be the final, fatal step in this process.
The consequences of this are not abstract. It means your savings could be inflated away. It means the price of groceries, gas, and housing could skyrocket. It means the U.S. dollar, the bedrock of the global financial system, could lose its credibility, just as the akçe did.
This is not a partisan issue. It is a question of whether we will heed the clear, brutal lesson of history. The story of the Ottoman Empire is a stark warning: when the state seizes control of the money, the people pay the price. The road to economic ruin is paved with the good intentions of rulers who believe they know better than the market, better than history, better than the fundamental laws of economics.
What You Can Do About It
We are standing at a precipice. The integrity of our economic institutions is under direct assault. While we must demand that our leaders respect the independence of the Federal Reserve, we cannot rely on them to protect us from the consequences of their own folly.
True security, true sovereignty, comes from self-reliance. It comes from building a life that is resilient to the shocks of political and economic instability. It comes from owning real assets, producing your own food, and reducing your dependence on a fragile, centrally-managed system.
This is why we have spent years developing the 4ft Farm Blueprint. It is more than just a guide to growing your own food. It is a declaration of independence from a system that is teetering on the brink. It is a practical, step-by-step plan to reclaim your sovereignty and protect your family from the coming storm.
Don’t wait for the inflation to wipe out your savings. Don’t wait for the next crisis to expose the fragility of the supply chain. Take action now. Learn the skills that will make you resilient. Build a productive asset in your own backyard.
And as you prepare, arm yourself with knowledge from across our network:
- Survival Stronghold: For in-depth prepping and survival strategies.
- Self Reliance Report: Daily insights into becoming more independent.
- Homesteader Depot: Your source for homesteading tools and knowledge.
- Seven Holistics: Because your health is your most important asset.
History has given us a clear warning. The question is, will we listen?
