From Thomas Jefferson, among many noteworthy accomplishments, he was the third president of the United States and chief author of the Declaration of Independence:
And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, May 28, 1816.
http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/private-banks-quotation
Brevity is indeed the soul of brilliance. Jefferson managed to warn of the two biggest financial dangers now facing America 198 years ahead of time: banking establishments (i.e. the Fed and the banking cartel) and “spending money to be paid by posterity,” or deficit financing, in one sentence. That one sentence is more insightful and valuable than 99 percent of the economics theses published since.
