State of The Nation

The Secret Financial War That Decided the Civil War - YouTube How America's First Currency War Shaped Modern Finance—And What It Means for Today The Union's victory over the Confederacy hinged on monetary innovation and economic warfare. As nations again weaponize currencies and central banks print trillions, the lessons of 1861-1865 have never been more relevant. By [Staff Reporter] When Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen debates the debt ceiling with Congress, when the Federal Reserve prints money to combat recession, when economists worry about inflation eroding purchasing power—they're all grappling with dilemmas first confronted during America's bloodiest conflict. The Civil War wasn't merely won on battlefields. It was decided in counting houses, bond markets, and through what may be history's most successful counterfeiting operation. The financial architecture built to defeat the Confederacy—fiat currency, centralized banking, income taxation, and govern...