The central banking system of the United States, known as the Federal Reserve or the Fed, invokes the ire of Occupy Wall Street because of its role in the 2008 financial crisis, providing liquidity and loans to banks, insurance companies, and corporations.
Created in 1913 as a response to financial panics, the Fed's overarching mission is to maintain the stability of the nation's financial system. The Glass-Steagal Act of 1933, which introduced banking reforms to control speculation, began to be dismantled in 1980 and further in 1999 – deregulation, which Fed critics argue helped set the stage for the economic meltdown of 2008.
This is one of the areas where the aims of Occupy Wall Street overlap with some in the tea party movement – and GOP presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul. They are calling for the abolition of the Fed, whose effectiveness as a regulatory agency has been called into question (or, in Ron Paul's case, he says the Fed distorts the free market and he questions the constitutionality of the Fed).
