>>510123824 (OP)In spite of what any of you will say, having some sort of Federal Reserve is the correct action. In the US, we had centuries to experiment with all other forms of banking; and only the Federal reserve can withstand the major problems faced by the other methods (panics, illiquidity, runs).
The Fed is not perfect, but I think that is more a result of it's so-called 'duel mandate' (the underlying principles set by the elected leadership for the fed to follow). Currently, the duel mandate is 'price stability and maximum employment"; but that itself creates future problems, mainly the need to keep generating debt to keep both legs of its mandate.
The gold standard cannot work; simply because wealthy foreign nations (especially oil or mineral nations) will simply horde the world's supply until it is gone. Free banking can't work because there is no backstop against cascade collapses (like in the 1840's); and an independent treasury (like we had before the fed), while the safest of all; cannot accommodate large-scale expansions in the economy.
For a good example of the pros and cons, just look at the history of banking in the US from the Second Bank of The United States until the passage of the federal reserve act.