THE ILLUSORY BARGAIN:
Liberty in the Aftermath of the 17th Amendment
1913. The Seventeenth Amendment is ratified, allowing the people of America to vote directly for their senators in the US senate. The same year, the Federal Reserve Act is passed, establishing a central bank to oversee monetary policy. In The Illusory Bargain, Ralph H. Lehman demonstrates that these seemingly empowering and people-serving pieces of legislature were just that-an illusion. Tracing the vision of the Founding Fathers as outlined in The Federalist Papers, Lehman reveals how the safety features of the original constitutional framework have eroded since and given way to rampant abuse of power and arbitrary, tyrannical law.
Through fresh, historically informed insights and over twenty years of financial expertise, Lehman reexamines the nation's fundamental values and proposes what may be the only course of action left to restore our liberty.
"Ralph's exploration of liberty, law, and tyranny is a must-read for anybody wanting to learn about the seeds from which each of them grows. America is enduring an existential crisis that could preserve liberty for generations to come or could plunge the nation and world into a dark world where tyranny rules across the continents. Ralph's book provides an excellent exposition of the U.S. Constitution's framework and purpose. It's written for all ages and is important to understanding the founding of America."
—DARIN L. GAUB, LTC (ret) USA | CO-FOUNDER & NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON FOR RESTORE LIBERTY
THE ELUSIVE TRADE:
How Exchange-Traded Funds Conquered Wall Street
On January 22, 1993, the first exchange-traded fund was launched in the United States. It was called the SPDR fund—also known as the "Spider"—and it offered convenient and affordable exposure to a range of markets in a new way, different from traditional mutual funds.
Shortly after this introduction, ETFs became an incredibly popular option for both individuals and for institutional investors, and they began to grow in numbers. In The Elusive Trade: How Exchange-Traded Funds Conquered Wall Street, author Ralph H. Lehman leverages more than two decades of financial industry experience and investment expertise to take readers deep inside the history of ETFs and the success of the SPDR fund in this country, exploring their development and highlighting the people who paved the way for market we know today.