"Most people think that the government regulates the Federal Reserve, but in reality it's the other way around - the Federal Reserve regulates the government" - G. Edward Griffin @ 12:23 minutes.
The United States has admitted to having over 20T Dollars in debt but there is over 120T in unfunded liabilities that rarely ever get reported. To me, that's not a successful economic policy and a harbinger for economic collapse.
How did we get so far afield from the goals of our Founding Fathers? We went away from the US Constitution and granted the ability to print and coin money to a private organization, the Federal Reserve Bank.