The most secretive, least accountable institution tied to the U.S. government is not the CIA, DIA or NSA. Those clandestine agencies are subject to at least some Congressional oversight. Not so the Federal Reserve, which, since its creation in 1913, has been the most opaque institution in the land, despite the power it wields over interest rates and the money supply—indeed, over our whole economy. Now that the economy is mired in a crisis that some say might become a second Great Depression, it’s high time to shed some light on the central bank.