Allowing a "secretive central bank" to control monetary policy in the US has led to dire consequences, including growing income inequality, the erosion of dollar's purchasing power and a series of huge economic crises, Ron Paul underscores.

The US monetary system led by the Federal Reserve should be revised, former US congressman Ron Paul insists, adding that unless the system changes, the United States, and the world in general, will soon experience a major economic crisis.

"The failure of the Fed's policies of massive money creation, corporate bailouts, and quantitative easing to produce economic growth is a sign that the fiat money system's day of reckoning is near. The only way to prevent the monetary system's inevitable crash from causing a major economic crisis is the restoration of a free-market monetary policy," Dr. Ron Paul stressed in his article for Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

Not everything is rosy in the garden of the US economy: the real unemployment rates are higher than those officially declared.

"Presumably the Federal Reserve Board has access to the real unemployment numbers and is thus aware that the economy is actually far from full employment," Ron Paul noted.

The former congressman cited Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has recently nailed Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for keeping interest rates low and playing into hands of the Obama administration.

"I have many disagreements with Mr. Trump, but I do agree with him that the Federal Reserve's polices may be influenced by partisan politics," Dr. Paul remarked.

Indeed, almost all Fed chairs have been trying to "adjust" monetary policies to suit the needs of the incumbent administration, he noted.

But perhaps all is not lost: there is a hope that the US Congress will pass the Audit the Fed bill. If the bill passes, the American people will finally find out the truth about the Fed's operation.

On the other hand, if it fails, the people of the US will at least know which senators are protecting their interests and which ones are protecting those of the Federal Reserve, Dr. Paul noted, adding that the vote is expected to take place in the next two or three weeks.

"It is time to finally audit, then end, the Fed," he concluded.