Ron Paul opening statement to Bernanke at FSC 2-27-2008 Here is Ron's opening statement during the Bernanke hearings. He is the only one, as usual, who speaks truth to power. As Ron argues in his books, central banking is an economic, political, and moral evil. One reason the Establishment-beloved Milton Friedman was not a libertarian, though he was a free marketeer in a number of ways, was his total devotion to central banking and the Federal Reserve, in theory and practice.