...Title: The Federal Reserve Name: Jane Doe Course: Eco 320/Understanding Prof. John Smith Date: 11/28/2012 It would not be an overstatement to say that the U.S Economy is very strong at least compare to other countries. One is sure that listening to the news and the politicians in Washington, DC they render a different opinion. But these tactics are just to scare people and make believe on ideals that have nothing to do with the actual state of the Economy. The fact is we now live in a global economy and what happen in Europe can have a major affect in the U.S economy. The European Union is not very stable at this moment and probably never will be stable, because the adaption of the Euro has failed on its main objective. The U.S Dollar is still the preferred and trusted paper for the world to conduct trade. The role of the Federal Reserve is to keep that trust and confidence in the U.S Dollar at home and abroad. To gain more prospective on the role of the Federal Reserve it is imperative to answer and explain the following questions: Evaluate the role and effectiveness of the Federal Reserve in stabilizing the current economy. The American economy is a complex balance of services, financial, manufacturing, agricultural, and banking industries. For this reason, the U.S. is a global economy, relying upon foreign investments and trade to create and retain wealth. Over the years, America has evolved from farming-based, to industrial, to a services-based economy...
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...The Federal Reserve Ryan Butler 23 August 2011 Evaluate the role and effectiveness of the Federal Reserve in stabilizing the current economy. The American economy is a complex balance of services, financial, manufacturing, agricultural, and banking industries. For this reason, the U.S. is a global economy, relying upon foreign investments and trade to create and retain wealth. Over the years, America has evolved from farming-based, to industrial, to a services-based economy. As a result, the banking system from its inception has weathered the many growing pains associated with a new government and currency, instituting regulations and a centralized bank to examine the economy, and implement policies intended to offset factors negatively affecting the general financial health of the country. Now, as the United States moves towards a globally interdependent marketplace, the stakes are much higher than they were when Congress established the Federal Reserve in the early 1900’s. A country’s debt can now become the world’s debt, and the role of the U.S. federal banking system is now considerably more under pressure and scrutiny than ever before. As we have been seeing with the current liquidity crisis in the U.S., and how it has affected U.K. and Asian markets, strong, comprehensive policy-making is now crucial to sustaining long-term economic viability. Even despite the growing need for quick, precise actions by the Federal Reserve System, the decision-making regarding the...
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...make an individual in favor or against a certain issue using techniques to speak to the consumer at a subconscious level. Monetary policy by far is a significant factor in the survival and well being of any nation. It can destroy or exalt any nation through policies that effect how the economy and money interact. Ranging from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the Bank of Japan, and the Swiss National Bank to the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve, these banks were deployed to attend the dire need of keeping monetary value stable; at what ever cost. Though for the best interest, centralized banks have helped and hurt their respective economies in many different ways. “During the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, financial panics plagued the nation, leading to bank failures and business bankruptcies that severely disrupted the economy. The failure of the nation's banking system to effectively provide funding to troubled depository institutions contributed significantly to the economy's vulnerability to financial panics” (Fox 1). I will be proving, as a liberal, how failed monetary policies of the Federal Reserve were the ongoing cause of the Great Depression. The onset of the Great Depression can be traced back to August 1929. In the fall of 1930, 15 months had passed since the beginning of the contraction; the economy finally began to appear poised for recovery. The last three contractions has lasted an average of 15 months. However,...
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...The Federal Reserve offers to the general public numerous publications available at the website of the Federal Reserve Board,http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/. The Federal Reserve Board testimonies, press releases, monetary policy reports, the Beige Book, and a variety of other publications offer a detailed assessment of current economic activity, financial markets, and the monetary policy tools used to promote economic activity and preserve price stability. 1. Describe the Federal Reserve’s assessment of the current economic activity and financial markets. 2. Explain the Federal Reserve’s current view about inflation. 3. Describe the monetary policy tools the Federal Reserve uses to stabilize the economy and maintain price stability. 4. Based on the information you researched from Federal Reserve publications, present and justify your own economic outlook for the next 12 to 18 months. Introduction American economy is composed of financial balance of services, Agricultural, manufacturing and banking industry. In the result U.S one of the biggest global economy which comprises of foreign investments and movement of wealth in trade. From past many years the U.S economy is emerged more as service based and industrial base economy than farming based. This result the banking system to be more complex to deal with the government and currency , instituting the regulations and a centralized bank to regulate and from a policies which could limitize...
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...Term Paper on: The Federal Home Loan Bank System Abstract The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System is a large, complex, and understudied government-sponsored liquidity facility that currently has more than $1 trillion in secured loans outstanding, mostly to commercial banks and thrifts. In this paper, we document the significant role played by the FHLB System at the onset of the ongoing financial crises and then provide evidence on the uses of these funds by the System’s bank and thrift members. Next, we identify the trade-offs faced by member-borrowers when choosing between accessing the FHLB System or the Federal Reserve’s Discount Window during the crisis period. We conclude by describing the fragmented U.S. lender-of-last-resort framework and finding that additional clarity about the respective roles of the various liquidity facilities would be helpful. Key words: Federal Home Loan Bank, government-sponsored enterprise, lender of last resort, liquidity Table of Contents Introduction The Federal Home Loan Bank System The Role of FHLB Advances during the 2007 Liquidity Crisis Aggregate Balance Sheets Regression Analysis Crisis-Related Lending by the Federal Reserve and the FHLB System Conclusion References Introduction In July 2007, the credit rating agencies (Standard & Poors, Moody’s, and Fitch) responded to the rapid deterioration in the performance of recently originated subprime mortgages by taking a ...
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...The Impact of the Federal Reserve Monetary Policies on Businesses Paul C. Batt Liberty University Introduction Important tools that governments use are monetary policies. These policies help regulate economic activity. Marc Labonte (2012) states that the Federal Reserve defines monetary policy “as actions taken to influence the availability and cost of money and credit.” These actions help control the money flow through the policies in which is parallel to the political and economic preferences. Monetary policy can influence the economy regionally and globally. These actions affect prices, employment, growth, and other areas. Through these changes, monetary policy influences consumers and businesses willingness to spend. Goals of Monetary Policy Monetary policy goals are consistent with the policy of the Federal Reserve Act. The Federal Reserve through it’s Board of Governors and Federal Open Market Committee seek certain goals. These goals include stable prices, long-term interest rates, and maximum employment. Stable prices help sustain maximum growth and employment. Stable pricing in the long-term helps control goods, services, and materials from outside influences of inflation. Stable pricing encourages savings and businesses are encouraged to invest more. Stable pricing in the long-run can compromise stability on the short-run. Short-run effects can lessen price pressures, in which this can move to easing in policy. With restrain inflationary...
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...Section 13 (3) of the Federal Reserve Act gives the Fed the authority to bail out banks who are in trouble. The act itself states: “Section 13-3 of the Federal Reserve Act provided that ‘In unusual and exigent circumstances’ the Fed could lend to any institution, as long as the loan was ‘secured to the satisfaction of the Federal Reserve Bank” (NY Times case). The act basically allows the Fed to help failing banks only if the bank is solvent and has adequate collateral to lend against. This act is a major aspect of the financial crisis of 2008 and particularly whether or not the New York Fed could rescue Lehman Brothers. The act was evaluated during the weekend in September 2008 when the regional Federal Reserve Bank, the New York Fed, was...
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...Crash and response by the Federal Government Philip J. Scanlon University of Redlands Conditions leading the Subprime Mortgage Crash Many factors contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis, a disruptive economic downturn that its severity can be compared to the Great Depression. Only federal intervention prevented a possible collapse of the world economic system. Ironically, it can be said that federal intervention in the mortgage industry led to the 2008 collapse. By backing risky mortgages, the government created a new systemic financial contagion that began in the housing market, moved through financial and investment markets, and created a loss of confidence in the financial system on which our economy is based. The following conditions created the crisis: 1. For the government, home ownership kept neighborhoods safe and clean because neighbors, in protecting their property, also protected neighborhoods. Government backed loans were offered to otherwise at risk lenders home ownership to strengthen communities, especially low income communities. 2. The government encouraged lenders to extend riskier loans to those more economically disadvantaged and therefore less likely to honor debt obligations. By guaranteeing the loans, the government allayed concerned bankers and other lenders. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, backed by the federal government, allowed financial institutes to sell mortgages as secure investments, creating a new financial production, mortgage securitization...
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...Financial Regulatory Reform ECO 238 12/07/2009 “Over the past two years, we have faced the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. The financial system failed to perform its function as a reducer and distributor of risk. Instead, it magnified risks, precipitating an economic contraction that has hurt families and businesses around the world.” (Geithner & Summers) While the current crisis had many causes, it is clear that the government could have done more to prevent many of the problems from growing out of control and threatening the stability of our financial system. Gaps and weaknesses in the management and regulation of financial firms presented challenges to our government’s ability to monitor, prevent, or address risks as they built up in the system, which caused the enormous bailouts or the massive financial collapses of financial institutions. The previous approaches to bank holding company regulation focused on protecting the subsidiary bank, not on the comprehensive regulation of the whole firm. In June, the President, proposed a new financial regulatory plan for the financial system. The new reform, as mentioned by the President, would protect consumers, impose new restraints on financial institutions and guard against the dismal practices that caused the market crisis. The new reform would generally be adopted by regulators since it mostly affects them. Timothy Geithner who is the secretary of the Treasury and Lawrence Summers who is...
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...Complexity of the US Financial System Michelle Bates Professor: Ahmad Zia Rawish Strayer University May 6, 2015 Principle of Finance 100 Complexity of the US Financial System How does the US financial market impact the economy? The financial market has different financial products including derivatives, bonds, and stocks among others. Derivatives are very complicated financial products that gain value from stocks and bonds (Altig, Christiano, Eichenbaum & Linde, 2011). These financial products are futuristic in the sense that they are based on future investments. Their effect on the economy is that they reduce its volatility. How does the US financial market impact business? One of the most significant impacts of financial markets on businesses is access to credit (Garbade, 2014). When the financial markets are not doing well, the general access to credit for businesses is also affected. Banks and financial institutions reduce their lending rates as a precautionary measure to avoid defaulters. As a result, businesses cannot get access to loans hence impeding their ability to continue running and expanding. How does the US financial market impact individual? When the financial markets are failing, the borrowing rates increases while the number of investors reduces (Garbade, 2014). Due to the raised borrowing rates, the prices of commodities go up reducing individuals’ purchasing power. As the prices go up, people are left...
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...thing clear: it was necessary to move beyond personality cults of individuals to tackle future financial crisis. Different plans to create an independent organization representing diverse financial institutions started to gain traction but the debate over the inherent subjugation of public interest in this arrangement raged on as well. Woodrow Wilson, as the winner of 1912 presidential elections, eventually started to shape the conversation towards a formal conclusion and proposed a combination of private and public representation in a central bank. The subsequent passage of the Federal Reserve Act created an institution that balanced centralized control enshrined in the government controlled Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. by establishing twelve privately controlled regional banks catering to the specific needs of twelve geographical regions of the country. Traditionally, the New York Fed has held a prestigious, and somewhat dominating, position among regional banks because of its hegemony over implementing the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve Bank and the fact that most of the financial powerhouses have concentrated operations in New York. Its organizational structure is composed of nine members (three bankers, three non-bankers chosen by the local banks and three members chosen by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to represent the public); other regional reserve banks have the same structure. By design, this structure is dominated by bankers and can potentially...
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...Monetary Policy in the United States: A Brave New World? Stephen D. Williamson This article is a reflection on monetary policy in the United States during Ben Bernanke’s two terms as Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee, from 2006 to 2014. Inflation targeting, policy during the financial crisis, and post-crisis monetary policy (forward guidance and quantitative easing) are discussed and evaluated. (JEL E52, N12) Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Second Quarter 2014, 96(2), pp. 111-21. en Bernanke chaired his last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in January 2014 and departed from the Board of Governors on February 3 after eight years as the head of the Federal Reserve System. So, the time is right to look back on the Bernanke era and ask how central banking has and has not changed since 2006. There is plenty in the macroeconomic record from 2006 to 2014 to keep economists and policy analysts busy for many years, so in this short piece we can only scratch the surface of what is interesting about the Bernanke era. I will focus on three issues: (i) inflation targeting, (ii) Fed lending and other interventions during the financial crisis, and (iii) post-crisis Fed policy, in particular experiments with forward guidance and quantitative easing (QE). B INFLATION TARGETING When Bernanke began his first term in 2006, I think the big change people expected was an inflation-targeting regime for U.S. monetary policy, similar to what exists in New...
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...on the barter system which, made fighting almost impossible. Welcoming the bills and foregoing bartering lead to inflation. The inflation was mild at first however is accelerated rapidly as the war progress. Eventually, people lost faith in the notes and they quickly became worthless. This would lead to three failed attempts to decentralized US Banking in an effort to restore trust and avoid economic disaster, after the failed attempts, The Federal Reserve Act was established in 1913 by Congress. This, at the time secured and stabilized the nation’s economy. From December 1912 to December 1913, the proposal underwent heated debates, a lot compromising, molding, and reshaping. By December 23, 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law. This was the first accepted decentralized central bank that balanced the competing interests of private banks and populist sentiment. The Federal Reserve or the “Feds” has the authority to make bank loans and back the notes printed. The purpose of the Federal Reserve System is to regulate banks and to manage the amount of money that is accessible within the economy. The Feds uses two of its tools to accomplish this, one, it can change the interest rates on the money it lends to banks. A higher interest rate makes money more expensive, thus discouraging banks to lend. Lowering interest rates causes the opposite effect. Two, they have the authority to change reserve requirements. A reserve requirement is...
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...citizens and businesses by offering greater economic stability within the internal economy and also the banking sector. This argument is supported by examples that demonstrate how the Swedish model enabled quick and effective implementation and has provided the Swedish banking sector stability since its inception in1992. Sweden has a socialist democratic system with a capitalist economy, a socialist embedded welfare system and a deregulated financial market which has benefited from constant economic growth (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010). Sweden’s growth continued till the 1990’s when it experienced the ‘1990 Bank Crisis’ similar to the American subprime mortgage crisis (Phillips, 2009). The United States has a liberal democracy with a market orientated economy which is one of the most powerful economies in the world with a GDP of $14.29 trillion (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010). However unlike Sweden the United states economy does suffer from insufficient economic infrastructure and medical and welfare systems (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010). Both Sweden and the US have central banks, the Riksbank and the Federal Reserve Bank respectively. Riksbank’s primary role is monetary policy and responsibility for stability within the economy and, in doing so has to act with in the guidelines of the Sveriges Riksbank Act (The Sveriges Riksbank, 2010). The Riksbank works closely with the Swedish government in...
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...Monetary Policy and the Federal Reserve: Current Policy and Conditions Marc Labonte Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy February 9, 2015 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL30354 Monetary Policy and the Federal Reserve: Current Policy and Conditions Summary The Federal Reserve (the Fed) defines monetary policy as its actions to influence the availability and cost of money and credit. Because the expectations of market participants play an important role in determining prices and economic growth, monetary policy can also be defined to include the directives, policies, statements, and actions of the Fed that influence future perceptions. Traditionally, the Fed has implemented monetary policy primarily through open market operations involving the purchase and sale of U.S. Treasury securities. The Fed traditionally conducts open market operations by setting a target for the federal funds rate, the rate at which banks borrow and lend reserves on an overnight basis. Beginning in September 2007, in a series of 10 moves, the federal funds target was reduced from 5.25% to a range of 0% to 0.25% on December 16, 2008, where it has remained since. With the federal funds target at this zero lower bound, the Fed attempted to provide additional stimulus through unconventional policies. It provided forward guidance on its expectations for future rates, announcing that it “anticipates that, even after employment and inflation are near mandate-consistent levels, economic...
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