Federal Reserve Research Paper

This role is achieved through the implantation of the monetary policies. According to Arnold (2008), Fed has several tools at it disposal that it uses in the monetary polices. These are; the open market operations which involve buying and selling U.S government securities in the financial markets. Further the bank is charged with the responsibility of determining the required reserve ratio. This ratio is given to the commercial banks dictating the minimum amounts that they should hold in to their accounts as deposits and for lending. Finally the Fed sets the discount rates putting in to consideration the overall market rates s well as desired effect on borrowing that the Fed seeks to achieve. In addition to these three major roles, as a bank, the Federal Reserve Bank can play the roles played by the commercial banks as the rules are not entirely prohibitive as far as this duty is concerned.

The Federal Reserve is the single entity in control of the monetary policy of the United State of America. Monetary policy is the process that the Federal Reserve takes in order to control the supply of money and to attempt the control the direction of interest rates. The reason for doing these actions is in attempt to control the country’s inflation and employment rates, which are the biggest indicators and factors of a healthy economy.

To be more precise in the way the monetary policy works, it is under three implements that define its functions: open market operations, changes in the discount rate, and changes in the required reserve ratio. These are the functions that provide the Federal Reserves (the Fed) the ability to change the money supply in our economy. It is a matter of actions taken to maintain our country in the best way possible and, of course, stability comes with a price. With things like supporting our troops in other countries, like Iraq and Afghanistan, a cut in tax rates, and increases in overall spending, it adds up to where we have spent more than we have collected in revenue (Fix the

Using Sources A, B, and C and your own knowledge account for the founding of the U.S. Federal Reserve and analyze how its role in economic policy has developed since then.

By law, the Federal Reserve conducts monetary policy to achieve its macroeconomic objectives of stable prices and maximum employment. The Federal Open Market Committee usually conducts policy by adjusting the level of short-term interest rates in response to changes in the outlook of the economy. Since 2008, the FOMC has also used large-scale purchases of Treasury securities and securities that were guaranteed or issued by federal agencies as a policy tool in an effort to lower longer-term interest rates and thereby improve financial conditions and so support the economic recovery (What).

During the Federal Reserve meeting in April 2016, the range was left unchanged for federal funds at 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). Labor markets experience growth confirmed by policy makers, yet economic activity was monitored as being slow (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The risks associated with the financial developments of the country have ceased (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The average percentage of interest rate in the U.S. averaged at 5.8. March of 1980 a record high was recorded at 20% (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The lowest interest rates were recorded in the month of December 2008 at 0.25% (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016).

The United Stated Federal Reserve Board (the Fed), a component of the Federal government, conducts monetary policy. The Fed essentially plays the role for the nation’s banks that these banks play for us. Just as we borrow money from the banks, the banks borrow money from the Fed. Just as we pay interest on the money we borrow, banks pay interest on the money that they borrow from the Fed. The Fed can use monetary policy to decrease unemployment by lowering the interest rate that it charges banks. If banks are able to pay a lower interest rate to borrow from the Fed, they are likely to lower the interest rate that they charge the

The Federal Reserve System can also be referred to Federal Reserve or simply the FED. The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. The Federal Reserve System was created over 100 years ago in December 23 of 1913. The Federal Reserve System was created in response to a series of financial panics particularly the panic of 1907. The panic of 1907 showed the need for central control of the monetary system if crises are to be avoided. Many events such as the Great Depression and the Great Recession led to the expansion of the role and responsibility of the Federal Reserve System. The U.S Congress established three key objectives for monetary policy in the Federal Reserve Act. The three key objectives for the monetary

The Federal Reserve System is the most powerful institution in the United States economy. Functioning as the central bank of the United States, acting as a regulator, the lender of last resort, and setting the nation’s monetary policy via the Federal Open Market Committee, there is no segment of the American economy unaffected by the Federal Reserve [endnoteRef:1]. This power becomes even more substantial in times of “unusual and exigent circumstances,” as Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act gives authority to the Board of Governors to act unilaterally in lending and market making operations during financial crisis[endnoteRef:2]. As illustrated by their decision making in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 Great Recession,

The Federal Reserve has three tools to help maintain and make changes within money supply and policies. The first tool and most popular tool is open market operations. The Reserve uses this instrument to regulate the rate of federal funds within the system, which is merely the rate in which banks borrow reserves from other banks. With this tool, they can alter the interest rates and amount of money on the open market. Therefore, the Reserve can essentially control the total money stream, whether that is expanding and contracting it.

The Federal Reserve System was created by Congress in 1913 and passed the Federal Reserve Act in order to provide for a safer and more flexible banking and monetary system. According to the changing needs of the system, its objectives have been changing throughout the history of the Fed. At first, “its original purposes were to give the country an elastic currency, provide facilities for discounting commercial credits, and improve the supervision of the banking system under a decentralized bank.” (The Federal Reserve System, 1984, 1). Prior to its establishment (the Fed), the supply of bank credit and money was inelastic, thus resulting in an irregular flow of credit and money, and contributed to unstable economic development. These objectives were aspects economic policies and national monetary. However, through time, stability and growth of the economy, high employment levels, stability in the purchasing power of the dollar, and reasonable balance in transactions with foreign currencies have become to be recognized as primary objectives of the governmental economic policy.

The Federal Reserve, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, Department of Commerce and Treasury Department play crucial roles in the value and availability of money in the USA economy. First, the Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. It is run by a Board of Governors appointed by the president and serves as a bank to banks. It performs five general functions to promote the effective operation of the U.S. economy. One, it conducts the nation's monetary policy to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates in the U.S. economy. Second, it promotes the stability of the financial system and seeks to minimize and contain systemic risks through active monitoring and engagement in the

To stabilize the economy bonds are used which release money into the market. The responsibility of the Central Bank is to maintain the health of the banking system and regulating the purchase and sale of bonds. The interest rates are controlled to balance the markets. According to the Monetary Policy Report to Congress, “The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained a target range of 0 to ¼ percent for the federal funds rate throughout the second half of 2009 and early 2010” while representing forecasted economic decisions to rationalize low levels for longer times on the federal funds rate (Federal Reserve, 2010). Purchases were still being made by the Fed’s to result in improvements to the economy through focusing on mortgages, the real estate market, and the credit market. Predictions by the Federal Open Market Committee depicted low levels on the federal funds rates in early 2010 which would continue for some time while over time the economy would see growth, a rise in inflation, and a decline in unemployment. Feds were in agreement though they expected the recovery process to be slower. Purchases by the Federal reserve were slowed, “$300 billion of Treasury securities were completed by October” and “the purchases of $1.25 trillion of MBS and about $175 billion of agency debt” were suppose to be finished the first quarter of 2010 (Federal Reserve, 2010).

One form of direct control can be exercised by adjusting the legal reserve ratio (the proportion of its deposits that a member bank must hold in its reserve account), and as a result, increasing or decreasing the amount of new loans that the commercial banks can make. Because loans give rise to new deposits, the possible money supply is, in this way, expanded or reduced. This policy tool has not been used too much in recent years. The money supply may also be influenced through manipulation of the discount rate, which is the rate if interest charged by the Federal Reserve banks on short-term secured loans to member banks. Since these loans are typically sought to maintain reserves at their required level, an increase in the cost of such loans has an effect similar to that of increasing the reserve requirement. The classic method of indirect control is through open-market operations, first widely used in the 1920s and now used daily to make some adjustment to the market. Federal Reserve bank sales or purchases of securities on the open market tend to reduce or increase the size of commercial bank reserves. When the Federal Reserve sells securities, the purchasers pay for them with checks drawn on their deposits, thereby reducing the reserves of the banks on which the checks are drawn. The three instruments of control explained above have been conceded to be more effective in preventing inflation in times of high economic activity than in bringing about revival from a

      Monetary policy is under the control of the Federal Reserve System and is completely discretionary. It is the changes in interest rates and money supply to expand or contract aggregate demand. In a recession, the Fed will lower interest rates and increase the money supply. The Federal Reserve System’s control over the money supply is the key Mechanism of monetary policy. They use 3 monetary policy tools- Reserve Requirements, Discount Rates/Interest Rates, and Open Market Operations. The reserve requirement is the percentage of bank deposits a bank must hold in reserves and cannot loan out. By raising or lowering the reserve requirements, the Fed controls the amount of loanable funds. The interest rate is the amount the FED charges private banks, so they can meet the reserve requirements. The prime rate is currently set at 5%. If the Interest rate is low, the banks will borrow more money from the FED and the money supply will increase. Interest rates have been above average for the past 20 years, but are currently considered low. Open Market Operations is the most effective and most used