Monetary Policy – Quantitative Easing Quantitative easing is a nontraditional monetary policy that

Max: Now that we have taken care of fiscal policy we must acknowledge the second half of the efforts to pull ourselves out of the recession. Monetary policy! Monetary policy is the action of the federal Bank of the United States of America to manipulate the economy using the three tools. The three tools are open market operations, discount rate, and reserve requirements. The most commonly used tool is OMO’s, the fed buys bonds from the federal government and then sell to the public. With the profit they make from the bonds sold to the public they buy more bonds. And then it continues in this cycle.

Quantitative easing is an unusual form of policy used when interest rates are near 0%. Banks rouse the nationwide financial system when usual monetary policies have become ineffective. In recent decades the government Central bank has argued they are the government’s most important financial agency.

When it comes to the supply of money, different actions are taken to assure stability in our country. To ensure we are keeping consistent with the loss in value of currency throughout the years, the Federal Reserve changes either the inflation or the interest rates so that prices will be able to balance the debt amount. With actions like such, there are purposes sought by the Federal Reserve Act set toward “the Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee…: to promote… the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates” (Federal Reserve). These are a matter of acts under the monetary policy. However, today in America, we are still suffering from the continuous increase in our national debt, a problem that has been growing since the start of the new century.

In the late 2007, early 2008 the United States and the world was hit with the most serious economic downturn since The Great Depression in 1929. During this time the Federal Reserve played a huge role in assuring that it would not turn into the second Great Depression. In this paper, we will be discussing what the Federal Reserve did during this time, including a discussion of our nation’s three main economic goals which are GDP, employment, and inflation. My goal is to describe the historic monetary and fiscal policy efforts undertaken by the U.S. Government and Federal Reserve, including both the traditional and non-traditional measures to ease credit markets and stimulate the economy.

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).

As the onslaught of the sub-prime mortgage crisis began in late 2007, the housing market plummeted sending the economy into what is now known as the Great Recession. The Federal Reserve, as well as the private and government sectors, quickly took notice. In November of 2008 the Federal Reserve undertook its first trimester of quantitative easing; which means the Fed began purchasing treasury securities to increase the money supply in the system, with the hopes that the increase in assets would encourage lending and investment, leading to a resurgence of the economy in terms of unemployment rates and GDP. As time progressed the Fed continued to implement quantitative easing into its third trimester due to a lack of sufficient results.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke 's meeting dealt mainly with the issues that could stabilize the economy after the great recession. After creating a number of policies to fight the 2008 crisis, Chairman 's move to further reduce Quantitative Easing was a bit of a disappointment. The Fed will reduce its purchases of long-term Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities by another $10 billion a month. Apart from this, Fed is going to concentrate on maximizing employment rates, stabilizing prices and interest rates.

Earlier this year the Fed announced it would likely end its record quantitative easing program in the fall, following a series of upbeat economic reports showing the US economy was gaining momentum. By paring asset purchases by another $10 billion at the September 16-7 policy meetings, the Fed has brought down the total of its monthly asset purchase facility to $15 billion. The markets widely expect the Fed to end its QE program at the October Federal Open Market Committee policy meetings with one final reduction of $15 billion.

This report discusses the association between the Federal Reserve System and U.S. Monetary Policy. It mentions that the government can finance war through money printing, debt, and raising taxes. It affirms that The Federal Reserve is not a government entity but an independent one. It supports that the Federal Reserve’s policies are the root cause of boom and bust cycles. It confirms that the FED’s money printing causes inflation and loss of wealth for United States citizens. It affirms that the government’s involvement in education through student loans has raised the cost of a college education. It confirms that the United States economy is in a housing bubble, the stock market bubble, bond market bubble, student loan bubble, dollar bubble, and consumer loan bubble. It supports the idea that the Federal Reserve does not raise interest rates because of the fear of deflating the bubbles they have created in recent years.

Over the past decade, the Fed has responded fairly to inflation and unemployment. According to the Federal Reserve (2017), between late 2008 (the era of the Great Recession) and October 2014, the Federal Reserve purchased longer-term mortgage-backed securities and notes issued by certain government-sponsored enterprises, as well as longer-term Treasury bonds and notes. In essence, lowering the level of longer-term interest rates and improving financial conditions (the Fed.com, 2017).

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).

When the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) wants to increase the money supply, they buy up government bonds from the public on the bonds markets (Mankiw, 2009). The result of buying bonds puts money in the pockets of the public, if the Fed wants to decrease the money supply, they sell off bonds. It is generally thought that when the public has more money available to them, they will consume more. This increased consumption should lead to an overall increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and expansion of the economy.

The Federal Reserve went into action in response to the 2008 recession by rapidly reducing interest rates with the hopes of encouraging economic growth. The federal funds target rate was decreased to between zero and .25 percent. The results of the rate changes caused what is called “zero bound”, this reduced the effectiveness of monetary policy with the near non-existence of interest rates.

As interest rates bottomed out quickly after the onset of the recession, the Federal Reserve could no longer stimulate the economy with traditional and time-tested techniques. The controversial and unconventional method chosen by the Federal Reserve, and other central banks around the world, is known as “quantitative easing” (QE). QE functions by injecting large amounts of reserve capital into commercial banks with the hope that those banks will then be willing to lend the money at affordable interest rates. Ideally, the addition to economic activity affected by the influx of capital to banks should keep the value of the dollar relatively low, avoiding deflation and encouraging foreign investment by those wishing to take advantage of an affordable dollar. The cheaper dollar should also make American exports look more attractive to potential consumers in other countries. If interest rates stay low, and banks begin lending again, consumer and investor confidence should hopefully rise, leading to more spending and thus, economic growth.

Quantitative easing refers to the practice of pumping money into the economy of a nation so that the banks are encouraged to lend. The government injects money into the economy with the hope that people and companies will be able to sped more. There is a greater chance for an economy to spring back to life when there is increased spending.