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The Federal Reserve And Expansionary Monetary Policy

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When there are problems in the United States economy, whom do the people turn to? The most obvious answer is the government. The federal government is given the responsibility of maintaining a stable economy. When the economy is not stable, like during a recession, the American people turn the government and demand that they fix whatever problem is occurring. The government can handle the economy in a recessionary period in one of two ways: expansionary fiscal policy or expansionary monetary policy. The sector of the government that handles the economy using these policies in a recession is the Federal Reserve. The best course of action to get the United States out of a recession is to use expansionary monetary policy.
In order to properly explain the expansionary economic policies that the federal government engages in, it is important to understand the vocabulary being used. The Federal Reserve Bank, commonly referred to as the Fed, “is the central bank of the United States” (Arnold, 2014). According to Steven Pressman (2013), “the Federal Reserve is the institution in which the federal government and private banks do their banking. The central Federal Reserve banks are responsible for monitoring banks and ensuring they remain solvent. They also control interest rates and thus borrowing costs for consumers and business firms. This, in turn, affects unemployment and inflation, giving the Federal Reserve substantial control over the U.S. economy.” Expansionary fiscal policy

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