The Federal Reserve ( Fed )

Life: Where do we come from? How did we get here? These are questions each one of us eventually asks ourselves and, in so doing, searches for the answers. It is intrinsically woven into us to know the basis of what sustains us. Why is it then, that the general public is satisfied in knowing only about current celebrity gossip and is content to remain ignorant when it comes to where our currency originates and how it is produced? Some may find it too confusing and overwhelming a subject about which to think. Is it possible that its perplexity is not by mistake? James Corbett mentions in his documentary, Century of Enslavement: The History of The Federal Reserve, “Our monetary ignorance is artificial, a smokescreen that has been erected on purpose and perpetuated with the help of complicated systems and insufferable economic jargon.” (Corbett, J., 2014, July 6.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IJeemTQ7Vk)

Federal Reserve can be very confusing to understand and know what is their purpose and how they help the economy. The Federal Reserve was started in December 23,1913 by President Woodrow Wilson who sign the Federal Reserve Act. The Fed has many things that it controls in are economy. One of the Reason that President Woodrow Wilson put the Federal Reserve Act in to place because in 1913 there were a feel that banks were instable so many investors did not feel confident in the banks and felt that it was unsafe. One thing that made Woodrow Wilson make the Federal reserve is the people making a run on the banks frequently, which many bank at this time did not keep enough money in the bank and people panic heard about other banks falling so they would try and get all their money out of the banks as fast as possible. With so many people running on the bank would cause the bank to fell which became a big problem following the Great Depression. Then Woodrow Wilson need to find a way to make the bank safer and build a more secure financial system. One thing to understand is also the monetary policy which refers to Fed nation central bank, which influence the amount of money and credit in the U.S. economy and how we spend money and credit affects interest rates which help the U.S economy perform. However, the monetary policy main reason it to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and long term interest rates which help the feds control the economic growth.

The Federal Reserve System was founded by Congress in 1913 to be the central bank of the United States. The Federal Reserve System was founded to be a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary financial system. Over the years, the role of the Federal Reserve Board and its influence on banking and the economy has increased. Today, the Federal Reserve System's duties fall into four general categories. Firstly, the FED conducts the nation's monetary policy. The FED controls the monetary policy by influencing credit conditions in the economy. The FED measures its success in accomplishing these goals by judging whether or not the economy is at full employment and whether or not prices are stable. Not only

The Federal Funds Rate is arguably the most important interest rate in the world as it sets the tone in the market. This is the overnight interest rate used when banks borrow money from other banks or from the Federal Reserve. (Miller, 2016) If they do not have enough on hand to lend out, the Federal Reserve would be a place where banks can borrow money overnight. The rate is a tool used by the Fed to control the supply of available money therefore controlling inflation and other interest rates. (Fed Funds Rate: Definition, Impact and How it Works, n.d.) The higher the rate the more it costs to borrow money which lowers the supply of money. The lower the rate the less it costs to borrow which increases the supply of money. While it may seem natural that a very

The Federal Funds Rate is the interest rate that Federal Reserve uses to trade funds with banks. Changes in this rate can trigger a chain of events that can be beneficial or devastating to the economy. If a bank is charged a higher interest rate to trade money or take out a loan, then the increase will be passed on to their customers, causing them to pay higher transaction fees or more interest. Each month, the Federal Open Market Committee meets to determine the federal funds rate. This in turn affects other short term interest rates. The determining rate immediately impacts the rates at which banks borrow money and the interest rates the banks use to charge their customers on loans. If the rate raise is too high, then money flow drops

The Federal Reserve (FED) is the central bank of the United States. One of its purposes is to set interest rates at which banks lend each other money and another interest rate by which banks borrow money directly from the Fed ("How Interest Rates Work."). The interest rates set by the Fed affect the borrowing, the lending, and by extension the economy of the country. Any changes in the interest rates at which banks borrow money from the Fed will influence the country’s economy. Thus, the higher the interest rate, the lower loans are demanded. Consequently, due to this mechanism, the lower the interest rates, the higher the growth of the economy ("How Interest Rates Work."). When the Fed goes down interest rates, banks can borrow money for less.

Over the past few years we have realized the impact that the Federal Government has on our economy, yet we never knew enough about the subject to understand why. While taking this Economics course it has brought so many things to our attention, especially since we see inflation, gas prices, unemployment and interest rates on the rise. It has given us a better understanding of the effect of the Government on the economy, the stock market, the interest rates, etc. Since the Federal Government has such a control over our Economy, we decided to tackle the subject of the Federal Reserve System and try to get a better understanding of the history, the structure, and the monetary policy of the power that it holds.

The Fed was originally created to prevent the supply of money and credit from dissipating. In the United States today the Fed controls monetary policy. Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country, controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability (Unknown). When the United States is smitten-ed by debt the Fed has the ability to lower interest rates. When interests rates are lowered, it encourages people to acquire loans and make acquisitions. The short run effect of this cycle can be positive, the long run may not be as positive. When handled erroneously the long run of inflation will be negative. In the short run when people secure loans, the loan enables the person purchasing power, which may help their finances. If the individual receiving a loan does not financially dispense their loan wisely, that individual can be in a arduous financial problem. A dire financial problem can be the possibility of becoming bankrupt, which leaves the person in a situation that is extremely difficult to over come.

The Federal Funds Rate plays a huge role on the state of the economy in the United States. For something that has such impact on the whole economy in the United States, it is very little known and understood. The Federal Funds Rate may be the most important rate in the country. So what is the Federal Funds Rate? It is an interest rate that is used when banks lend to other banks or other depository institutions from “funds that are maintained at the Federal Reserve” (Target Rate). The transaction can only be done overnight and by trustworthy institutions. The target rate is determined by the Federal Open Market Committee (Target Rate). They will influence and determine the rate that will be used. So if it doesn’t have any first hand impact on a normal consumer or business, why should anyone care about it? The answer to that is simple, the Federal Funds Rate will greatly impact the economy in several areas and it will trickle down onto the normal consumer and business. The Federal Funds Rate will change the economy if it goes up, and if it goes down. As the year runs down, everyone will be watching with a close eye to see what the Fed will do with the rate. The Federal Funds Rate will increase in December of 2016.

Cheaper borrowing costs because lower interest rates make the cost of borrowing inexpensive. It will support consumers and firms to take out loans to finance greater spending and investment (Pettinger).

People are going to be cutting back on spending, because their disposable income is going to decrease. Cutting back on spending hurts businesses and causes them to have to lay off workers, because they are now not doing as good business wise as they were during the economic recovery. They lay off workers to try and save money for their business since they will not be making as much. When businesses have to lay off workers the unemployment rate is going to increase. Raising interest rates is also going to cause inflation to decrease, because the demand for goods and services is going to decrease. The demand decreases because people will have less money to spend. Raising interest rates is going to hurt anyone who decides to buy a car or a house as well. They are going to have a higher car payment or mortgage

In this chapter, the author was talking about some important topics which is the reason of Fed was generally so ineffective before the late 1980s, macroeconomic volatility declined so late, inflation targeting.

The Federal Reserve is in charge of lending rates and inflation rates and is the central banking for the United States. The Federal Reserve Bank maintains a database with economic data. The Federal Reserve

Congress delegated the responsibility of monetary policy to the central bank of the nation and the Federal Reserve. Nonetheless, it retained the oversight responsibility of affirming that the Fed adheres to its enacted responsibility of stable prices, functional employment, as well as average future interest rates. In order to meet its mandate on stabilizing prices, the Fed has developed a long-run target of about 2% inflation. The control of monetary policy by the Fed arises from its capacity to influence the supply of money and general credit conditions (Rudebusch 14). Usually, the Fed carries out monetary policy by establishing in place a goal for the federal fund's

Interest Rates: Interest rate have been decreased both the first quarter (0.18%) as well as second quarter (0.09 %) Interest rates are defined in several different ways. There is the rate for real interest which is the nominal interest rate adjusted for expected inflation. This is the rate which influences a firm’s investment decisions.  Changes in nominal interest rates are felt within the consumer community as adjustments to the cost of borrowed funds. i.e. lower federal interest rates equate to lower mortgage rates. When the mortgage rate is lower, people are more inclined to purchase a home. In the case of consumer interest rates (revolving credit), reduced rates allow for larger purchasing power as well. When credit card rates are lower, purchasing is higher. Higher purchasing increases retail sales thus directly impacting the retail industry. Higher interest rates tend to drive consumers to tighten spending and thus impact in a negative manner. Both the housing