The United States and the euro area are the top two largest economies in the world. This paper is a brief comparison of the central banking systems of the two economies. The paper starts by introducing historical background for the two central banking systems to be established. It then continues to analysis similarities and differences between two central bank system’s organizational structures. Moreover, the paper will also compare monetary policy frameworks of the two systems in terms of monetary policy making organization, objective, transparency, accountability, and strategies.
History
• The Federal Reserve System In 1791, U.S. Congress established the First Bank of the United States, headquartered in Philadelphia in response to the rapidly inflated paper money “continentals”. However, Congress refused to renew the bank’s charter in 1811 because many Americans then were uncomfortable with the idea of a large and powerful bank. By 1816, the idea of a central bank was once again aroused; by a narrow margin, Congress agreed to charter the Second Bank of the United States. But the Second Bank’s charter expired in 1836 without a renewal neither. During the Free Bank Era (1836-1865), risks of financial crisis accumulated. In 1893, a banking panic triggered the worst depression the United States had ever seen, and in 1907, a bout of speculation on Wall Street ended in failure, triggering a particularly severe banking panic. On December 23, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson
The panic of 1907 and the Great Recession of 2007-2009 has both been major economic events in the United States economic history. This paper compares and contrasts these two major events and enables us to understand importance of certain financial institutions and regulations during troubled times in the financial sector. In this paper, both panics of 1907 and 2007 are historically analyzed and compared.
These periods of financial panics along with the inelastic money supply had long beleaguered the country. Bank failures, business bankruptcies, and unstable economic development were results of the lack of a central banking system (Federal Reserve System 8th ed. pp. 6-7). The Panic of 1907 was a bank run of epic proportions that exacerbated the problem. Depositors withdrew their savings from the second and third largest banks in the country. These banks were not able to generate enough funds to cover the demand and subsequently closed their doors. Their closings rapidly spread fear across the country leading to one of the largest runs on the banks the nation had ever witnessed (Schlesinger pp. 41).
The Panic of 1819 was the nation’s first major economic depression. The Panic of 1819 followed the events of the War of 1812, a period of national liveliness and included the forming of the Second Bank of America. After the War of 1812, the United States economy thrived as chartered State banks that were loosely formed issued redeemable promissory notes that were far beyond specie. The amount of money multiplied rapidly. Eventually, bank notes started to be sold at a discount as foreigners and money brokers profitably claimed the notes for specie. In addition, the Bank of the United States' began to call on branches to redeem other bank obligations. The monetary expansion ended all of a sudden and a lot of bankruptcies came to pass. The aftermath of the War of 1812 included war debt to be fixed, downturns in exports, and lack of demand for both manufactured goods and agricultural goods. There was a plan that was put in place to help repair America’s current economic state such as establishing the Second Bank of the United States to provide credit to citizens and establishing other banks around the U.S. This plan ended up causing a lot of problems such as poor management of the banks and the policies within the United States’ economy.
The credit system of the country had ceased to operate, and thousands of firms went into bankruptcy (Born...,.12). Something had to be done that would provide for a flexible amount of currency as well as provide cohesion between banks across the United States. (Hepburn, 399) This knight in shining armor, as described in the story of the bank run, was the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 helped to establish banks as a united force working for the people instead of independent agencies working against each other. By providing a flexible amount of currency, banks did not have to hoard their money in fear of a bank run. Because of this, there was no competitive edge to see who could keep the most currency on hand and a more expansionary economy was possible.
Once FDR’s Inauguration ceremony concluded, he was faced with the damaging effects of the banking crisis that have plagued the nation’s economy. FDR was only in office for a single day when he “called Congress into a special session” because he wanted to start facing the beast head on starting with the banking crisis. The Emergency Banking Act was proposed, developed and signed in a signal day on March 9, 1933. This newly enacted law was “drawn up under pressure and passed promptly in order to facilitate the reopening of the nation’s banks“(Preston, 585). The Emergency Banking Act stated that there will be “12 Federal Reserve banks” that will be issuing additional currency to people with good assets and the banks that will be reopened will
In the late 1800s and early 1900s the United States experienced numerous banking panics ultimately leading to a massive crisis in 1907 which would motivate Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act. President Woodrow Wilson would sign the act in December of 1913 (McBride & Sergie, 2015). The Federal Reserve would mean a centralized banking system for the United States.
After the Revolutionary War, many of the country’s citizens were in great debit and there was widespread economic disruption. The country was in need of an economic overhaul and the new country’s leaders would need to decide how to do this to ensure the new country did not fall apart. After two unsuccessful attempts at a national banking system, the Federal Reserve System was created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Since its inception, the Federal Reserve System has evolved into a central banking system that grows with the country. The Federal Reserve System provides this country with a central bank that is able to pursue consistent monetary policies. My goal in this paper is to help the reader to understand why the Federal
President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his address to the American people, Fireside Chat on Banking, elaborates on why he closed all banks following the financial crash of 1933. Roosevelt’s purpose is to ease the fear in his country’s people. He adopts a succinct and reassuring tone in order to regain trust in the banking system and American government.
These panics contributed to the failure of banks and businesses alike. In 1907 banks extended too much credit to consumers in order to keep up with the increase in spending activity. The currency available to the public was depleted soon after. Banks could no longer conduct loans or pay out money from existing accounts. This led to the loss of their security and their complete collapse. Financial crisis of this type had happened before but this time it led to the creation of the Federal Reserve Act. President Woodrow Wilson signed the act in December of 1913, and established the Federal Reserve board, but their purpose and oversight were not clearly defined. Originally the Federal Reserve banks role was to control the discounted rate at which other banks could lend each other money. Over the years the Federal Reserve’s powers have grown (Federal Reserve System
After Congress refused the national bank before the war of 1812, the states started their own banks with their own currency. This made things difficult for the American people. There more than 400 different banks by 1818, with each of them having their own currency. Investors were losing and winning by just by picking different currency to follow. This left America in trouble. “To end the mayhem and strengthen the national government, proponents of the American System designed the Second Bank of the United States” (Shultz, 2014, p. 168). The new bank began in 1816. The start of the bank caused a major economic recession; when it first started it was loose with credit and then suddenly they changed to strict
President Roosevelt took immediate action to address the country’s economic woes, first announcing a four day “bank holiday” during which all banks would close so that Congress could pass reform legislation and reopen those banks determined to be sound. He began addressing the general public by giving speeches in radio, and these “fireside chat” went a long way towards restoring public confidence. The establishment of FDIC in 1933 insured the bank money and boosted the public confidence with the help of which, deposits surpassed withdrawals, the Home Owners Loan Cooperation regulated the
The Great Depression is undoubtedly one of the most significant events in American and world history. It was the most widespread depression in the 20th century affecting most nations in the world and lasting for as long as a decade. However, there still remain unanswered questions regarding the cause of the great depression. One of the most debated topics regarding the Great Depression continues to be the role of the Federal Reserve (Fed) in causing and prolonging the crisis. The Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the United States, was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, primarily in response to a series of financial panics in 1907. The Fed had being in existence for 15 years before the
By Day 4, post a brief comparison of the health status of the two EU countries you selected with that of the U.S.
This Essay will inspect the relationship between the EU and the UK including purposes behind the supremacy of the European Union (EU) laws and after that it will take a gander at the system of how does the UK offers impact to those laws and regardless of whether the UK parliamentary sovereignty represents an issue to this. The exposition will set up regardless of whether the EU law is without a doubt supreme and in the event that this is along these lines, on what premise is the EU law incomparable as there is no composed report, for example, treaties that expressly states EU law is incomparable however seemingly through standard international laws it might be questionable that the EU is supreme.
By the end of 2008, the European Union began experiencing rippling effects of the United States financial crisis. Several member countries, most notably on the southern end of the continent, faced high levels of debt and unemployment. Portugal, Iceland, Ireland, Greece, and Spain, derogatively referred to as “PIIGS,” required extensive economic support from the EU in order to repay government debts and bail-out private banks. Disbursal of aid in 2010 proved successful in promoting economic recovery in some countries; however, the vast majority observed only slight economic improvement which led to doubts regarding the effectiveness of the harsh austerity measures implemented. Ireland has most clearly benefited from the financial support of the European Union as the country’s unemployment rate has dropped below ten percent and is expected to witness 4.5% GDP growth in 2016. Portugal, on the other hand, shows little fiscal improvement as evident in an unemployment rate of 13% and an expected GDP growth of only 1.6% in 2016. Although both countries faced tough financial crises in 2010, Ireland has notably outperformed Portugal in resolving the situation. The weak economy in Portugal, as well as continued fiscal hardship in the remaining “PIGS” countries, threaten the preservation of the European Union as financial inequality between the members persists.