In this paper, I will identify the three monetary tools used by the Federal Reserve. In addition, I will explain how these monetary tools influence the money supply and in turn affect macroeconomic factors. Next, I will explain how money is created. Lastly, I will recommend monetary policy combinations that best achieve a balance between economic growth, low inflation, and a reasonable rate of unemployment.
Tools Used by the Federal Reserve to Control the Money Supply
The three monetary tools used by the Federal Reserve to alter the reserves of commercial banks are: Open-market operations, reserve ratio, and the discount rate (McConnell-Brue, 2004, chpt. 15). The most powerful and flexible tool of the Federal Reserve is Open-market operations. Open-market operations occurs when the buying of government bonds from, or the selling of government bonds to, commercial banks and the general public (McConnell-Brue, 2004, chpt. 15).
The Federal Reserve can also influence the ability for commercial banks to lend by manipulating the reserve ratio. The reserve ratio is the amount the Federal Reserve is requiring the banks to keep in their reserve. By increasing or decreasing the reserve ratio, this determines if a bank has more or less money to lend (The Federal Reserve, 2007).
In the event that a main bank would have unexpected or immediate needs for additional funds, the Federal Reserve can make short-term loans (McConnell-Brue, 2004, chpt. 15). The discount rate is the rate of interest that the Federal Reserve charges to borrow money (The Federal Reserve, 2007).
Tools Used to Influence the Money Supply and Affect Macroeconomic Factors
When the Federal Reserve buys securities in the open market, commercial banks’ reserves are increased. This results in banks lending out their excess reserves which in turn will increase the supply of money. On the other hand, when the Federal Reserve sells securities in the open market to commercial banks or to the public, bank reserves will be reduced and thus the nation’s money supply will decline (McConnell-Brue, 2004, chpt. 15).
“The Fed can also manipulate the reserve ratio in order to influence the ability of commercial banks to lend” (McConnell-Brue, 2004, chpt. 15). If the Federal Reserve increases the reserve ratio, then this would increase the amount of required reserves a bank must keep on hand (McConnell-Brue, 2004, chpt. 15).
-2. The background of the financial crisis.—what kind of monetary policy the federal reserve made?
In this paper I will explain which of the monetary tools available to the Federal Reserve are most often used and the reasons for that. I will also describe how expansionary activated conducted by the Federal Reserve impact credit avilaiblilty, the money supply, interest rates and security prices, and to conclude I will show the result of the transactions in the form of a balance sheet supposing the Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve uses three main tools in order to control the money supply. The first tool is open-market operations. These operations consist of the buying and selling of government bonds to commercial banks and the public. Open-market operations are the most important tool that the Fed can use to influence the money supply (Brue, 2004, p. 252). By buying bonds from the open market, the Federal Reserve increases the reserves of commercial banks which in turn will increase the overall money supply in the country. The opposite is true if the Fed sells bonds on the open market. By doing so, the Fed reduces the reserves of banks and, in turn, takes money out of the system. By being able to control how much money the commercial banks can lend, the Fed has a very powerful tool to adjust the economy.
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.
This article is also a good example of how the aggregate demand curve can be shifted by the determinant of monetary policy. Please refer again back to article #4, which explains the principle of the aggregate demand curve. By definition, Monetary Policy is a policy influencing the economy through changes in the banking system’s reserves that influence the money supply and credit availability in the economy. The purpose of monetary policy is to improve the economy by either increasing or decreasing the real income (or GDP) of the U.S. economy so that the economy is running at its potential. The Federal Reserve (The Fed) is responsible for conducting monetary policy for the United States Economy. There are three ways that the Fed conducts monetary policy: 1) Changing the reserve requirement. 2) Executing open market operations (buying and selling bonds). 3) Changing the discount rate.
Open market operations directly affect the money supply through buying short-term government bonds (to expand money supply) or selling them (to contract it). Benchmark interest rates, such as the LIBOR and the Fed funds rate, affect the demand for money by raising or lowering the cost to borrow—in essence, money's price. When borrowing is cheap, firms will take on more debt to invest in hiring and expansion; consumers will make larger, long-term purchases with cheap credit; and savers will have more incentive to invest their money in stocks or other assets, rather than earn very little—and perhaps lose money in real terms—through savings accounts. Policy makers also manage risk in the banking system by mandating the reserves that banks must keep on hand. Higher reserve requirements put a damper on lending and rein in inflation.
With many unemployed and the market reaching The Great Recession as many economist call it, the Federal Reserve started to step in to try and save the economy and some of the economic crises that were occurring. The Federal Reserve began to buy many financial assets from banks who were in trouble by these lenders and suppliers who had loans the...
Three monetary policy tools that are used in the economic world are open market operations, discount rate, and reserve requirements. When it comes to the monetary policy tools, they are all beneficial, nonetheless the open market operation is the primary and most important tool used by the Federal Reserve System and can be easily executed. Open market operations is the buying and selling of U.S Government securities on the open market for reasons of the growth of credit and money aggregates and the swaying short-term interest rates. It affects the banks reserve through buying or selling of bonds, which ca...
...gional Federal Reserve Bank. Monetary policy regarding open market operations is established by the FOMC. Policy regarding reserve requirements and the discount rate is determined by the Federal Reserve Bank. Another role in which the Federal Reserve plays a major part is in the supervision and regulation of the U.S. banking system. The examination of institutions for safety and solidity - banking supervision - is shared with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which supervises national banks, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which supervises state banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System. The implementation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 was truly a great assett to financial and American well being. Without the Federal Reserve, we would have no agency to control monetary policy and push the economy towards full employement.
Another problem prior to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System was the inelasticity of bank credit and the supply of money. Small banks placed their excess reserves in large central reserve banks. Whenever a bank’s depositors wanted their funds, the smaller banks would be covered by the central banks. The system worked well during normal conditions. Some banks would draw down on their reserves as other banks would be building up their reserves. In times of excessive demand, however, the problem became quite serious. When the public wanted large amounts of currency, the
On the other hand monetary policy is the expansionary or contraction of the money supply in order to influence the cost and the availability of credit. The three major and two minor tools that the fed can use to conduct monetary policy are easy money policy, tight money policy, reserve requirement, open market operations, and the discount rate. With the easy money policy the Fed allows the money supply to grow and interest rates to fall. This stimulates the economy when the interest rates are low people buy on cred...
The first major aspect of the monetary policy by the Federal Reserve is its interest rate policy. This interest rate policy is mainly determined by the figure for the federal funds rate, which is the rate at which commercial banks with balances held within the Federal Reserve can borrow from each other overnight in ord...
The Federal Reserve plays a significant role in maintaining the stability and liquidity (the ability to turn an asset into cash) of the financial system by working towards low and stable inflation and also strive to encourage growth in output and employment . A second component, the Federal Reserve Board...
It is the primary tool used by Fed to influence the supply of bank reserve. When Fed wants to increase reserve, it buys securities, and when it wants to decrease reserve, it sells them.
The Federal Reserve use several tools like discount rate, federal funds rate, required reserve ratio and open market operations to control the money supply. In the simulation, the effect of controlling the money supply on the economy was presented. Typically, releasing money into the system results in higher Real GDP and lower unemployment. On the other hand, it also raises inflation.