Federal Reserve As A Social Institution Essay

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Social institutions are groups that provide for ways in which to meet societal needs. One need of society is the economic need, and in the United States, the Federal Reserve is one of the social institutions that meet this need. Although most people do not think regularly about the function of the Federal Reserve, is likely the most important social institution in the United States. The Federal Reserve System is designed to make decisions that affect the success and failures of various economic establishments throughout the nation. As a social institution, this particular system is based on either creating pressure or relieving pressure depending on the need of the social economic system. Through the development of strong decision-making, the …show more content…

Grieder (1989) calls the system “the modern equivalent of the Kings keep – a separate storehouse alongside the private economy and independent of its forces”. The Federal Reserve system keeps the bank system rolling, operating as a valve through which commercial banks will borrow hundreds of millions of dollars in order to make up for shortages that are temporary for the required reserves that they need to meet federal standards. Another valve that operates with from the New York Federal Reserve Bank is the sale of government securities on the open market which helps to regulate the amount of money that either is put into or taken out of the economy. Either the injection or withdrawal of money is conducted with the intention of keeping pressure at a study level. When the demand for credit exceeds the supply and interest rates go up, then the Fed can increase the supply of money in order to put pressure on the rates go …show more content…

The Federal Reserve board made up of appointed governors is basically in charge of making sure that the valves and pressure is relieved or tightened as needed in order to make sure that the economy continues to function. The primary purpose of the Fed is to oversee the structure and security of the commercial banking system. Most important responsibility that the Fed has is to make sure that the fifty banks that hold approximately a third of the nation’s bank deposits positive is kept secure (Grieder, 1989). The shifts that are created by the Fed in terms of the money supply changes the way in which banks respond to their consumers, which creates a great deal of responsibility and power in this one social

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