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Chapter 15
The Federal Reserve System &
Monetary Policy
 Section
1
Organization & Function
of the Federal Reserve
System
 Section
2
Money Supply & the
Economy
 Section
3
Regulating the Money
Supply
Organization & Functions of the
Fed

Created in 1913 as a central banking
organization to end panics and recessions.

Fed – Federal Reserve System

Fed is responsible for monetary policy

Monetary Policy – policy that involves
changing the rate of growth of the supply
of money in circulation in order to affect
the cost and availability of credit
Organization & Functions of the
Fed
Board of Governors – directs the operation
of the Fed
 7 members appointed by the President
with Senate approval for 14 years
 Alan Greenspan & Ben Bernanke –
serve(d) as chairperson
 12 District Banks
 25 Branch Banks
 Member Banks

Organization & Functions of the
Fed
 Federal
Advisory Council – reports to
the board of governors on general
business conditions in the country
 Federal
Open Market Committee –
determines whether or not to change
interest rates which impacts the
financial world
Organization & Functions of the
Fed




12 Federal Reserve districts with a bank
(page 402)
Set up as a corporation owned by member
banks with a 9 member board of directors
Services are available to all banks
Decides truth-in-lending rules to protect
consumers
Functions of the Federal Reserve
 Clearing
Checks – see figure 15.3
 Government’s
Fiscal Agent –
tracks govt. deposits, checking
account for the Treasury, & advises
federal government
 Supervises
Member Banks –
regulates state banks
Functions of the Federal Reserve



Holding Reserves & Setting Reserve
Requirements – controls money in circulation
by setting % required for reserves
Supplying Paper Currency – all paper money
printed in D.C. by Bureau of Engraving & Printing
to replace old money & meet demand
Regulating the Money Supply – primary
responsibility which affects the amount of credit
& business activity
Money Supply & the Economy



Fed’s most important function involves
controlling the rate of growth of the
money supply
Loose money policy – monetary policy
that makes credit inexpensive and
abundant, possibly leading to inflation
Tight money policy – monetary policy that
makes credit expensive and in short
supply in an effort to slow the economy
Money Supply & the Economy
 Loose
Money Supply
– Borrowing is easy
– Consumers buy more
– Businesses expand
– More people are employed
– People spend more
Inflation results
Money Supply & the Economy
 Tight
Money Supply
– Borrowing is difficult
– Consumers buy less
– Businesses postpone expansion
– Unemployment increases
– Production is reduced
Money Supply & the Economy
Fractional reserve banking – system in
which only a fraction of the deposits in a
bank is kept on hand, or in reserve; the
remainder is available to lend
 Reserve requirements – regulations set by
the Fed requiring banks to keep a certain
percentage of their deposits as cash in
their own vaults or as deposits in their
Federal Reserve district bank

Money Supply & the Economy
 Expanding
the money supply –
see15.6 on page 409
Regulating the Money Supply
 The
main goal of the Federal reserve
is to keep the money supply growing
steadily and the economy running
smoothly without inflation.
Changing Reserve Requirements
Control money supply through reserve
requirements.
 Lower the % of deposits kept in reserve,
the more $s available to loan
 Higher the % of deposits, the more $s
available to loan
 Raising reserve requirements slows down
the economy.
 Changing the reserve requirement is
rarely used.

Changing the Discount Rate
Banks my need to borrow money to meet
their reserve requirements.
 Discount rate is the interest rate the Fed
charges for loans to banks.
 Prime rate is the interest rate banks
charge their best customers.
 Increase in these rates lowers the money
supply and vice versa.
 Typically the Fed does not use the
discount rate to regulate the economy.

Federal Funds Rate
Federal funds rate is the interest rate that
banks charge each other on loans (usually
overnight).
 The federal funds market is active with
billions of dollars exchanged each day.
 The lower the rate the more banks will
borrow and business activity increases.
 The higher the rate the less will be
borrowed and business activity decreases.

Open-Market Operations
 Open-market
operations – buying
and selling U.S. securities by the Fed
to affect the money supply.
 When the Fed buys securities, money
supply increases.
 Selling securities lowers reserves and
money supply decreases.
Difficulties of Monetary Supply
Keeping track of the money supply is
difficult in trying to gauge the economy.
 Credit cards and electronic banking make
tracking money supply difficult.
 Fed is criticized for decisions that may
lead to inflation or recession.
 Fed receives conflicting advice from many
directions.
 Other factors, such as federal taxing &
spending also greatly affect the economy.
