Federal Reserve Outline

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I. Who is the Federal Reserve? Who, what, why, where, and when?
a. The Federal Reserve System meets the needs of a public as an independent entity within the government. The Federal Reserve comes from the Congress of the United States; however, it is not owned by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution because its monetary policy decisions do not have to be approved by the President or anyone else in the branches of the government.
b. The reason why the Federal Reserve exists is to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve was created on December 23, 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law.
c. The Federal Reserve’s responsibilities …show more content…

How does the Fed monitor and control Monetary Policy and what are the main components of monetary policy? Have the controls that Federal Reserve used worked? What could the fed do make monetary policy work better?
a. Monetary policy is a term used to refer to the actions of central banks to achieve macroeconomic policy objectives such as price stability, full employment, and stable economic growth. The Federal Reserve controls over the federal fund rates give it the ability to influence the general level of short-term market interest rates. The Fed has three main tools at its disposal to influence monetary policy which are the open-market operations, discount rate, and reserve requirements.
b. Monetary policy is the actions of a central bank, currency board or other regulatory committee that determine the size and rate of the money supply, which in turn affects interest rates. The concept of Monetary Policy simply stated is that the cost of credit is reduced, more people and firms will borrow money and the economy will heat up.
c. The controls that Federal Reserve used worked because the use of the three main tools the Fed uses is the most important that can manipulate monetary policy. The Fed’s goal in trading the securities is to affect the federal funds …show more content…

What are some recent examples of what the Federal Reserve has done to help with monetary policy during “The Great Recession” and what are their goals right now? Has their policies been successful? What is the future of American monetary policy and the actions of the Fed?
a. The Federal Open Market Committee pursues to explain its monetary policy decision to the public as clearly as possible. Recently, during a meeting, the FOMC issued a statement referring its longer goals and monetary policy strategy. The FOMC states that the inflation at the rate of 2 percent is most consistent over the longer run with the Federal Reserve’s statutory mandate.
b. The Federal Reserve tried to reestablish stable prices to help with “The Great Recession.” However, in an attempt to lower inflation, it raised short term rates to the point that not only does inflation slow but the economy lapses into a recession.
c. “We find that these policies are indeed effective in easing broad financial conditions – not just lowering government bond yields – when policy rates are stuck at the zero lower bound,” wrote John Rogers, Chiara Scotti and Jonathan Wright in a new working