Two Ways By Which The Federal Reserve Regulates Money Supply

257 Words2 Pages
There are essentially two different policies by which the Federal Reserve controls and regulates the money supply. The easy monetary policy and the tight monetary policy. The easy monetary policy causes the money supply to expand resulting in interest rates falling. The tight monetary policy causes the money supply to contract, resulting in interest rates rising. Basically, The Fed changes interest rates by changing the size of the money supply. When the Fed expands the money supply causing interest rates to fall, it causes people to borrow more. When the Fed restricts the size of the money supply it results in higher interest rates and slower economic growth because higher interest rates normally encourage everyone to borrow and spend less.