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Monetary and fiscal policy
The Role of Monetary Policy
Monetary and fiscal policy
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Monetary Policy The Federal Reserve Board uses three monetary tools that affect macroeconomics such as unemployment, inflation, and interest rates, and control the money supply; these tools are known as discount rate, reserve requirements, and open market operations. In The Economy Today Schiller 2010 states that “Monetary Policy is the use of money and credit controls to influence macroeconomic outcomes” (p.309.) It also refers to the actions assumed by the Federal Reserve Board. 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...
The financial crisis of 2007–2008 is considered by many economists the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. This crisis resulted in the threat of total collapse of large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments, and downturns in stock markets around the world. The crisis led to a series of events including: the 2008–2012 global recessions and the European sovereign-debt crisis. The reasons of this financial crisis are argued by economists. The performance of the Federal Reserve becomes a focal point in this argument.
Monetary Policy is another policy used in Keynesianism which is a list of protocols designed to regulate the economy by setting the amount of money that is in circulation and controlled interest levels. The Federal Reserve system, also known as the central banking system in the U.S., which holds control of this policy. Monetary policy has three tools used by the Federal Reserve to enforce this policy. Reserve Requirement is the first tool that determines the lowest amount of money a bank must possess and is not able to lend out. The second way to enforce monetary policy is by using the discount rate or the interest rate a bank will charge.
The Federal Reserve uses two other types of tools besides the open market operations (OMO), and they are the discount rates and reserve requirements. The FOMC is responsible for the OMO and the discount rate and reserve requirements are taken care by the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors. The three fundamental tools can influenced the demand and supply of and the balances that depository institution hold which can result in the change in federal funds rate.
Quantitative easing is an unusual form of policy used when interest rates are near 0%. Banks rouse the nationwide financial system when usual monetary policies have become ineffective. In recent decades the government Central bank has argued they are the government’s most important financial agency.
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.
Most Americans feel the United States of America is a beacon of democracy and raw capitalism, the leader of the “free” world. The founding fathers had every intention of turning the new world into a full fledged democracy, devoid of any monarchy or source of totalitarian power. The constitution itself demands that our government be “of, for and by the people”, and be divided into complex units of checks and balances, designed to thwart any potential power struggle by one specific branch. In essence, the constitution of the United States is a perfect blueprint for democracy in its purest form, with power and control in the hands of its citizens. Unfortunately, this is not the case today. By giving up the right to print its own currency in 1913, the US Government bequeathed its powers to a select few, who have owned and operated this country ever since. They are the true masters of US domestic and foreign policy.
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.
Monetary Policy involves using interest rates or changes to money supply to influence the levels of consumer spending and Aggregate Demand.
Even before the creation of the Federal Reserve, banks were used by the public just as we use them today. Deposits were made into savings accounts. Loans were taken out to mortgage a home or finance a new business. Banknotes were issued and spent when the public borrowed from the banks. Borrowers spent these banknotes just as paper money is spent today. These bank notes were valued as money since they were backed by the promise that they would be exchanged on demand for either gold or silver.
Monetary policy is the mechanism of a country’s monetary authority (usually the central bank) taking up measures to regulate the supply of money and the rates of interest. It involves controlling money in the economy to promote economic growth and stability by creating relatively stable prices and low unemployment. A monetary policy mainly deals with the supply of money, availability of money, cost of money and the rate of interest to attain a set of objectives aiming towards growth and stability of the economy. Here are some of the monetary policy tools:
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...
In the study of macroeconomics there are several sub factors that affect the economy either favorably or adversely. One dynamic of macroeconomics is monetary policy. Monetary policy consists of deliberate changes in the money supply to influence interest rates and thus the level of spending in the economy. “The goal of a monetary policy is to achieve and maintain price level stability, full employment and economic growth.” (McConnell & Brue, 2004).
1. Which of the monetary tools available to the Federal Reserve is most often used? Why?
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.
Holders may opt to trade their bonds in markets and prices may vary according to market conditions. The Bank of England affects the money supply through three methods; Control by open market operations, the discount rate, where this operation emphasises the Bank of England’s role as lender of last resort and the alteration of the reserve ratio(r).