Federal Reserve System Analysis

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The Federal Reserve has existed for nearly 100 years (1913), and its impact on the United States Economy cannot be undermined. When the Federal Reserve Act was enacted on December of 1913 with the intentions of providing a backup plan (in cases of financial turbulence), when banks and other financial entities require assistance in fiscal relief. Comprised of the Board of Governors, the Federal Open Market Committee, Regional and Smaller Banks, and Advisors, the Federal Reserve System had been structured to implementing monetary policies. It is unique in that the decision-making policies and authority are derived from the United States Congress (Federal Reserve), and is over sighted by Congress itself. Although being set up in times of despair,…show more content…
The role “has expanded, but its focus has remained the same” (Federal Reserve), as a central bank for the United States. Although the primary objective of the Reserve was as a “safety net”, economists argue that the Federal Reserve may have created the opposite. The Great Depression (1929) was a time of economic turbulence, starting from the Stock Market crash in October of 1929, up until the implementation of Roosevelt’s New Deal, leading to economic recovery, into World War II. The Reserve, which was “an institution of new order for the efficacy of government” (hoover.org), has been associated to a cause of the Depression. Economists argue that the Reserve was “emotionally supportive of government intervention”, and that government action provided a form of solvency in case of a major failure of banks and other financial institutions. The Federal Reserve appeared to be more headstrong than steadfast in its policy making. When Woodrow Wilson enacted the Federal Reserve Act, he promised “liquidity for economic growth and purchasing power.” Instead, the opposite of what was intended occurred. The economy took a turn for the worse and the “promised purchasing power” was never in…show more content…
A high interest rate can be the difference of hundreds, even thousands of dollars, for a consumer’s credit card statement. A Certificate of Deposit account that has an interest rate of 5 % grows quicker than a CD of only 2 %. Financing a vehicle at 5% APR over 60 months and 4% over 72 months are significantly different costs depending on the owner of the vehicle. Romer of the American Economic Review states that the Reserve has “considerable information about inflation beyond what is known to commercial forecasters.” They refer to these phenomena as “asymmetrical information between the federal reserve and the public”, pointing to the long-term interest rates to monetary policies. Monetary policies directly tie into the interest rates and credit, and while the central bank, the Federal Reserve, were once reserved for a “last resort”
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