Comparing The Federal Reserve And The Great Depression

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Arun Sidhu Block C The Federal Reserve and the Great Depression The Great Depression of the 1930’s was one of the most difficult times in American history. With over 25% of the working force unemployed, the destiny of country was to be put into the hand of the Federal Reserve. One of the most misunderstood institutions of our time, the Federal Reserve has been at the center of many of the countries economic problems during the 20th century. The inception of the Federal Reserve on December 23, 1913 was due to the financial panic of 1907. The panic had been created because of the collapse of the Knickerbocker Trust, a banking institution. The funds in the trust were lost because of speculation in the stock market. This collapsed triggered…show more content…
Government’s participation in World War One. The gold standard was repealed in 1914 to make the money supply flexible. Although the money supply loosened the government just raised the price of an ounce of gold to the desired amount to compensate for increase in the M1 money supply. The central bank bought the treasuries making sure that 40% of the gold and 60% real bills backed them. Real bills are short-term bonds that are sold to the Federal Reserve to commercial banks for use as capital for merchants. They are “real” because they are backed by the inventory compared to the treasuries themselves. This securitization ensured that injection of money was AAA rated. The U.S. Treasury used the Federal Reserve to attract investors away from private sector bonds and hold “Liberty-bond” drives. The Federal Reserve sold them at discount rates to make sure ensure that the supply of money…show more content…
This policy added to the influx of workers returning home from the war created a recession from 1900-1921. The industrial trade to Europe during the War fell almost 50% as the European government quickly started recovering. The U.S. went into a recession from 1920-1921 as imports decreased. The Federal Reserve quickly changed reacting strongly to the situation. They went from one extreme to the reducing the federal funds rate, the rate at which commercial banks can borrow, to practically zero percent. This created one of the biggest bubbles in History. The cheap money as its called created excess capital thus making increasing the money supply. One of the first signs of the economic bubble was the artificially high stock prices. The easy credit also helped consumers buy new technologies, such as telephone, radio, refrigerator and TV. This credit quickly disappeared when the stock market crash as so much of people’s wealth was in the stock market. During the 1920’s as the U.S. economy was expanding, international trade was dwindling. The economic impact of World War One had bankrupted Europe. Both Britain and France could not pay their reparations to the U.S. Even though both Britain’s and France’s economy were growing, it was not strong enough to pay back their debt. The action taken by the federal government would be fatal. In 1922 the Fordney-Mc Cumber
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