European Central Bank and the Us Federal Reserve Bank

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European Central Bank and The US Federal Reserve Bank John Hutcherson ECON 211 Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Nicholas Bergan, Instructor July 25, 2014 European Central Bank and The US Federal Reserve Bank are both responsible for producing money in order to finance their respective government. While the ECB and Feds both serve the same functions, there are some small differences between them. For example, the produce-money- and purchase approach is used by the FEDs, while the ECB uses the produce-money-and-lend (PML) approach. Banks receive new base money because of PMP and PML. More reserves are held in their account at the central bank. With these additional reserves, they can expand credit and create more money. (Bagus 2011) The FED is more passionate than the ECB about cutting interest rates to boost the economy. The ECB main goal is to keep inflation low, while the FED fights a double battle with not only fighting inflation but also unemployment. More things can affect how the ECB reacts when I comes to inflation and mostly targets a broader price index that includes things that doesn’t bother the FEDs as much, such as the Libya-related oil spike in 2011. (Bagus 2011) When the 2008 financial crisis was at its worst, the FED began an emergency lending program to ensure money continue to flow through the economy. $3.3 trillion was loaned to U.S. banks, European Banks, General Electric, McDonald’s and anyone and everyone who needed help. They also boosted the economy by buying more than $2 trillion of mortgage-backed securities and other bonds. (Hanna 2011) The FED generally acts as a lender at the last resort to help give the economy a need boost. The ECB however has a much more selective in shoring up the euro zone’s trouble states. When you look at the position, the ECB had during the debt crisis. Countries such as Italy and Spain would have benefit
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