Money & Federal Reserve System
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Presentation Transcript
Chapter 5 • Money and the Federal Reserve • These slides supplement the textbook, but should not replace reading the textbook
What is barter? • The practice of trading one good or service for another
What is a double coincidence of wants? • A situation in which two traders are willing to exchange their products directly
What is currency? • Anything that can be used to signify someone’s credit and someone’s debit in a financial transaction
What are the 4 basic functions of money? • Medium of exchange • Unit of account • Store of value • Standard deferred payment
What is amedium of exchange? • Money is accepted in exchange for a good or service
What aunit of account? • Money is used to compare the relative value of different goods and services
What is astore of value? • Money is used as a means of saving
What is astandard ofdeferred payment? • Money is used to keep track of the method and the amount of money is to be paid back in the future
What are the properties of money? • Scarcity • Portability • Divisibility
What is commodity money? • Anything that serves both as money and as a commodity
What is token money? • Money that exceeds the value from which it was made, for example, quarters
What are examples of money? • Federal Reserve Notes • Coins • Checks • Travelers checks
What does the term liquidity mean? • The easier something is to spend the more liquid it is, the more difficult it is to spend the less liquid it is
Which form of money is most liquid? • It all depends on the circumstances
What is fiat money? • Money not redeemable for any commodity; its status as money is conferred by the government
What is legal tender? • Currency that constitutes a valid and legal offer of payment for debts
Does gold or silver back up our money? • No, our money is not backed up by anything
What happenedin 1968? • U.S and a number of European nations stopped selling gold on the London market, allowing the market to freely determine the price of gold
What happenedin 1971? • From 1968 to 1971, only central banks could trade with the U.S. at $35/oz. Finally, in 1971, even this bit of gold convertibility died
Why does money have value? • It is useful and relatively scarce
What determines the value of money? • The general price level
Why are banks called depository institutions? • Because they accept deposits from the public
What arecommercial banks? • Depository institutions that make loans to the public
What aredemand deposits? • Accounts at financial institutions that pay no interest and on which depositors can write checks to obtain their deposits
How do banks make profit? • After interest paid or services rendered minus costs equals bank’s profit
Who were the first bankers? • Goldsmiths in the middle ages
What is the Federal Reserve System? • The central bank and monetary authority of the United States; known as “the Fed”
What is the function of the Fed? • To ensure the availability of enough money and credit in the banking system to support a growing economy
When was the federal reserve system established? • The Federal Reserve Act of 1913
Does the Fed loan money to private companies? • Yes, after 2008, it bought bonds from companies as well as the federal government and banks
Why would the Fed want to decrease the money supply? • To lower inflation
Why would the Fed want to increase the money supply? • To stimulate employment
How many Federal Reserve banks are there? • The U. S. is divided into 12 Federal Reserve districts, each district has a Federal Reserve Bank
Who makes the decisions for the Federal Reserve? • The Board of Governors and the Open Market Committee
How long do most board members serve? • 14 years, after which they cannot serve again
How long does the chairman of the board serve? • The Chairman serves 4 years, but can serve again
What is the Federal Open Market Committee? • Made up of the 7 board members and 5 presidents of Federal Reserve Banks
What is the role of the Federal Open Market Committee? • The FOMC makes decisions as to the buying and selling of government securities
Member Banks • owns stock in Federal Reserve • only national banks are required to be members
What do the letters FDIC stand for? • The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
What is the function of the FDIC? • To ensure deposits in any banking institution that purchases FDIC insurance
How much are deposits insured for? • Each account in a bank is insured up to $250,000 per depositor per bank
What is the name of the market where money is bought and sold? • The loanable funds market
Why would the Fed want to expand the money supply? • If we have unemployment the Fed wants to increase the money supply to stimulate employment
Why would the Fed want to contract the money supply? • If we have inflation the Fed wants to decrease the money supply to bring down prices
What does the term liquidity mean? • A measure of the ease with which an asset can be converted into money without significant loss in its value
What does liquidity have to do with the money supply? • With inflation the Fed wants banks to be lessliquid • With unemployment the Fed wants banks to be moreliquid
What makes a bank more or less liquid? • A lot of cash in excess reserves - very liquid • Little cash in excess reserves - less liquid