Transcript Money and Banking

Money, Banking, and
the Federal Reserve
People have used money for
thousands of years as an exchange for
goods and/or services (from bills,
coins, checks to shells, gold, and
other goods)
Money
• For something to be considered money, it must have
three functions:
– Medium of exchange – seller accepts in
exchange for goods or services
• Money can be used to buy whatever you want or
need
• Without money, barter (trading of goods and
services) would dominate
– Double coincidence (buyers and sellers must
have exchangeable desires) necessary for
barter to occur
Money
– Unit of accounting – “yardstick” of measuring
value of goods and services (determines values
in amounts)
• U.S. – Dollar Japan – Yen
• Allows for accurate record keeping
– Store of value – can store purchasing power for
later use
• save money for larger purchases
• ex. - waiting for paycheck on payday, not
everyday
Characteristics of Money
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Durable – must be able to last over a period
of time
Portable– easily carried
Divisible– divided into smaller parts for
purchases at any price
Stable value– value cannot change quickly
or usefulness will fall (store of value)
Scarce– gives value to money
Accepted– must be taken in exchange for
goods or services
Types of Money
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Commodity money – medium of exchange as
a good and money
– Ex.- sheep, diamonds
• Representative money – backed by valuable
items (gold or silver)
– U.S. – gold or silver certificates – banknotes
(promise to convert into coin on demand)
for bullion
• Fiat money– value from government order as
acceptable payment
• Legal tender – money by law that must be
accepted
Basic History of American Money
• England forbade the colonies from using printed money or
coins
• Still some gold and silver was used in bartering
– Spanish dolár – common coin, later called dollar by
colonists
• Bartering for goods prevailed
• To help pay for Revolutionary War debts, Continental
Congress issued continentals (bills of credit), but printed too
many, became worthless and were unaccepted
• U.S. looked for more reliable means of exchange;
Constitution gives Congress the ability to print money,
backed by gold and silver values.
• But private banks could still issue banknotes
Banking Services
• Wide variety
– Checking accounts
– Automatic deposits and payment
– Storage of values – safety deposit boxes
– Money transfers – moving money from person to person
– Overdraft checking – allows for checks to be written for more than person has
in their account, but must be repaid with interest or fee
• Banks usually offer similar commodities but with a variety of services and charges
• Electronic banking – computer age
– EFT – electronic funds transfer – banking functions on computers rather
than on paper
– ATM – automated teller machine
– Bank from home – online
– Concerns: tampering, lack of privacy, “float” time
• EFT Act (1978) protects against fraud
How To Write a Check
• Can you label these parts to a check?
Types of money in the U.S.
• Money and near moneys
– Currency – coins and bills (notes from Federal
Reserve)
– Checks – checking accounts and checkable deposits
(demand deposits)
– Credit cards – not really money, but represents future
payments
• Loan by issuer of card
– Debit cards – automatically withdraw money from
accounts
– Closer to being electronic checks
– Near moneys – assets that can be quickly turned into
money without risk of loss of value (savings account)
Money Supply
• Two most basic definitions of money
supply:
– M1: narrowest definition – currency,
checkable deposits, and traveler’s checks
– M2: broader definition – all of M1 and
savings, certificates, money market
deposits, mutual funds, and other
specialized account balances
The Federal Reserve
• Created in 1913 as central banking
operation in the United States to settle
financial “panics” of the late 1800’s
and early 1900’s
– Also known as the Fed
Organization
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Board of Governors:
– Direct operations of the Fed and supervise the Federal
Reserve banks and activities
– 7 members, appointed by the President with Senate
approval
– serve for 14 years (one opening every two years)
– cannot be reappointed, but do not have to have approval
of President or Congress in decisions
Federal Advisory Council (FAC):
– Assists Board of Governors by reporting on the nation’s
business conditions
– 12 members (each elected by the director of each Federal
Reserve district bank)
Federal Open Market Council (FOMC):
– Decide how to control money supply
– Raise or lower interest rates (big effect on economy)
Organization
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Federal Reserve Banks:
– Nation divided into 12 districts (each with
Federal Reserve district bank – set up as a
corporation owned by member banks, who
have bought stock in district banks)
– 9 member boards supervise each district
– 25 Federal Reserve branch banks – acting as
offices and aid each district in operations and
duties
Member Banks:
– All national banks must join
– State charted banks have option to join
– Regulated by Federal Reserve district banks
Functions of Federal Reserve
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Clear checks – Figure 15.3 p.403 (complex process)
Acts as federal government’s bank– tracking deposits and checks,
advising government spending
Supervising member banks– regulating member banks and operations
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Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) – guarantees
deposits of member banks for up to $250,000 per depositor
Holding reserves and setting reserve requirements–
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Certain percentage of deposits must be kept in reserve (on hand)
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Change in reserve requirements controls money supply
Supply paper currency–
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All printed in D.C. but with mark of which district bank issues the
federal reserve note
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Most new money is for replacing old money (worn out)
Regulate money supply (monetary policy)- determine amount of
money in circulation
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Consumer protection– truth-in-lending
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make known interest rates and monthly payments
Monetary Policy
• Monetary policy: changing rate of growth of the money supply
to affect costs and credit
• Cost of credit = interest
• If interest ↑, credit demanded ↓, and vice versa
• Two types:
– Loose money policy (expansionary) – make credit
easier to get and abundant – encourages economic
growth
• more people borrow, more spending, expanding
of business, more employment
• may lead to inflation
– Tight money policy (contractionary) – makes
credit expensive
• to slow economy (control inflation)
• less borrowing, less spending, less production
Fractional Reserve Banking
• Fractional reserve banking – only
percentage of deposits required to be in
reserve (on hand)
– Rest of the money can be lent
• Reserve requirements: certain
percentage that must be kept (about
10% now)
– in case of large withdrawals
Money Expansion
• Most money is in deposits (by Fed
and customers)
– Because reserve requirements are not
100%, excess can be used to create
“new money” – to be borrowed
– after time and time again – multiple
expansion of money
Changing Reserve Requirements
• Lower requirements = more money to
lend (and vice versa)
• If raises, banks can call loans, sell
investments, or borrow to meet reserve
requirements
• This has an extreme effect on
economy, not changed much because
of this.
Changing Discount Rate
• Discount rate – interest rate Fed charges
banks on borrowed money
• Prime rate – interest rate charged to
customers by banks
– if DR ↑, PR ↑ - discourages borrowing
– if DR ↓, PR ↓ - banks borrow more to lend
more
• Federal funds rate – interest rate banks charge each
other on short term loans (usually overnight – to
ensure meeting reserve requirements)
– if FFR ↑ - less borrowing
– if FFR ↓ - more borrowing
Open-Market Operations
• Open-marketing operations: buying and
selling United States securities to affect
money supply (major tool of the Fed)
– Securities– government IOUs- treasury notes,
bills, and bonds
• By buying securities, can increase bank’s
money supply, therefore increasing their
lending ability (and vice versa)
Difficulties of Monetary Policy
• Hard to gather and interpret
information on the money supply
– Too much money and activity to track
• Critics say Fed should stay out of
regulating money supply
• Government influences with taxes and
spending have affect on the economy
and monetary policy actions