Federal Reserve System

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the Federal Reserve System (also called the Fed for short), the U.S. Central Bank that was created through an Act of the Congress in 1913. It looks at how it is run by a public-private partnership which includes banking officials from different parts of the country and seeks to perform several key roles in the U.S. economy, the most critical of which relates to the Monetary Policy. It briefly outlines the history of the Fed, its primary role(s), its basic structure and how its members are appointed/ elected. Brief information about its present chairman, its recent performance and the major future challenge for the Fed is also discussed.

Outline
History
Primary Role
Structure
Chairman of the Fed
Recent Performance of the Fed
The Future Challenge

From the Paper:

"The Fed, under its current chairman, in tandem with the Clinton administration presided over the longest period of economic expansion in the nation's history and got a lot of credit for the success. The Fed supported President Bill Clinton's 1993 deficit-reduction programs and spending cuts that resulted in a balanced US budget after years of runaway deficits. It also handled the monetary policy with dexterity in the wake of the Asian Financial Crisis by timely interest rate cuts and prevented a worldwide recession. A downturn in the US economy since 2000 has tarnished the Fed's gloss somewhat. It underlines, more than anything else, the limitations of the Fed to influence the economy and the over-riding truth of the inevitable boom and bust cycles inherent in a capitalist economy."

More papers on Federal Reserve System:

• Analytical Essay # 133152 : "The History of the Federal Reserve System"
• Descriptive Essay # 107205 : "The Federal Reserve System"
• Research Paper # 103753 : "The History of the Federal Reserve System"
• Term Paper # 148780 : "The Federal Reserve System: An Overview"

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