The Federal Reserve

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed) was established in 1913 in response to serious economic instability in the United States because, at that time, bankers had few guidelines to asset reserves and loan policies; therefore, some communities were virtually controlled by private trusts. The author points out that the Federal Reserve Act, which divided the nation into twelve districts with twelve Federal Reserve banks, standardized banking in the U.S. (1) by requiring every bank in the country to deposit part of its money at its regional Federal Reserve Bank in order to guarantee liquidity, (2) which the Fed invests to earn interest; furthermore; (3) these regional Federal Reserve Banks are not governmental organizations but rather privately owned financial institutions owned by member banks with (4) a seven member Federal Reserve Board, appointed by the President, to oversee the system and to establish policy. The paper stresses that the greatest power given to the new Federal Reserve System was the power to slow or stimulate the economy by raising or lowering the new discounted interest rate.

From the Paper:

"Despite the fact that the Panic of 1907 and the country's long history of bank panics and bank instability had shifted public opinion toward national economic reform, the American monetary system went unchanged for another five years. In the meantime, the lack of currency in circulation was creating a credit crunch in the United States. Then in 1912, congress passed the Aldrich-Vreeland Act to provide short-term aid by allowing national banks to issue notes on a wider range of securities, thus putting more money into circulation. As a more long-term solution, congress created a National Monetary commission to find ways in which to stabilize the American monetary system."

More papers on The Federal Reserve:

• Essay # 72108 : "The Federal Reserve"
• Analytical Essay # 142236 : "The Structure of the Federal Reserve"
• Analytical Essay # 142590 : "The Impact of the Federal Reserve"
• Persuasive Essay # 105444 : "The Federal Reserve Bank Today"

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