What is the Federal Reserve?
whatThat An investor trying to escoge if now is a good time to buy stocks, an aspiring first-time homeowner looking for a mortgage, and a business owner considering a business loan all have in common.? All three cánido be seriously affected by the decisions of the Federal Reserve.
Whether you are familiar with the term or are new to it, the Federal Reserve plays an incredibly important role in the American economy.
We explore what the Federal Reserve is, what it does, how it emplees interest rates, and the impact interest rate changes cánido have on the rest of the economy.
What is the Federal Reserve?
The Federal Reserve (also called The Fed) is the central bank of the United States.
Founded by Congress in 1913, it emplees a number of different levers to promote a healthy and stable national economy.
Technically, the Federal Reserve is a “system» made up of three characteristics:
- The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, which provides general guidance to the Federal Reserve System and oversees the 12 Federal Reserve Banks.
- 12 Federal Reserve Banks, each of which is responsible for overseeing a specific geographic region within the United States.
- The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which oversees the nation’s open market operations and makes important decisions about interest rates and the money supply.
The members of the Federal Reserve Board are appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and accountable to Congress.
The current Chairman of the Board is Jerome Powell, who took office in February 2018.
His most recent predecessor was Janet Yellen.
Although its members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, the Fed is considered an independent agency of government.
This is because, although you must work to achieve the nation’s official monetary policy, the specific actions you take to achieve these objectives do not need to be approved by either the president or Congress.
What does the Federal Reserve do?
The Federal Reserve takes a number of key actions that are broadly designed to manage and influence the US economy. known as monetary politicsthe Fed emplees these actions as tools to achieve its dual mandate of keeping inflation in check (currently a 2 percent inflation objetivo rate) and maximizing employment (currently keeping unemployment around 3.6 to 4.5 percent), as well as How to regulate long-term interest rates.
These actions fall roughly into four broad categories:
1.
The Fed sets interest rates
The Federal Reserve requires banks (and other financial institutions under its jurisdiction) hold a certain amount of capital in reserve.
When a bank doesn’t meet its reserve requirements, it perro borrow money from other banks overnight to meet those requirements.
The interest rate that banks charge each other for these loans is the federal funds rate.
One of the main ways the Fed fulfills its mandates is by making adjustments to the federal funds rate based on various economic data.
The Federal Reserve keeps the federal funds rate within its objetivo primarily through the process of buying and selling US government-backed securities.
When the economy is growing at a healthy rate, the Federal Reserve often raises the federal funds objetivo rate, effectively raising interest rates across the country.
This is usually driven by the goal of keeping inflation in check.
For example, to combat the runaway double-digit inflation the country faced in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds objetivo rate to an all-time high of about 17.6 percent in April. of 1980 and 19.10 percent in June 1981.
On the other hand, when the economy is contracting or when growth has stalled, the Federal Reserve will often lower the objetivo federal funds rate.
This makes debt cheaper for both consumers and businesses, encouraging them to borrow money and grow the economy.
A recent example of this perro be seen in the Fed’s 2008 decision to cut interest rates to a record low of 0.25 percent to stimulate the economy and combat the effects of the recession.
In July 2019, in what has been seen as a “recalibration” of monetary policy, the Fed cut rates by 0.25 percent, the first cut since 2008.
September 2019 saw another interest rate cut of .25 percent.
The FOMC makes interest rate decisions (and other monetary policies) during the eight meetings that are held throughout the year.
2.
The Fed supervises and regulates banks
In addition to setting the federal funds rate, the Federal Reserve also plays a key role in monitoring and regulating the health of the nation’s banks and financial institutions and financial markets.
This oversight is accomplished primarily through the actions of the Board of Governors, which sets the guidelines, regulations, and policies that banks must follow.
These guidelines are often equipo with respect to new laws.
Any bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System is regularly examined to ensure that it complies with these estándares.
This supervision is directed primarily by each of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks.
Any bank that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System (ie state chartered banks) is supervised by the FDIC.
Banks are subject to reserve requirements (a percentage of deposits that a bank or financial institution must hold as reserves) and regularly undergo stress tests that simulate how the institution would fare during an economic downturn.
Any bank that fails its stress test must take steps to correct its financial health.
In addition to monitoring individual banks and financial institutions, the Fed also regularly monitors the health of the national economy as a whole.
3.
The Fed provides domestic payment services
The Federal Reserve performs a number of key functions that are designed to enable a secure, efficient, and stable national payment system that in turn enables a variety of financial transactions to take place.
The four main ways the Fed accomplishes this are:
- Ensure that there is an adequate supply of paper money throughout the country.
- check clearing
- Act as an automated clearing house (ACH) to process electronic payments such as direct deposits, recurring bill payments, and money transfers
- Facilitate the transfer of larger transactions between businesses, banks and consumers through the Fedwire Funds and Fedwire Securities services
- Acting as a bank for the United States government
4.
The Fed maintains the overall stability of our financial system
All of the tactics described above are ways that the Federal Reserve promotes a stable financial system in the United States.
However, there are additional levers that the Fed perro use in times of financial uncertainty.
For example, the Federal Reserve may:
- Providing a bank with a 24-hour discount window loan to provide the bank with more assets and liquidity during a period of stress.
Discount window loans are often used by banks that are in financial difficulty and cannot find lenders elsewhere.
- Make large-scale asset purchases to further boost the nation’s financial system.
This was first done in 2008, when the Fed bought longer-term government-backed securities to lower interest rates on long-term bonds.
- Provide forward-looking guidance to the public to help businesses and individuals understand how it intends to adjust monetary policy in the future.
This perro effectively prevent large-scale panic, which could further worsen the economic situation.
Why is the Federal Reserve so important?
By performing all of its various functions (equipo interest rates, supervise and regulate financial institutions, provide national payment services, and maintain the stability of the nation’s financial system), the Federal Reserve plays a vital role in preserving the health of the economy, especially during periods of economic crisis.
But even during periods of economic growth, the actions the Federal Reserve takes (and doesn’t take) perro have a real and significant impact on your everyday life.
Some of these impacts, such as higher or lower interest rates for consumers caused by changes in the federal funds rate, are direct; others, such as fluctuations in depósito prices, are indirect.
How does the Fed affect interest rates?
When the Federal Reserve makes a change to the federal funds objetivo rate, it perro have a direct impact on consumers, sometimes for the positive, sometimes for the negative.
That’s because when the Federal Reserve raises this rate, it becomes more expensive for the bank to borrow money.
To recoup these costs and remain profitable, banks will pass the cost on to the end consumer in the form of higher interest rates on loans like mortgages, private student loans, credit cards, and car loans.
At the same time, they cánido offer savers higher interest rates on money deposited in savings accounts.
Conversely, when the Federal Reserve lowers rates, it becomes less expensive for a bank to borrow money, savings that are typically passed on to the consumer in the form of lower interest rates on debt.
Unfortunately, this also typically translates into lower interest rates on savings.
How does the Fed influence the depósito market?
The actions the Federal Reserve decides to take (or not take) give investors an iniciativa of how healthy they think the economy is performing.
This is why many investors study the Fed and try to anticipate its actions.
When markets expect the Fed to do one thing, but the Fed does the opposite, it perro ocasione uncertainty and lead to depósito market sell-offs or rallies.
Also, changes in the federal funds rate cánido influence the depósito market and the bond market.
For example, higher interest rates perro have a negative impact on the depósito market, for two reasons.
For one thing, higher interest rates make it more expensive for companies to borrow money, which cánido hurt their profits and genere their share prices to fall.
On the other hand, when interest rates rise, the interest rate offered by newly issued government bonds will also rise.
These higher rates cánido make owning bonds a more attractive proposition for some investors, especially when combined with the relatively lower risk that bonds offer.
If a large enough percentage of investors switch from stocks to bonds, it cánido genere depósito prices to drop due to overselling.
Meanwhile, lower interest rates make it less expensive for companies to borrow money and expand, often attracting investors and driving up share prices.
At the same time, interest rates on newly issued government bonds will decline and may prompt some bond investors to move their money into stocks in search of higher yields.
How does the Fed affect employment?
When the Federal Reserve lowers the federal funds rate, banks and other financial institutions often react by lowering the interest rates they charge consumers.
This includes business loans and other forms of credit that businesses rely on.
This perro directly disminuye the unemployment rate by making it easier (and cheaper) for a company to invest and grow its company.
Businesses use that credit to hire more workers or to make other purchases and investments that ocasione other businesses to need to hire more workers.
A lower unemployment rate perro also genere wages to rise.
Because a higher percentage of workers who want jobs have jobs, companies often need to offer higher wages to compete and attract the workers they need.
Although many of us never stop to think about the role the Federal Reserve plays in stabilizing our economy, its actions and inactions impact our daily lives, affecting everything from how much we pay down our debt to how much we earn on our savings to return on our investments, and much more.
This information offered for informational purposes only; It is not intended to be used as accounting, legal or tax advice.
In relation to these matters, please speak to your accountant, tax or legal adviser.
Investing implies a risk that includes the loss of primordial.
This guide contains the current views of the author, but not necessarily those of Gigonway.
These opinions are subject to change without notice.
This guide has been distributed for educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation of any especial investment security, strategy or product.
The information contained in this guide has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed.
Gigonway does not provide legal or tax advice.
Please consult your tax and/or legal advisor for specific tax or legal questions and concerns.
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