Essay on Federal Reserve Act

Federal Reserve System, commonly referred to as Fed, was established in 1913. This was after American congress passed the Federal Reserve Act in December the same year, establishing a new set of institutions which were meant to govern the relationship between banks, the government, and the production of money (Broz 1997 p. 1). The Federal Reserve System divides the nation in 12 districts, each with its own federal reserve bank (Boyes & Melvin, 2006). Overall administrative structure of the system consists of: Board of Governors. The board is headed by a chairman who is appointed by the president to a four year term (Boyes & Melvin, 2006). The chairman serves as a leader and also as a spokesperson for

Federal Reserve can be very confusing to understand and know what is their purpose and how they help the economy. The Federal Reserve was started in December 23,1913 by President Woodrow Wilson who sign the Federal Reserve Act. The Fed has many things that it controls in are economy. One of the Reason that President Woodrow Wilson put the Federal Reserve Act in to place because in 1913 there were a feel that banks were instable so many investors did not feel confident in the banks and felt that it was unsafe. One thing that made Woodrow Wilson make the Federal reserve is the people making a run on the banks frequently, which many bank at this time did not keep enough money in the bank and people panic heard about other banks falling so they would try and get all their money out of the banks as fast as possible. With so many people running on the bank would cause the bank to fell which became a big problem following the Great Depression. Then Woodrow Wilson need to find a way to make the bank safer and build a more secure financial system. One thing to understand is also the monetary policy which refers to Fed nation central bank, which influence the amount of money and credit in the U.S. economy and how we spend money and credit affects interest rates which help the U.S economy perform. However, the monetary policy main reason it to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and long term interest rates which help the feds control the economic growth.

The Federal Reserve System was signed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913 and began operating in 1914; to this day it is still the central banking system for the United States. The responsibilities of The Federal Reserve are un-ending and complex. Due to the frequent re- occurring financial issues occurring between the years 1906-1907, like many things The Fed has had to change in numerous ways to adjust to the growing need of our expanding and evolving economy. The income for The Federal Reserve comes from interest on the U.S government securities that are acquired through open market operations (Federal Reserve education). Three major responsibilities of The Federal Reserve are stabilizing prices, interest rate adjustments, conducting investigations

On December 23, 1913, due to a series of financial panics, the Federal Reserve System was created. The Federal Reserve, or the Fed, is the central banking system of the United States of America. The major financial crisis that mainly created the Fed system was the Panic of 1907, also known as the Knickerbocker Crisis. During the Panic of 1907 the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. The Great Depression of 1930 was a key factor in the changes to the system. Through the years the Feds’ roles and responsibilities have expanded and its structure has evolved. Although the system was created because of an crisis, the U.S. Congress has established three key objectives for the monetary policy in the federal Reserve

Imagine having a job and having no safe place to put your money or no place to gain interest for money just sitting in an account. Although this seems like such a smart and genius idea, believe it or not, most people actually did not support the idea of a national bank and didn’t want one at all. The reason Andrew Jackson wanted a national bank was because even though there was already a bank it only became a bank from the farmers, laborers and other working class Americans working hard, it really only benefited the upperclassmen and Andrew Jackson did not like that. The second bank was also a cause of the War of 1812 with the hundreds dollars of debt acquired from the war the United States needed a way to bring down the inflation from the state banks (“Bank War”). There were other banks throughout the country but they were all privately owned and each had their own system of money, whether it was gold, silver, paper money.

The Federal Reserve System was founded by Congress in 1913 to be the central bank of the United States. The Federal Reserve System was founded to be a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary financial system. Over the years, the role of the Federal Reserve Board and its influence on banking and the economy has increased. Today, the Federal Reserve System's duties fall into four general categories. Firstly, the FED conducts the nation's monetary policy. The FED controls the monetary policy by influencing credit conditions in the economy. The FED measures its success in accomplishing these goals by judging whether or not the economy is at full employment and whether or not prices are stable. Not only

The purpose of its creation was pretty straight-forward, that is, to prevent failures in banking (Meltzer & Allan, 2010). During the time of its inception, the United States had gone through a vicious banking crisis in 1907. The crisis gained importance as it was observed how Knickerbockers Trust failed to receive support from its peers, even after voluntarily seeking for it. It ultimately faced collapse due to failure in receiving support. This also had a significant influence on the psychology of the public as the peers of Knickerbockers apart from not recuing it, also cancelled payments to each other. The New York Stock Exchange collapsed by fifty per cent until liquidity was injected by the initiatives of financier J.P. Morgan which then relieved the situation to some extent. The legislators then in response vehemently advocated putting in place a central banking system, which would be able to provide liquidity in the case of a wholesale downfall. It can be said with hindsight that the machinery back then used to be very sophisticated. The Wall Street Journal also published a comprehensive fourteen-part series which emphasized on the need for a central banking system. The idea received further endorsements from the public groups and trade organizations. Hence the Federal Reserve was born. It was meant to be a politically autonomous institution that would provide stability to the financial system, protect the

In order to have a stable banking system, congress had called a meeting where “the National Monetary Commission” (Bagwell), was formed a year after the panic had passed. The meeting include bankers like J.P Morgan, the National city bank, and many others. They all have gather to discuss the crisis that happened and to add new regulations on how to protect the money from people investing. This action was led for the creation on The Federal Reserve act of 1913. Historians had agree that the creation of the federal reserved was due to The National Monetary Commission, where banking laws where review. According to historians the text shows “Congress formed the National Monetary Commission to review banking policies in the United States” including “the monetary reform movement that led to the establishment of the Federal Reserve

After Congress refused the national bank before the war of 1812, the states started their own banks with their own currency. This made things difficult for the American people. There more than 400 different banks by 1818, with each of them having their own currency. Investors were losing and winning by just by picking different currency to follow. This left America in trouble. “To end the mayhem and strengthen the national government, proponents of the American System designed the Second Bank of the United States” (Shultz, 2014, p. 168). The new bank began in 1816. The start of the bank caused a major economic recession; when it first started it was loose with credit and then suddenly they changed to strict

By December 23, 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law, it stood as a classic example of compromise a decentralized central bank that balanced the competing intrigues of private banks and populist sentiment. Afore the incipient central bank could commence operations, the Reserve Bank Operating Committee, comprised of Treasury Secretary William McAdoo, Secretary of Agriculture David Houston, and Comptroller of the Currency John Skelton Williams, had the arduous task of building a working institution around the bare bones of the incipient law. In reaction to the Great Despondence, Congress passed the Banking Act of 1933, better kenned as the Glass-Steagall Act, calling for the disseverment of commercial and

Morgan leading the forefront, each of the banks consolidated their funds to provide the Knickerbocker Trust company with liquidity. After the Panic of 1907, many years later Congress established that there indeed was a need for a central government to assist in regulating the money supply. They analyzed the components of the Federal Reserve. They determined that a central government would combat bank crises from arising and enable stability in the interest rates. When the Federal Reserve Act was finally passed in the year of 1913, Congress relinquished all powers relating to controlling the money supply and regulating the banking system to the Federal Reserve. The only issue Congress had with forming this central government was that they didn’t want it to become more powerful than them. In efforts to prevent a tug of war involving issues concerning authoritative power, Congress granted and divided power amongst each of the Federal Reserve banks that were present within the country. Once Congress reached an agreement that established the exact number of Federal Reserve banks, again another issue was encountered. The issue Congress now faced was deciding on where each of the Federal Reserve Banks would be located. Thus, can be concluded that the location of each Federal Reserve Bank, denotes an example of the political influences and the distribution of power among senators and representatives dating as far back as 1913.

Prior to the crisis in 1907, banks were considered full service financial institutions. In the year 1913, the Federal Reserve System was created by congress to help stabilize the financial market by acting as the lender of last resort to the banking institutions. Nonetheless the great depression still hit the economy between 1929 and 1933 which led to the stock market crash and market share value decrease by 80%. By the 1980s, the economy had stabilized again and there was increase in computer analysis, electronic information transfer, increased importance of global markets and deregulation of financial institutions.

The Great Depression is undoubtedly one of the most significant events in American and world history. It was the most widespread depression in the 20th century affecting most nations in the world and lasting for as long as a decade. However, there still remain unanswered questions regarding the cause of the great depression. One of the most debated topics regarding the Great Depression continues to be the role of the Federal Reserve (Fed) in causing and prolonging the crisis. The Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the United States, was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, primarily in response to a series of financial panics in 1907. The Fed had being in existence for 15 years before the

The Fed was initially given the mission of beginning an “elastic money supply.” The idea was that the Fed could increase or decrease the quantity of money in circulation to concur with the economic drive. This drive could hold prices steady through decent times and depraved times, so they thought.

Why did the Federal Reserve fail in this fundamental task? The Federal Reserve’s leaders disagreed about the best response to banking crises. Some governors subscribed to a doctrine similar to Bagehot’s dictum, which says that during financial panics, central banks should loan funds to solvent financial institutions beset by runs. Other governors subscribed to a doctrine known as real bills. This doctrine indicated that central banks should supply more funds to commercial banks during economic expansions, when individuals and firms demanded additional credit to finance production and commerce, and less during economic contractions, when demand for credit contracted. The real bills doctrine did not definitively describe what to do during banking panics, but many of its adherents considered panics to be symptoms of contractions, when central bank lending should contract. A few governors subscribed to an extreme version of the real bills doctrine labeled “liquidationist.” This doctrine indicated that during financial panics, central banks should stand aside so that troubled financial institutions would fail. This pruning of weak institutions would accelerate the evolution of a healthier economic system. Herbert Hoover’s secretary of treasury, Andrew Mellon, who served on the Federal Reserve Board, advocated this approach. These intellectual tensions and the Federal