Monetary Policy, Loan Liquidation, and Industrial Conflict: The Federal Reserve and the Open Market Operations of 1932

Author(s):  
Gerald Epstein
1984 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 957-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Epstein ◽  
Thomas Ferguson

Early in 1932 the Federal Reserve System made a serious attempt to reverse the “Great Contraction” throught expansionary open market operations, but abandoned it a few months later. In this paper we offer an interpretation of the episode that throws new light on the Fed's behavior during the Depression. Key are the attitude of private bankers, Britain's abandonment of the gold standard, and the brief open market campaign. To protect bank profits the Fed abandoned the program which set the stage for the complete financial collapse of the United States in early 1933.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 533
Author(s):  
David Gordon

The Federal Reserve Bank (FED) plays a vital role in the US economy. The roles and functions of the Fed are discussed here. This paper also offers an explanation of the traditional tools the Fed uses to conduct monetary policy. Open market operations are explained. The important role of the discount rate is discussed. The legally required reserve ratios are also explored. This author believes that the Fed has recently created a new tool. This tool is the payment of interest on demand deposit accounts at the Fed. This new tool is explained and its ramifications explored. The functions of monetary policy are also expanded upon in this paper.


2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles L Weise

Drawing on an analysis of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) documents, this paper argues that political pressures on the Federal Reserve were an important contributor to the rise in inflation in the United States in the 1970s. Members of the FOMC understood that a serious attempt to tackle inflation would generate opposition from Congress and the executive branch. Political considerations contributed to delays in monetary tightening, insufficiently aggressive anti-inflation policies, and the premature abandonment of attempts at disinflation. Empirical analysis verifies that references to the political environment at FOMC meetings are correlated with the stance of monetary policy during this period. (JEL D72, E32, E52, E58, N12)


Author(s):  
Jack Knight ◽  
James Johnson

Pragmatism and its consequences are central issues in American politics today, yet scholars rarely examine in detail the relationship between pragmatism and politics. This book systematically explores the subject and makes a strong case for adopting a pragmatist approach to democratic politics—and for giving priority to democracy in the process of selecting and reforming political institutions. What is the primary value of democracy? When should we make decisions democratically and when should we rely on markets? And when should we accept the decisions of unelected officials, such as judges or bureaucrats? This book explores how a commitment to pragmatism should affect our answers to such important questions. It concludes that democracy is a good way of determining how these kinds of decisions should be made—even if what the democratic process determines is that not all decisions should be made democratically. So, for example, the democratically elected U.S. Congress may legitimately remove monetary policy from democratic decision-making by putting it under the control of the Federal Reserve. This book argues that pragmatism offers an original and compelling justification of democracy in terms of the unique contributions democratic institutions can make to processes of institutional choice. This focus highlights the important role that democracy plays, not in achieving consensus or commonality, but rather in addressing conflicts. Indeed, the book suggest that democratic politics is perhaps best seen less as a way of reaching consensus or agreement than as a way of structuring the terms of persistent disagreement.


1937 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 721-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Hilgard Villard

Author(s):  
Elena Lutskaya ◽  

The article examines the views of Western researchers on overcoming the COVID-19 crisis and its consequences. The main focus is on the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve system - the most developed financial system that affects both the US economy and global markets.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Larysa BATIUK

Introduction. The article deals with the peculiarities of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy in the implementation conditions of the Basel Committee requirements on Banking Supervision "Basel III". The problem of the mechanism violation of the classical monetary multiplier, the imbalance of the monetary circulation system, the frequency increase of debt defaults and the amplitude of macroeconomic fluctuations in the global economic system are marked as a study result of the effects of the credit mitigation policy conducted by the US Federal Reserve amid the global financial crises of the last decade and changes in the nature of financial intermediation based on the synthesis of asset securitization and structured finance instruments. The purpose of this article is to investigate changes in monetary policy and financial intermediation in the implementation context of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision Basel III as a source of imbalance in the global economy. Research methodology. The system method, method of scientific abstraction, methods of analysis and synthesis, statistical, comparison, generalization, scientific prediction were used. Results. The article deals with the implications of implementing the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision Basel I and Basel II in the area of monetary policy and financial intermediation; peculiarities of monetary multiplier mechanism operation in modern conditions are revealed; the possible consequences of implementing Basel III requirements for the mechanism of monetary supply formation in the world economy are analysed; the change in the role of gold as monetary metal in central bank foreign exchange reserves and the implications of these changes in terms of price dynamics and the distribution of real wealth in the global economy are examined. Conclusions. It is proposed to consider the requirements of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision "Basel III" as such, which will exacerbate the volatility of global financial markets, increase the likelihood of increasing the frequency of debt defaults and, given the possibility of using gold as a means of redistribution of real wealth in the global economy, will cause an increase in the amplitude of macroeconomic fluctuations. Keywords: monetary policy; financial intermediation; the central bank; US Federal Reserve; Basel III; bank capital structure, monetary base; money multiplier, correspondent accounts; money supply; monetary gold; global economy.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Jarboui ◽  
Emna Mnif

Purpose After the COVID-19 outbreak, the Federal Reserve has undertaken several monetary policies to alleviate the pandemic consequences on the markets. This paper aims to evaluate the effects of the Federal Reserve monetary policy on the cryptocurrency dynamics during the COVID19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach We examine the response and feedback effects via an event study methodology. For this purpose, abnormal returns (AR) and cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) around the first FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) announcement related to the COVID-19 pandemic for the top five cryptocurrencies are explored. We, further investigate the effect of the eight FOMC statement announcements during the COVID19 pandemic on these cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Litecoin, and Ripple). In the above-mentioned crypto-currency markets, we investigate the presence of bubbles by using the PSY test. We then examine the concordance of the dates of these bubbles with the dates of the FOMC announcements. Findings The empirical results show that the first FOMC event has a negative significant effect after 4 days of the announcement date for all studied cryptocurrencies except Tether. The results also indicate that cumulative abnormal returns are significant during the event windows of (−3,8), (−3,9), and (−3,10). Besides, we find that Bitcoin, Ethereum and, Litecoin lived short bubbles lasting for a few days. However, Ripple and Tether markets present no bubbles and no explosive periods. Research limitations/implications This paper presents trained proof that FOMC announcements have a positive effect on volatility's predictive capacity. This work therefore promotes the study of the data quality of volatility in future research as well. Practical implications The justified effect of the FOMC announcements on cryptocurrency as a speculative asset has practical implications for investors in building their trading strategies in anticipation of the next FOMC announcement. Therefore, this study implies that the FOMC announcements contain very relevant information for investors in the cryptocurrency market. This research may not only encourage a better understanding of the evolution of the expectations of policymakers, but also facilitate a better understanding of how these expectations are developed. Originality/value The COVID-19 pandemic has disturbed the stability of financial markets, inciting the Fed to take some monetary regulations. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first one that analyses the response of five major cryptocurrencies to FOMC announcements during COVID 19 pandemic and associates these dates with bubble occurrences.


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