PREVIEW:
- Summary (IMPORTANT - KNOW THIS)
- Monetary policy cause-effect chain: summary
- Online Lecture
- Review: Short Answer
- Review: Multiple Choice
- Assignments
- Monetary Policy Summary
16a Monetary Policy (MP)
I. Introduction
A. Objectives of Monetary Policy1. The fundamental objective of monetary policy is to aid the economy in achieving full-employment output with stable prices.a. To do this, the Fed changes the nations money supply.b. To change money supply, the Fed manipulates size of excess reserves held by banks (see chapter 15).
c. the Fed has four tools to do this
- Open Market Operations (OMO)
- changing the discount rate (DR)
- changing the required reserve ratio (RR)
- Term Auction Facility (similar to DR)
2. Monetary policy has a very powerful impact on the economy, and the Chairman of the Feds Board of Governors, Ben Bernanke currently, is sometimes called the second most powerful person in the U.S.
B. Functions of The Federal Reserve System (Fed)
1. issue currency = Federal Reserve Notes
2. setting reserve requirements
3. lending money to banks and thrifts (the discount rate -DR- is the interest rate banks are charged for borrowing from the Fed
4. providing for check collection
3. acting as fiscal agent for the US government
4. supervising banks
5. controlling the money supplyC. REVIEW / PREVIEW: Monetary Policy: Keynesian Cause-Effect Chain
1. A change in the Fed tools CAUSES
2. a change in excess reserves CAUSES
3. a change in the money supply CAUSES
4. a change in the interest rate CAUSES
5. a change in investment CAUSE
6. a change in aggregate demand CAUSES
7. a change in real GDP and a change in the price level CAUSES
8. a change in unemployment and/or inflation
D. REVIEW /PREVIEW EXAMPLE:If there is HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT in the economy, the appropriate monetary policy policy and its effect illustrated on our graphs would be:
FIRST: Chapters 15 and 16 SECOND: Chapter 14 THIRD: Chapter 10 FINALLY: Chapters 12 and 13 To increase the MS the fed must increase the ER of
banks. Then banks could make more loans and create more
money. To do this they would use an easy money
policy. Easy Money Policy: If the MS increases: If the interest rates decline: If investment increases:
II. Balance Sheet of the Fed
A. two major Assets1. Securities which are federal government bonds purchased by Fed, and2. Loans to commercial banks (Note: again commercial banks term is used even though the chapter analysis also applies to other thrift institutions.)
B. three major Liabilities
1. Reserves of banks held as deposits at Federal Reserve Banks,2. U.S. Treasury deposits of tax receipts and borrowed funds, and
3. Federal Reserve Notes outstanding, our paper currency.
ASSETS
|| LIABILITIES
Securities
|| Reserves of banks
Loans to banks
|| Treasury deposits
other
|| Federal Res. Notes
|| other
III. The Tools of Monetary Policy
A. Three Tools of the Fed over the Money Supply1. open market operations (OMO)
2. changing the reserve ratio (RR)
3. changing the discount rate (DR)B. Open Market Operations
1. definitionOpen-market operations refer to the Feds buying and selling of government bonds.2. buying securities
Buying securities will increase bank reserves and the money supplya. Example: Assume that the Fed buys a $1000 bond (security) from a commercial bank (RR = 20%)1) then bank reserves go up by the value of the securities sold to the Fed.2) impact on balance sheets
Balance Sheet of the Fed
ASSETS
|| LIABILITIES
Securities
+ $1000
|| Reserves of banks
+ $1000
Loans to banks
|| Treasury deposits
other
|| Federal Res. Notes
|| other
Balance Sheet of the Banking System
ASSETS
|| LIABILITIES
Reserves at Fed
+ $1000
Req Res
+0
ER
+1000
|| Demand Deposits
Cash in vault
|| Other Deposits
Loans
|| Loans from Fed
Securities
- $1000
|| other
Other
|| 3) When Fed buys bonds from bankers, reserves rise and excess reserves rise by same amount since no checkable deposit was created.4) more excess reserves increases Bank's lending ability -- remember when banks make loans they creat money
5) Total change in the money supply:
- MS = initial ER x money multiplier
- money multiplier = 1 / RR = 1/.2 = 5
- SO: MS = + $1000 x 5 = + $5000
6) Textbook Figure 14.2
b. Example: Assume that the Fed buys a $1000 bond (security) from the general public (RR = 20%)
1) people receive checks from the Fed and then deposit the checks at their bank. Bank customer's deposits rise and therefore bank reserves rise by the same amount. NOTE: this $1000 in new demand deposits is NEW MONEY2) impact on balance sheets
Balance Sheet of the Fed
ASSETS
|| LIABILITIES
Securities
+ $1000
|| Reserves of banks
+ $1000
Loans to banks
|| Treasury deposits
other
|| Federal Res. Notes
|| other
Balance Sheet of the Banking System
ASSETS
|| LIABILITIES
Reserves at Fed
+ $1000
Req Res
+200
ER
+800
|| Demand Deposits
+ $ 1000
(this is new M1 money)Cash in vault
|| Other Deposits
Loans
|| Loans from Fed
Securities
|| other
Other
|| 3) Banks lending ability rises with new excess reserves of $800. When Fed buys from public, some of the new reserves are required reserves for the new checkable deposits.
4) Total change in the money supply:
- MS = initial ER x money multiplier
- money multiplier = 1 / RR = 1/.2 = 5
- SO: MS = + $ 800 x 5 = + $ 4000 PLUS the initial $1000 of new money created when the fed paid the public for the gov't security = $ 5000
4) Textbook Figure
c. Conclusion:
When the Fed buys securities, bank reserves will increase and the money supply potentially can rise by a multiple of these reserves.The Fed pays for the securities with new Excess Resources (ER)
MS = initial ER x money multiplierORMS = value of securities bought x money multiplier
The Fed would do this to fight unemployment (UE)
3. When the Fed sells securities:
a. the points above will be reversed.b. Bank reserves will go down, and eventually the money supply will go down by a multiple of the banks decrease in reserves.
c. they would do this to fight inflation (IN)
Three tools of the fed:
1. OMO
2. RR
3. DR
C. Changing the Reserve Ratio
1. raising the reserve ratioa. Raising the reserve ratio increases required reserves and shrinks excess reserves.b. Any loss of excess reserves shrinks banks lending ability and, therefore, DECREASES the potential money supply by a multiple amount of the change in excess reserves.
2. lowering the reserve ratio
a. Lowering the reserve ratio decreases the required reserves and expands excess reserves.b. Gain in excess reserves increases banks lending ability and, therefore, INCREASES the potential money supply by a multiple amount of the increase in excess reserves.
3. EXAMPLE: What happens if the fed lowers the RR from 20% to 10% ?
Initially assume
- RR = 20%
- and the banking system has the following balance sheet
Balance Sheet of the Banking System
ASSETS
|| LIABILITIES
Reserves
$ 25,000
Req Res
20,000
ER
5,000
|| Demand Deposits
$ 100,000
Loans
$30,000
|| |
Securities
$ 45,000
|| |
What is the potential MS?Formulas:
- MS = initial ER x money multiplier (always start with this formula)
- ER = Total Reserves - Required Reserves
- money multiplier = 1/RR
- Required Reserves = RR x Liabilities
Solution:
- Required Reserves = RR x Liabilities = .2 x $ 100,000 = $ 20,000
- ER = Total Reserves - Required Reserves = $25,000 - $ 20,000 = $ 5,000
- money multiplier = 1 / RR = 1/0.2 = 5
- MS = initial ER x money multiplier = $ 5,000 x 5 = $ 25,000
ANSWER: MS can increase by $ 25,000
What happens if the Fed LOWERS the DR to 10%?
Now:
- RR = 10%
- initially the banking system has the following balance sheet
Balance Sheet of the Banking System
ASSETS
|| LIABILITIES
Reserves
$ 25,000
Req Res
10,000
ER
15,000
|| Demand Deposits
$ 100,000
Loans
$30,000
|| |
Securities
$ 45,000
|| |
What is the potential MS?Formulas:
- MS = initial ER x money multiplier
- ER = Total Reserves - Required Reserves
- money multiplier = 1/RR
- Required Reserves = RR x Liabilities
Solution:
- Required Reserves = RR x Liabilities = .1 x $ 100,000 = $ 10,000
- ER = Total Reserves - Required Reserves = $25,000 - $ 10,000 = $ 15,000
- money multiplier = 1 / RR = 1/0.1 = 10
- MS = initial ER x money multiplier = $ 15,000 x 10 = $ 150,000
ANSWER: MS can increase by $ 150,000
4. Changing the reserve ratio has two effects:
a. It affects the size of excess reserves.b. It also changes the size of the monetary multiplier. For example, if ratio is lowered from 20 percent to 10 percent, the multiplier increases from 5 to 10.
5. Changing the reserve ratio is very powerful since it affects banks lending ability immediately. It could create instability, so Fed rarely changes it.
6. Table 16-2 provides illustrations.
Three tools of the fed:
1. OMO
2. RR
3. DRD. Discount Rate
1. Definition: the interest rate that the Fed charges to commercial banks that borrow from the Fed.2. An increase in the discount rate signals that borrowing reserves is more difficult and will tend to shrink excess reserves.
3. A decrease in the discount rate signals that borrowing reserves will be easier and will tend to expand excess reserves.
IV. Monetary Policy and the Monetary Policy Cause Effect Chain (graphs)
A. "Easy" or expansionary monetary policy1. occurs when the Fed tries to increase money supply by expanding excess reserves in order to stimulate the economy.2. GOAL: to reduce unemployment
3. The Fed will enact one or more of the following measures.
a. The Fed will buy securities.b. The Fed may reduce reserve ratio, although this is rarely changed because of its powerful impact.
c. The Fed could reduce the discount rate, although this has little direct impact on the money supply.
d. The Fed could auction more reserves through the term auction facility
4. Expansionary or easy money policy: The Fed takes steps to increase excess reserves, banks can make more loans increasing the money supply, which lowers the interest rate and increases investment which, in turn, increases GDP by a multiple amount of the change in investment.
B. "Tight" or contractionary monetary policy1. occurs when Fed tries to decrease money supply by decreasing excess reserves in order to slow spending in the economy during an inflationary period.2. GOAL: to reduce inflation
3. The Fed will enact one or more of the following policies:
a. The Fed will sell securities.b. The Fed may raise the reserve ratio, although this is rarely changed because of its powerful impact.
c. The Fed could raise the discount rate, although it has little direct impact on money supply
d. Auction Fewer Reserves.
4. Contractionary or tight money policy is the reverse of an easy policy: Excess reserves fall, the money supply decreases, which raises interest rate, which decreases investment, which, in turn, decreases GDP by a multiple amount of the change in investment.
C. Textbook Graph (figure 16.5)
Graph 1 Graph 2 Graph 3
1. Using the textbook's "Key Graph 16.5", how would we illustrate expansionary MP?a. If the MS is Sm1 in graph 1
- so the equilibrium interest rate is 10% (graph 1)
- with a 10% interest rate the initial amount of investment is $15 billion (graph 2)
- with I = $15 billion the initial AD is AD1 (graph 3)
b. Fed either:
- buys securities
- lowers the DR
- lowers the RR
- auction more reserves
c. this increases ER and increases the MS from Sm1 to Sm2 (graph 1)
d. interest rates fall from 10% to 8% (graph 1)
e. when interest rates fall, the amount of I increases from $15 billion to $20 billion (graph 2)
f. this $5 billion increase in investment will increase AD from AD1 to AD2 (graph 3)
g. THEREFORE, real GDP increases from Q1 to Qf
h. Review chapter 10 - Multiplier Effect.
- if Q1 = $400 billion
- and if MPC = 0.8
- what is Qf?
2. Using the textbook's "Key Graph 16.5", how would we illustrate contractionary MP?
a. If the MS is Sm3 in graph 1
- so the equilibrium interest rate is 6% (graph 1)
- with a 10% interest rate the initial amount of investment is $25 billion (graph 2)
- with I = $25 billion the initial AD is AD3 (graph 3)
b. Fed either:
- sells securities
- raises the DR
- raises the RR
- auction fewer reserves
c. this decreases ER and decreases the MS from Sm3 to Sm2 (graph 1)
d. interest rates rise from 6% to 8% (graph 1)
e. when interest rates rise, the amount of I decreases from $25 billion to $20 billion (graph 2)
f. this $5 billion decrease in investment will decrease AD from AD3 to AD2 (graph 3)
g. THEREFORE, real GDP decreases from Q3 to Qf
h. Review chapter 10 - Multiplier Effect.
- if Q1 = $450 billion
- and if MPC = 0.8
- what is Qf?
D. For several reasons, open-market operations give the Fed most control of the four "tools."
1. Open-market operations are most important.
- This decision is flexible because securities can be bought or sold quickly and in great quantities.
- Reserves change quickly in response.
2. The reserve ratio is rarely changed since this could destabilize banks lending and profit positions.
3. Changing the discount rate has little direct effect,
- since only 2-3 percent of bank reserves are borrowed from Fed.
- At best it has an "announcement effect" that signals direction of monetary policy.
E. SUMMARY: Monetary Policies for Recession and Inflation -- TABLE 16.3
E. Quick Quiz.
16b Other Macro Issues, Models
V. Effectiveness of Monetary Policy
A. Changes in the price level changes the effectiveness of monetary policy
1. Easy monetary policy may be inflationary if initial equilibrium is at or near full-employment. (AD3 to AD4)2. If economy is below full-employment, easy monetary policy can shift aggregate demand and GDP toward full-employment equilibrium. with little effect on inflation (AD1 to AD2)
3. A tight monetary policy can reduce inflation with little effect on unemployment if economy is near or above full-employment (AD6 to AD5)
4. A tight monetary policy can make unemployment worse in a recession. (AD2 to AD1)
B. Strengths of Monetary Policy
1. It is speedier and more flexible than fiscal policy since the Fed can buy and sell securities daily.2. It is less political. Fed Board members are isolated from political pressure, since they serve 14-year terms, and policy changes are more subtle and not noticed as much as fiscal policy changes. It is easier to make good, but unpopular decisions.
C. Focus on the Federal Funds Rate.
1. Currently the Fed communicates changes in monetary policy through changes in its target for the Federal funds rate.2. Definition
- The Fed Funds rate is the interest rate that banks pay other banks for overnight loans
- some banks may have ER left over at the end of the day on reserve at the Fed
- other banks may not have enough reserves to meet their required reserves
3. The Fed does not set either the Federal funds rate or the prime rate; each is established by the interaction of lenders and borrowers, but rates generally follow the Fed funds rate.
4. The Fed acts through open market operations, selling bonds to raise interest rates and buying bonds to lower interest rates
D. Recent monetary policy.
1. Easy money policy in the early 1990s helped produce a recovery from the 1990-1991 recession and the expansion that lasted until 2001.2. Tightening in 1994, 1995, and 1997 helped ease inflationary pressure during the expansion.
2. To counter the recession that began in March 2001, the Fed pursued an easy money policy that saw the prime interest rate fall from 9.5 percent at the end of 2000 to 4.25 percent in December 2002.
4. The Fed has been praised for helping the U.S. economy maintain simultaneously full employment, price stability, and economic growth for over four years.
5. They have also received credit for swift and strong responses to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, significant declines in the stock market
E. Problems and Complications
1. Recognition and operational lags impair the Fed's ability to quickly recognize the need for policy change and to affect that change in a timely fashion.
- Although policy changes can be implemented rapidly (short administrative lag), there is a lag of at least 3 to 6 months before the changes will have their full impact.
- Lags:
1. RECOGNITION LAG is the elapsed time between the beginning of recession or inflation and awareness of this occurrence.
2. ADMINISTRATIVE LAG is the difficulty in changing policy once the problem has been recognized.
3. OPERATIONAL LAG is the time elapsed between change in policy and its impact on the economy. stimulating the economy from recession.
2. CYCLICAL ASYMMETRY may exist: a tight monetary policy works effectively to brake inflation, but an easy monetary policy is not always as effective in
- Japan's ineffective easy money policy illustrates the potential inability of monetary policy to bring an economy out of recession. While pulling on a string (tight money policy) is likely to move the attached object to its desired destination, pushing on a string is not.
3. CHANGES IN VELOCITY: The velocity of money (number of times the average dollar is spent in a year) may be unpredictable, especially in the short run and can offset the desired impact of changes in money supply. Tight money policy may cause people to spend faster; velocity rises.
4. The IMPACT ON INVESTMENT may be less than traditionally thought. Japan provides a case example. Despite interest rates of zero, investment spending remained low during the recession.
Also see: http://money.cnn.com/2003/06/11/news/economy/borrowing_slump/index.htm
F. Currently the Fed communicates changes in monetary policy through changes in its target for the Federal funds rate. (Key Question 5)
1. The Fed does not set either the Federal funds rate or the prime rate; each is established by the interaction of lenders and borrowers, but rates generally follow the Fed funds rate.
2. The Fed acts through open market operations, selling bonds to raise interest rates and buying bonds to lower interest rates.
II. What Causes Macro Instability such as Great Depression, Recessions, Inflationary Periods?
A. Mainstream View: This term is used to characterize the prevailing perspective of most economists.1. Mainstream macroeconomics is Keynesian-based, and focuses on aggregate demand and its components. C(a) + I(g) + X(n) + G = GDP (Aggregate expenditures) = (real output)2. Any change in one of the spending components in the aggregate expenditure equation shifts the aggregate demand curve. This, in turn, changes equilibrium real output, the price level or both.
a. Investment spending is particularly subject to variation.b. Instability can also arise from the supply side. Artificial supply restriction, wars, or increased costs of production can decrease supply, destabilizing the economy by simultaneously causing cost-push inflation and recession.
B. Monetarist View: This label is applied to a modern form of classical economics.
1. Money supply is the focus of monetarist theory.2. Monetarism argues that the price and wage flexibility provided by competitive markets cause fluctuations in product and resource prices, rather than output and employment.
3. Therefore, a competitive market system would provide substantial macroeconomic stability if there were no government interference in the economy.
a .It is government that has caused downward inflexibility through the minimum wage law, pro union legislation, and guaranteed prices for some products as in agriculture.
b. Monetarists say that government also contributes to the economy's business cycles through clumsy, mistaken, monetary policies.
4. The fundamental equation of monetarism is the equation of exchange. MV = PQ
a. The left side, MV, represents the total amount spent [M, the money supply x V, the velocity of money, (the number of times per year the average dollar is spent on final goods and services)]b. The right side, PQ, equals the nation's nominal GDP [P is the price level or more specifically, the average price at which each unit of output is sold x Q is the physical volume of all goods and services produced (real output)].
c. Monetarists say that velocity, V, is stable, meaning that the factors altering velocity change gradually and predictably. People and firms have a stable pattern to holding money.
d. If velocity is stable, the equation of exchange suggests there is a predictable relationship between the money supply and nominal GDP (PxQ).
5. Monetarists say that inappropriate monetary policy is the single most important cause of macroeconomic instability. An increase in money supply will directly increase aggregate demand, causing inflation during periods of full-employment.
6. Mainstream economists view instability of investment as the main cause of the economy's instability. They see monetary policy as a stabilizing factor since it can adjust interest rates to keep investment and aggregate demand stable.
C. Consider This Too Much Money?
1. Mainstream view argues the recession of 2007 - 2008 was caused by AD shocks due to the financial crisis which decreased investment and consumption spending.2. Monetarists argue the recession was caused by too much money which contributed to low interest rates and led to the housing bubble. The bursting of the housing bubble decreased AD.
3. Most economists agree that the housing bubble led to the recession, but many factors contributed to the housing bubble like loose monetary policy, foreign savings into the U.S., "pass the risk" lending practices, etc.
III. Does the Economy "Self-Correct"?
A. New Classical View of Self-Correction1. Monetarist and rational expectation economists believe that the economy has automatic, internal mechanisms for self correction.2. Figure 36.2 demonstrates the adjustment process, which retains full employment output according to this view.
3. The disagreement among new classical economists is over the speed of the adjustment process.
a. Monetarists usually hold the adaptive expectations view of gradual change. The supply curve shifts shown in figure 36.2 may take 2 or 3 years or longer.b. Rational expectations theory (RET) holds that people anticipate some future outcomes before they occur, making change very quick, even instantaneous.
i. Where there is adequate information, people's beliefs about future outcomes accurately reflect the likelihood that those outcomes will occur.ii. RET assumes that new information about events with known outcomes will be assimilated quickly.
4. In RET unanticipated price level changes do cause temporary changes in real output. Firms mistakenly adjust their production levels in response to what they perceive to be a relative price change in their product alone. Any change in GDP is corrected as prices are flexible and firms readjust output to its previous level.
5. In RET fully anticipated price level changes do not change real output, even for short periods. Firms are able to maintain profit and production levels.
B. Mainstream View of Self Correction
1. There is ample evidence that many prices and wages are inflexible downward for long periods of time. However, some aspects of RET have been incorporated into the more rigorous model of the mainstream.2. Graphical analysis shown in Figure 36.2b demonstrates the adjustment process along a horizontal aggregate supply curve.
3. Downward wage inflexibility may occur because firms are unable to cut wages due to contracts and the legal minimum wage. Firms may not want to reduce wages if they fear problems with morale effort, and efficiency.
4. An efficiency wage is one that minimizes the firm's labor cost per unit of output. Firms may discover that paying higher than market wages lowers wage cost per unit of output.
a. Workers have an incentive to retain an above market wage job and may put forth greater work effort.b. Lower supervision costs prevail if workers have more incentive to work hard.
c. An above market wage reduces job turnover.
5. Some economists believe wages don't fall easily because already employed workers (insiders) keep their jobs even though unemployed outsiders might accept lower pay. Employers prefer a stable work force.
IV. Rules or Discretion?
A. Monetarists and other new classical economists believe that policy rules would reduce instability in the economy.
1. A monetary rule would direct the Fed to expand the money supply each year at the same annual rate as the typical growth of GDP. (See Figure 36.3)a. The rule would tie increases in the money supply to the typical rightward shift of long run aggregate supply, and ensure that aggregate demand shifts rightward along with it.b. A monetary rule, then, would promote steady growth of real output along with price stability.
2. A few economists favor a constitutional amendment to require the federal government to balance its budget annually.
a. Others simply suggest that government be "passive" in its fiscal policy and not intentionally create budget deficits of surpluses.b. Monetarists and new classical economists believe that fiscal policy is ineffective. Expansionary policy is bad because it crowds out private investment.
c. RET economists reject discretionary fiscal policy for the same reason they reject active monetary policy. They don't believe it works because the effects are fully anticipated by private sector.
B. Mainstream economists defend discretionary stabilization policy.
1. In supporting discretionary monetary policy, mainstream economists argue that the velocity of money is more variable and unpredictable, in short run monetary policy can help offset changes in AD than monetarists contend.2. Mainstream economists oppose requirements to balance the budget annually because it would require actions that would intensify the business cycle, such as raising taxes and cutting spending during recession and the opposite during booms. They support discretionary fiscal policy to combat recession or inflation even if it causes a deficit or surplus budget.
C. The U.S. economy has been about one third more stable since 1946 than in earlier periods. Discretionary fiscal and monetary policies were used during this period and not before. This makes a strong case for its success.
D. A summary of alternative views presents the central ideas and policy implications of four main macroeconomic theories: Mainstream macroeconomics, monetarism, rational expectations theory and supply side economics. (See Table 36.1)
E. CONSIDER THIS On the Road Again
Keynesian Abba Lerner compared the economy to a car without a steering wheel, and that the prudent addition and use of a steering wheel (discretionary fiscal and monetary policy) would stabilize the macroeconomy. Monetarist Milton Friedman argued that the steering wheel already exists, and that discretionary use of monetary policy by the Fed keeps jerking on it, causing the car (the macroeconomy) to swerve. If the Fed would just hold the steering wheel steady, the macroeconomy would be stable.
OPTIONAL G. Monetary policy and the international economy:1. Net export effect occurs when foreign financial investors respond to a change in interest rates.a. Tight monetary policy and higher interest rates1) lead to appreciation of dollar value in foreign exchange markets; |