Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve (known informally as "The Fed") was created in 1913 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law, which effectively centralized America’s banking system. The Board of Governors is the presidentially appointed governing body.

The Federal Reserve has four basic functions, though it provides a variety of services to the United States Government. First, it influences market conditions by regulating national interest rates. Second, it supervises banking institutions and safeguards consumer credit rights. Third, it attempts to stabilize financial markets that would otherwise undermine the economic stability of the United States. Finally, it offers a variety of financial services to U.S. and internationally recognized foreign institutions.

The Federal Reserve also controls the discount rate (a basic interbank lending rate), and has the power to bail out major corporations, pending congressional approval - a power that is, however, highly contested in the political discourse.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Federal Reserve”

• A Crystal Ball, With Caveats and Corrections

  
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 900
  Stock market professionals see a range of possibilities for 2010 — and few are completely upbeat.
  4 hours ago

• Just the Facts

  
  Bear Market Investments — Authority: 154
  Federal Reserve Credit expanded $22.8bn last week to $2.191 TN. Fed Credit has declined $56bn y-t-d and $63bn over the past 52 weeks. Elsewhere, Fed Foreign Holdings of Treasury, Agency Debt this past week increased $4.9bn to a record … Read more….
  9 hours ago

• Iced Earth’s lead man releases pro-freedom / anti-Federal Reserve solo project, Sons of Liberty

  
  blog of bile — Authority: 120
  http://www.sons-of-liberty.net/Related posts:Iced Earth’s new album info releasedThe Free State Project’s Liberty ForumEconomic hard times could lead to increased freedom for those living in ChinaRelated posts: Iced Earth’s new album info released The Free State Project’s Liberty Forum Economic hard ...
  9 hours ago

• Reform Package Hurts the Fed’s Independence

  
  The Classic Liberal Blog — Authority: 537
  Or, so says the  WaPo in their latest propaganda piece … The House of Representative’s reform package hurts the Fed’s independence The case for political independence at the Fed is elementary … Investors already spend enough energy and money trying to figure out where interest rates are heading without ...
  11 hours ago

• This is about limiting “collateral damage”…

  
  shopyield.com — Authority: 127
  o o ooo o o We have admit how much more sophisticated the British are about managing their financial sector… but then they have had so many more hundreds of years to do it… they did have a fully blown banking system as we fought them to become independent… 1660’s anyone ? o o ooo o o Listen to Andy Haldane ...
  13 hours ago

• Comfort Zone Investing: Whats Ahead in 2010?

  
  BloggingStocks — Authority: 676
  Filed under: Comfort Zone Investing , Federal Reserve Notice the headline is a question, not a statement. If I knew exactly what would happen in 2010, I wouldnt write anymore -- Id just invest accordingly. But I dont know (nor does anyone) what will happen exactly in the next 12 months. However, there are ...
  14 hours ago

• Bernanke doesn’t understand the basic economics of central banking

  
  Credit Writedowns — Authority: 671
  Bernanke doesn’t understand the basic economics of central banking is a post from: Credit Writedowns I would like to incorporate a critique of quantitative easing based on Bernanke’s comments in Ed’s post “ Quantitative easing and inflation expectations .” You’ve got to focus on improving the ...
  15 hours ago

• Bernanke Confirmation Headwinds Increasing

  
  naked capitalism — Authority: 720
  The party line is that Ben Bernanke’s confirmation for a second term as Fed chief is a shoe-in, although he might face an unseemly amount of roughing up, like having to step down briefly if the senators who plan to put a hold on his vote succeed in delaying it beyond the end of January. And then there is also that ...
  1 day ago

• Bernanke Confirmation Headwinds Increasing

  
  Fuck Bankers — Authority: 170
  The party line is that Ben Bernanke’s confirmation for a second term as Fed chief is a shoe-in, although he might face an unseemly amount of roughing up, like having to step down briefly if the senators who plan to put a hold on his vote succeed in delaying it beyond the end of January. And then there is also that ...
  1 day ago

• Bernanke Confirmation Headwinds Increasing

  
  Gulag Blog — Authority: 170
  The party line is that Ben Bernanke’s confirmation for a second term as Fed chief is a shoe-in, although he might face an unseemly amount of roughing up, like having to step down briefly if the senators who plan to put a hold on his vote succeed in delaying it beyond the end of January. And then there is also that ...
  1 day ago

• Karl Rove Beats Up Barack Obama

  
  The Feldman Blog — Authority: 111
  Karl Rove, the often sleazy former senior adviser to George W and current Wall Street Journal commentator , claims President Obama has “won a place in history with the worst ratings of any president at the end of his first year.” Rove is referring to a USA Today/Gallup Poll showing 49 % of those who were ...
  1 day ago

• FM newswire for 19 December, hot articles for your morning reading

  
  Fabius Maximus — Authority: 472
  This is what I found interesting, so it’s today’s broadsheet from the FM website pressroom, with several sections of hot news.  Lot’s happening in the world today, mostly either overlooked or misinterpreted by the mainstream media.  Links to interesting news and analysisQuote of the day, about our love-hate ...
  1 day ago

• Bernanke Endorsed by Senate Banking Committee, Supports Limited Fed Audit

  
  The Fine Print: blog posts from OMBWatch — Authority: 134
  Yesterday, in a bi-partisan vote , the Senate Banking Committee approved Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernankes nomination to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. The vote wasnt in any doubt, although the closeness of the margin, 16 to 7, does indicate the contentiousness of Bernankes nomination. The ...
  1 day ago

• Ron Paul On Neil Cavuto 12/16/2009

  
  Truth In Our Time — Authority: 141
  
  1 day ago

• Jumbo-Mortgage Bonds Totaling $143 Billion Reviewed for Cuts by …

  
  Mortgage online — Authority: 161
  By Jody Shenn Dec.
  1 day ago

• Excess bank reserves nothing to fret about?

  
  FP Trading Desk — Authority: 567
  The huge amount of excess reserves in the U.S. banking system have led many observers to fret that the system is broken. The critics say that the vast quantity of excess reserves indicate that the Federal Reserve’s attempts to get banks lending again aren’t working. But the worries are unfounded, says Todd ...
  1 day ago

• Philly Fed Survey Shows Improvement

  
  Contrarian Musings — Authority: 131
  The Philly Fed survey improved in November: Activity in the region’s manufacturing sector is expanding, according to firms polled for this month’s Business Outlook Survey. Indexes for general activity, new orders, and shipments all remained positive this month. Indicative of improvement, the overall level of ...
  1 day ago

• Skies darken for Ben Bernanke nomination

  
  Stupidica — Authority: 176
  Six Republicans and one Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee voted Thursday against Ben Bernanke’s nomination to a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve — signaling to some Fed watchers that President Barack Obama’s pick could be in more trouble than previously thought. “It’s not the ...
  1 day ago

• Time To Put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Into Receivership–No More Bailouts!

  
  Pronk Palisades — Authority: 429
    Fannie, Freddie Overseer Considers Seeking More U.S. Aid: Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIxZnRqTUoI Lockhart Says Foreclosures May Spike Without Writedowns: Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGKaORiOEYM Fannie Mae in BIG trouble Who is Responsible? (Meltdown): Fannie Mae – Freddie Mac ...
  1 day ago

• Bernanke Returns – An Important Message for the Markets

  
  Bulletproof — Authority: 425
  Yesterday, the Senate Banking Committee voted 16-7 to send Ben Bernanke’s nomination for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve to the full Senate. While the panel’s backing of the Fed Chairman will almost certainly lead to another term for Bernanke, the clarion message this relatively smooth process ...
  1 day ago

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