1. (i) Explain the functions of financial markets.
Answer: Financial markets have the following 4 functions in general.
Capital accumulation
The financial market plays a role like “reservoir” to lead a large number of scattered small sums of money in a form of cash to places where it is really needed. It can be done because financial markets have created the liquidity of financial assets and also the diversification of financing tools provided the appropriate means for capital providers to find a way out for the investment funds.
Resources allocation
The allocation of resources - Economic resources of a society can be used more effectively as funds are always flowing to sectors and businesses that have the greatest potential for development.
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Monetary policy is an important economic policy of regulating the economic activities of the macroeconomic concept.
Reflect the economy
The financial market has always been known as the "barometer" and "weather station" of the national economy, which is recognized as the national economic signal system. This is actually a reflection of the function of financial markets.
1. (ii) Discuss why a dollar tomorrow cannot be worth less than a dollar the day after tomorrow.
Answer: Money can be invested to gain return or interest over a period of time as it has a time value. But money in future can’t be invested immediately to earn interest and so must be worth less. For example, if an amount of $10,000 deposit to a saving account at an annual interest rate of 5% and compounded monthly, the amount can get after 10 years will be $16,470.09. But you can’t get $10,000 future dollar by today for investment. Based on the following formula and example, $10,000 principle (Present value) after a specific time (10 years) has the value of $16,470.09 (Future value), which $10,000 is the original principle and $6,470.09 is the interest that earned after 10 years. This is the time value for money
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This can be achieved by exploiting a higher cost of capital in an investment decision or by setting a capital budget limit. Corporation would like to implement it in situations that the returns of past investments were lower than expected. The main advantage of capital rationing is the efficient use of the company’s corporate resources by enforcing strict budgeting of company’s corporate resources to focus on the higher return projects or investments. In addition, it prevents the wastage of corporate resources by investing on the unavailable or lower returns projects. Also, imposing capital budgets lead the company to focus on the less number of comparatively higher return projects and so number of active projects can be kept in minimal and projects or investments can be managed better. There are two main types of capital rationing, hard rationing and soft rationing. Soft capital rationing is used when the limitations are imposed from company inside. For example, management would like to concentrate on the main business or some focused projects, limited skilled management to handle many projects at the same time, or management doesn’t want to do external
When George Washington was president, in 1792, the New York Stock Exchange was founded when 24 stockbrokers and merchants signed an agreement in New York under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street. During the mid- to late 1920s, the stock market in the United States underwent rapid expansion. It continued for the first six months following President Herbert Hoover's inauguration in January 1929. Here are the top five reasons for the stock market crash; 1)Banks participating in stock market 2) Undefined or overflowing margins 3) over stimulation of the market 4) A process (that is now illegal) of inflating a stock in order to sell it, and then backing out, causing the stock value to plummet 5) Poor investment decisions on the part of
The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 gave the Federal Reserve the responsibility for setting monetary policies. The term refers to action taken by a central bank to influence the availability and cost of money and credit to help promote national economic goals, according the Federal Reserve website. This Act also helped to create a unified national money system and permitted mortgage loans. Mortgage loans were new at this time. Now, what is the Federal Open-Market Committee (FOMC)?
“If you want to understand geology, study earthquakes. If you want to understand the economy, study the Depression” (Ben Bernanke Quotes). Ben Bernanke, a tenured professor at Princeton University, served two terms as the Federal Reserve chairman from 2006-2014 and orchestrated the Fed’s actions during the Great Recession. Being a student of the Great Depression, Mr. Bernanke’s policies and regulations surrounding the late 2000’s crisis reflected the adaptations to the Fed’s failed actions in the 1930’s. Throughout economic history, the stability and health of our economy depends on the balance achieved by the Federal Reserve over their three major roles: Monetary Policy, Regulation, Lender of Last Resort.
Investors tried to withdraw their reserves and unfortunately even the banks had invested in stock. Firstly, this essay will discuss and look at the monetary
The Federal Reserve is the centralized banking system of the United States. It was designed to provide the US with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system (federalreserve.gov). The Federal Reserve uses various tools such as open market operations, reserve requirement, discount window lending, or quantitative easing when it comes to conducting the monetary policy. Even though some may argue on weather why they believe the Federal Reserve System is or is not beneficial to our economy, the Federal Reserve Act is still one of the most talked about laws concerning the US financial system today.
Since there have been innovations in technology, transportation, communication, and financial services, revisions have been made to the act. This makes policies more fitting, for the economy. The Federal Reserve System is also responsible for promoting growth. Along with that they are responsible for maintain high levels of employment, and the stability of prices.
The Federal Reserve uses the U.S. economy by setting national interest rates. It keeps rates high or low, the Fed has the power to make the economy great or completely destroy it. . They have the power to inflate massive bubbles and to pop them. Most American citizens, when usually criticizing the economy, start to blame presidents like Bush or Obama for how the economy is doing.
The Federal Reserve controls over the federal fund rates give it the ability to influence the general level of short-term market interest rates. The Fed has three main tools at its disposal to influence monetary policy which are the open-market operations, discount rate, and reserve requirements. b. Monetary policy is the actions of a central bank, currency board or other regulatory committee that determine the size and rate of the money supply, which in turn affects interest rates. The concept of Monetary Policy simply stated is that the cost of credit is reduced, more people and firms will borrow money and the economy will heat up. c. The controls that Federal Reserve used worked because the use of the three main tools the Fed uses is the most important that can manipulate monetary policy.
Timberlake continues to state, “The Fed [Federal Reserve], having complete control over the quantity of dollars, controls the money market. It can and must use that control for just one goal: stability in the price level and the value of the dollar. ”(p.310) Read that last quote just one more time. “The Fed, having complete control over the quantity of dollars” The Federal Reserve has absolute power over every single aspect of our economy, yet there have been economic collapses of enourmous proportions over the past 80 years.
Along the same line of thinking for protecting the freedoms of the people, the government creates and enforces the law of the market but should not directly participate in the game (Friedman, 1975). Intervention as a discrepancy from Friedman’s theory is understood as the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates low prior to the crisis. This will be discussed later in the
What is the importance of the American federal reserve system and to what degree has it been beneficial to the stability and growth of the American economy? Many Americans, since the foundation of the United States, have been circumspect of a banking system that puts its power in the government’s hands. Despite this, Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the Treasury, put forth great efforts to establish the First Bank of the United States in 1791, and the Second Bank in 1816. Then, in 1913, the Federal Reserve Act was passed, creating a Federal Reserve System---allowing the United States Central Bank to issue uniform currency in the form of Federal Notes---and created twelve federal reserve banks across the nation. Together, these advancements
To conduct the nation’s monetary policy is to “promote maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates in the U.S. economy;” (Board). The Federal Reserve promotes the stability of the financial system. Promoting the stability of the financial system is to seek to “minimize and contain systemic risks through active monitoring and engagement in the U.S. and abroad;” (Board). The Federal Reserve promotes the safety and soundness of individual financial institutions, “and monitors their impact on the financial system as a whole;” (Board). The Federal Reserve “fosters payment and settlement system safety and efficiency through services to the banking industry and the U.S. government that facilitate U.S.-dollar transactions and payments;” and “promotes consumer protection and community development through consumer-focused supervision and examination, research and analysis of
To make profit, the investors should think like business owners instead of thinking like a homeowner and paying more than the property is worth for. If you fall in love with a property, then you may fail to make the right decision, and in turn, you may lose the opportunity of great income. It is advisable that you do enough research to determine the right value of the properties. 7. Forgetting time and money rule
Stock trading is carried out by stock traders who for the most part need an intermediate such as a brokerage firm or bank to carry out the trades. Stock traders work for themselves by investing money in shares which they believe will increase in value over time and then sell the shares at a later date for profit. There are a number of strategies used by stock traders in order to accumulate profit. The most popular stock trading strategies are day trading, swing trading, value investing and growth trading. A brief description of each of these strategies will now be given
This is primarily a tool at the disposal of the central bank of a country which uses different tools to manage the macro economic variables of a country to keep the economy stable or to stabilize it in situations of fluctuations. Monetary policy can be expansionary or contractionary depending on whether the money supply is being increased or decreased in the system so as to affect economic growth, inflation, exchange rates with other currencies and