The 3-equation model by Carlin and Soskice (2014) introduces the current consensus in modern monetary macroeconomics to undergraduates through a static framework in which adjustment occurs via the monetary policy rule of an inflation-targeting central bank. In this article, the authors present a dynamic extension of this model and an Excel-based…

Over the course of one semester, six empirical assignments that utilize FRED are used to introduce students of money and banking courses to the economic analysis required for the conduct of monetary policy. The first five assignments cover the following topics: inflation, bonds and stocks, monetary aggregates, the Taylor rule, and employment.…

The Federal Reserve System (the Fed) is one of the most important financial institutions in the world. As the central bank of the United States, it influences the domestic money supply, credit, and interest rates with the goal of achieving stable prices and full employment for the world's largest economy. It provides a variety of services to…

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. The system includes 12 Federal Reserve Banks (and their associated branches) located throughout the country, with oversight by the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. The diverse structure is designed to ensure that the interests of Main Street are represented along with those…

The lessons learned from the recent financial crisis should significantly reshape the economics profession's thinking, including, importantly, what we teach our students. Five such lessons are that we live in a monetary economy and therefore aggregate demand and policies that affect aggregate demand are determinants of real economic outcomes; that…

Economists and historians have struggled for almost 80 years to account for the American Great Depression, which began in 1929 and lasted until the early years of World War II. In this article, the authors discuss three major schools of thought on the causes of the Great Depression and the long failure of the American economy to return to full…

This is one of a series of essays adapted from articles in "On Reserve," a newsletter for economic educators published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. This pamphlet explains how public debt incurred by the federal government may not be necessarily bad from an economic perspective. The sections of the pamphlet include: (1)…

A survey of United States colleges and universities that enroll the largest numbers of students from Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand, which have experienced currency devaluations and economic uncertainty, found a less than 10% drop in those enrollments, a much lower rate than anticipated. Institutions have taken steps to ease the…

This pamphlet recaps the chain of events known as The Bank Panic of 1907. Historians view this as a watershed event that had a lasting impact on the financial system of the United States. The panic resulted from the collapse of the United Copper Company and was averted with the intervention of John D. Rockefeller and the J. P. Morgan Company. The…

Discusses real business cycle analysis, growth theory, and other economic concepts in the context of the rational expectations revolution in macroeconomics. Focuses on post-1982 research. Concludes that the rejuvenation of growth analysis is an encouraging development because it could lead to changes in welfare policy. (CFR)

This booklet examines the political events of the year 1912 in which the idea of the Federal Reserve System came into reality. Excerpts from reminiscences, letters and newspapers of the time give an inside look at the divergent forces and personalities that were brought together to form the central banking system of the United States. Sections of…

Utilizes two-dimensional price and output graphs to demonstrate the way that the price-level elasticity of aggregate demand affects alternative monetary policy rules designed to cope with random aggregate supply shocks. Includes graphs illustrating price-level, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), nominal GDP, and nominal money supply targeting.…