Interest rates is the price that the lender sets for the borrower to pay as a fee to borrow money. Depending on whether or not interest rates are high or low, you may or may not qualify for a specific loan. When interest rates are higher, we as an economy have less money, and most people save for what they want to purchase rather than finance. When interest rates are higher, less people qualify for vehicle and home loans. Very low interest rates tempt more people to get into debt, as more people qualify for the same loans. Overall, most people agree that it is ridiculous to pay outrageous interest rates, understanding that saving and paying cash later is more better. Whenever interest rates go up in the marketplace buy ½ percent, it is said that over 100,000 buyers will be eliminated from qualifying for a loan.…
Inflation: In advance, the FOMC knows that inflation will be no greater than or equal to 2%. But to assure that in the future the inflation rate will be steadier the FOMC has decided to continue purchasing forty billion each month of additional agency mortgage-backed securities and forty-five billion each month of longer-term Treasury securities, and to keep the actual policy for reinvestments. The committee hopes that these measures will keep “downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative”.…
Interest rate is the cost of borrowing money. The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates to stabilize the economy. This is one of the fiscal policies they have applied to correct this problem. Yes, the recession of 2007 has caused for lowered interest rates in 2013. The economy has been on a downturn and one of the ways to turn this downward flow around is to lower interest rates. Applying low interest rates will help households across the states save money in addition to businesses finance new spending ("Why Are Interest Rates Being Kept at a Low Level?" 2013). Furthermore, because of the lowering of interest rates, the United States dollar is depreciating. Another policy the government has created is monetary incentives for businesses in hopes of getting them to hire more employees. This process will work however maybe not in the timeframe people want it to happen. Overall, the Federal Reserve plays a vital role in that depreciation however, it has to for the economy to…
Interest rates is the percentage that is adding to principal amount being borrowed. Our economy has businesses that are started by investors that have capitol to lend for a cost. Businesses need to lease buildings, buy products to have on hand, and pay staff to operate the business. Small businesses have more short-term interest rates that are more appealing to investors to stand behind with less risk. It depends on how the economy views the uncertainties that will determine how they will react to business plans that are presented to them to invest in. The interest rate this year has been the highest ever on record observed by the Federal Open Market Committee. The average rate from 1980 until 2012 is 6.3 and the economy has lowered some rates to open up some doors for the United States to grow. The (FMOC) decides the best interest rate to keep an even flow in our economy to grow an prosper to consider the best future for the citizens of our country. Some investor gamble on how the rates are going to rise or fall over a period of time when considering what investment will be the best to take interest in to make profits.…
I believe that the economy should only get stronger should these factors play a role. Lowering interest rates, more confident consumers and asset pricing, will only allow for more money to be brought back into the economy, thus changing/helping it's current state. In the state of Arizona, even if it has been slight, there has been a rise in the housing market. A slight increase in price but there is actual spending happening. This is what our state needs as well as most states across the US.…
The economy is one of the most important factors that affects every person and all the organizations in the United States. Since the 1970s, the United States has suffered four recessions and two high inflations. Some people feel that less involvement from the government will decrease bad performance and possibly the economy would be better off. Others individuals feel that the government should be more involved to prevent serious issues such as the current recession. If the Federal Reserve (Fed) was keeping a careful eye on the commercials banks and the major corporations such as American International Group, perhaps some of these current issues could have been avoided. One of the most important things to keep in mind is to forget the “what ifs” and to focus on the process of economic growth. The Fed has three important tools that can potentially influence the economy out of a recession. This paper will talk about these three tools: the power to change the discount rate, reserve ratio, and dealing with open market operations.…
Mortgage rates will rise, which is a big deal if you're applying for a new home loan or have a variable-rate mortgage. This could hit first-time buyers especially hard. A one percent interest rate increase can increase the cost of a $100,000 mortgage by over $700 a year. Other loans also will be more expensive, so whether you're financing a new car or carrying a balance on your credit card, it's going to cost more. Rising interest rates may also lead to a decline in home prices, so sellers will want to factor that into their plans. And, as borrowing costs go up, people tend to buy less, which affects businesses in…
On October 23 and 24 the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee held a meeting to discuss what they need to do or continue to do to stimulate the economy. According to the statement consumer spending has increased, but investment in companies has continued to decrease. They also said that inflation has increased which causes energy costs to go up, but the expectations are looking good. The Fed decided that continuing to buy securities would be a good idea since they are trying to lower the long-term interest rates. Their plan is to continue purchasing these mortgage backed securities until the labor markets improve. They will also plan on purchasing more assets if that is the case. The Committee wants to continue extending the holding of Treasury securities, and it is keeping the policy of reinvesting principal payments from the holding of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities. Their goal by doing this is to keep the Federal funds rate between 0 and .25%. All of this will increase securities held in the long run. They influence the interest rates by buying securities through open market operations. The Committee decided that the economy is getting better but too slowly so that is why they decided to take these actions to try and increase the speed. According to The New York Times article , they want to max out employment and price stability, which will help stimulate the economy. After reading the Committee’s statement I have concluded that they are using expansionary policies or “easy money policies”. I figured they are doing this since they are buying and holding their securities in an attempt to raise the aggregate demand. I do agree with what the Fed is planning to do in an attempt to stimulate the economy. I this it is a good idea since our economy is still in somewhat of a slump to use the easy money policies to increase the aggregate demand by changing the interest rates. Overall I agree with…
The discount rate is known as the rate of interest the Federal Reserve System (Fed) charges for loans made to banks. The Federal Reserve (Fed) raises or lowers the interest rate it will cause a domino effect. The Fed raising the interest rates, will cause the banks to raise their prime rate; which affects consumer loans, mortgages, auto loans, and business loans. The banks can go to the Fed (central bank) to take loans and borrow money when they are short on reserves. The Fed can increase or decrease the interest rate of the loans to banks. Increasing the interest rate makes it more expensive for banks to borrow money, and discourages banks from borrowing money, and instead contracts the money supply. A decrease in the rate encourages banks to borrow money and increase the money supply. Banks with excess reserves can lend their money overnight to another bank that has a shortage of reserves. The money goes electronically and the in the morning the money is returned including the interest for the day based on the annual percentage rate.…
An increase in the cash rate may attract an additional inflow of foreign investment funds…
First, I will explain the federal funds rate. The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which banks loan money to each other. Banks are required, by law, to keep a certain amount of customer money on reserve. Banks try to stay as close to the reserve amount as possible, without going under, and borrow money from each other to maintain the limit. The federal funds rate affects how the banks decide on interest rates because it is used to control the supply of available funds. Raising the rate makes it more expensive to borrow and lowers the supply of available money. Lowering the rate makes it less expensive to borrow money increases the supply of available money ("Bankrate.com", 2013).…
Since the U.S. dollar is currently quite strong a spike in the interest rates would be negative for a couple of reasons. A reason being that inflation isn’t high, so a move that usually deters inflation could strengthen the dollar even further. Also because of other economies are struggling global economic activity is slowing and so will inflation. Now a strong dollar is good because that means that a consumer can buy more for the dollar in other countries. (Fortune) Now the real negative side of this comes in when thinking about people outside of America buying exports. Everything will cost more because of the increased worth of the dollar. So the export industry in the U.S. will make fewer sales, which means the middle-income jobs within that industry will have less job security. Even the slight possibility of people losing jobs is negative for an economy that is just getting their unemployment down. With the dollar in its current condition and the world economies the way they are dependent on it. (International Business Times) There are developing countries that are dependent on the state of the U.S. dollar and raising the interest rate has the possibility to change the dollar. As a right now raising the rate is not better for the U.S. dollar because of the fact that it affects others and the Federal Reserve has a global duty to help those…
Discount rate is another way of saying interest, so in other words the Fed is also in charge of determining the nation’s interest rates. The changing of the discount rate can lead to drastic effects on the economy. When the discount rate is cut, the banks borrow more from the Federal Reserve and obtain more credit to lend out. On the other hand, a raised discount rate will tighten the banks up and they will be less hesitant to borrow money from banks. This is the way that the Federal Reserve functions as a “lender of last resort.” It was by the tactic of lowering the discount rate, did the Federal Reserve try to boost the economy following the September 11 Terrorist Attacks. In fact the Fed actually cut the discount rate eleven times in 2001 (Ginsberg, Lowi and Weir 2009). The raising and lowering of the discount rate is also a tactic that the Fed uses to fight inflation. Raising the discount rate decreases spending and can lead to a recession. To combat the recession, the Fed can lower the discount rate and make bank loans more available. This will raise the spending level and hopefully restore the economy to normal levels. However, an excessive decrease of the discount rate makes too much money available and can lead to inflation. If there is inflation present, raising the discount rate can help to temper spending and end inflation (Brue and McConnell 2005). When inflation was rampant in the…
The Federal minimum wage needs to be raised from the current $7.25 an hour to a higher amount because it will help businesses, our minimum wage is low by many international standards, and the current minimum wage is not the living wage.…
An overlooked affect of the U.S. National debt is interest rates. Interest rates affect the everyday consumer in a variety of ways such as “mortgage rates, refinance rates, credit card rates, auto loan rates, savings rates, money market rates, and certificate of deposit rates”, among others. In the article “Interest Rates and the National Debt” the writer, whose name isn’t shown, talks about how the…