The reserve requirement, open market operations, and the money supply Assume tha
ID: 1114892 • Letter: T
Question
The reserve requirement, open market operations, and the money supply
Assume that banks do not hold excess reserves and that households do not hold currency, so the only form of money is checkable deposits. To simplify the analysis, suppose the banking system has total reserves of $300. Determine the simple money multiplier and the money supply for each reserve requirement listed in the following table.
A higher reserve requirement is associated with larger/smaller) money supply.
Suppose the Federal Reserve wants to increase the money supply by $200. Again, you can assume that banks do not hold excess reserves and that households do not hold currency. If the reserve requirement is 10%, the Fed will use open-market operations to (buy/sell) _______________ worth of U.S. government bonds.
Now, suppose that, rather than immediately lending out all excess reserves, banks begin holding some excess reserves in response to uncertain economic conditions. Specifically, banks increase the percentage of deposits held as reserves from 10% to 25%. This increase in the reserve ratio causes the multiplier to (rise/fall) to (1/2.5/4/10/20). Under these conditions, the Fed would need to (buy/sell) __________ worth of U.S. government bonds in order to increase the money supply by $200.
Which of the following statements help to explain why, in the real world, the Fed cannot precisely control the money supply? Check all that apply.
a. The Fed cannot control whether and to what extent banks hold excess reserves.
b. The Fed cannot control the amount of money that households choose to hold as currency.
c. The Fed cannot prevent banks from lending out required reserves.
Reserve Requirement Simple Money Multiplier Money Supply (Percent) (Dollars) 5 _________ _________ 10 _________ _________Explanation / Answer
(1)
Money multplier (m) = 1 / Reserve requirement (r)
Money supply = Deposit x m
(i) When r = 5% = 0.05
m = 1 / 0.05 = 20
Money supply = $300 x 20 = $6,000
(ii) When r = 10% = 0.1
m = 1 / 0.1 = 10
Money supply = $300 x 10 = $3,000
(2) Higher reserve requirement is associated with Smaller money supply.
(3) When Fed wants to increase money supply by $200 and r = 10% (i.e. m = 10),
Fed will use open market operations to Buy $20 worth (= $200 / m = $200 / 10 = $20) government bonds.
(4) When r increases from 10% to 25%,
Increase in r causes money multiplier to fall to 4 (= 1 / 0.25). Under these conditions, Fed will have to Buy $50 worth (= $200 / m = $200 / 4 = $50) government bonds.
(5) Reasons why Fed cannot precisely control money supply are:
- Fed cannot control whether and to what extent Banks hold excess reserves (The more (less) excess reserves banks hold back, the lower (higher) the money supply).
- Fed cannot control amount of money households choose to hold as currency (The higher (lower) the currency drainage, the lower (higher) the MM and the lower (higher) the money supply)