Recap
This chapter focused on the role of financial institutions in U.S. and international economies. It discussed different types of financial institutions, how they are set up and how they function internally, and government oversight of their operations. Because financial institutions connect people with money, this chapter begins with a discussion of money, its characteristics and functions, and the components of the U.S. money supply. Next, it explains the role of the Federal Reserve System in managing the money supply. Then it described different types of financial institutions and their services and the organizations that insure customer deposits. The chapter ended with a discussion of international banking and trends in financial institutions.
Resources
- Tour the American Currency Exhibit to learn the history of our nation’s money at http://www.frbsf.org/currency.
- The website of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis offers an easy-to-understand explanation of how the Federal Reserve System works, called “In Plain English”: https://www.stlouisfed.org/in-plain-english/landing/home.
- The FDIC gets so many requests about banks’ insurance status that it added an option to determine “Is my account fully insured?” on its website. Visit http://www.fdic.gov.
- What goes on at a Federal Open Market Committee meeting? Find out by reading the minutes of the Committee’s latest meeting at http://www.federalreserve.gov/fomc.
- Find out what other services the Federal Reserve provides to financial institutions at http://www.frbservices.org.
- How did Abraham Lincoln do his banking? Take a cybertour of American banking history by clicking on the About the OCC tab at https://www.occ.treas.gov.
- To find out if you’re eligible to join a credit union, visit the National Credit Union Administration’s credit union locator at https://www.ncua.gov.
Looking Ahead
Next week we will cover Understanding Financial Management and Securities Markets.