戴安娜·帕尔米里（Diana Palmieri）
“您认为这个地方是错误的。好像我把钱还给了保险箱。钱不在这里。您的钱在乔的房子里……就在您的旁边……。在肯尼迪的房子里，麦克林夫人的房子和其他一百个。为什么，您要借给他们建造的钱，然后，他们将尽其所能偿还给您。”
- 乔治·贝利（George Bailey），生活真美妙
大多数人都可以记住这个非常激动的场景生活真美妙。贝德福德的大部分瀑布陷入了旧的贝利大楼和贷款，要求他们立即退还他们的钱。可怜的乔治和玛丽用他们的蜜月资金来满足银行中的一些储户并避免崩溃。经济恐慌类似于乔治·贝利（George Bailey）在19世纪初和20世纪初期困扰着这个国家的事情。这些事件导致了不断的银行失败和破产，破坏了经济。
The Federal Reserve System was founded by Congress on December 23, 1913. It was enacted to stabilize and create flexibility within our monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States.
多年来，美联储的作用有所扩大。这些角色通常如下：
- 通过影响货币和信贷条件来实施国家的货币政策。
- 监督和监管银行，以确保国家金融体系的安全性和健全性。
- Maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets.
- 向存托机构，美国政府和外国官方机构提供金融服务。
董事会
董事会在联邦储备银行体系的监督和监管中起着重要作用。董事会是由七名成员组成的联邦政府机构，由总统任命并由国会确认。每个董事会成员的期限为14年，在该学期结束后无法重新任命。主席（目前本·伯南克（Ben Bernanke））和副主席也由总统任命，并由参议院确认及其过去四年。
储备银行
美联储系统的运营部分，储备银行具有多个功能，以下是：
- 每天收集和处理数百万支票。
- Process federal fund wires and automated clearing house (ACHs/direct deposits).
- Move currency and coin in and out of circulation.
- Hold the cash reserves of depository institutions and make loans to them.
- 监督和检查成员银行的安全性和健全性。
- Issue and redeem government securities.
储备银行分为12个地区：波士顿，纽约，费城，克利夫兰，里士满，亚特兰大，芝加哥，圣路易斯，明尼阿波利斯，堪萨斯城，达拉斯和旧金山。他们在董事会的一般监督下运作，并在某种程度上独立运作。
联邦公开市场委员会（FOMC）
The FOMC is the branch of the Federal Reserve Board that actually determines monetary policy. This committee meets eight times a year to determine and set key interest rates (such as the discount rate). They will also determine, based on economic conditions, whether money supply will be increased or decreased. They accomplish this by buying or selling US government securities in the open market. If they sell more securities in the open market, they are tightening up money supply. If they buy more securities, they are loosening up the money supply. These meetings are secret, and Wall Street usually goes nuts trying to determine what the Fed will do next. The FOMC is comprised of seven members of the Board of Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four other Reserve bank presidents, who serve one year terms on a rotating basis.
以下是您最有可能听到或经常看到的两个术语，以及它们对您和您的皮夹的意义。
- The Discount Rate。金融机构从美联储的短期贷款支付的利率。这可能会影响金融机构从他们那里借钱的人收取多少费用。这会影响您的利率在贷款上的高度或低。
- 储备要求。这是金融机构必须在客户帐户中存入的储备金的物理资金数量。因此，是的，这确定了金融机构可以向客户贷款多少钱。储备要求越多，银行对您的贷款就越少。
It’s important to understand that the actions the Fed takes today influence the economy and the inflation rate for some time to come. Consequently, policymakers must be forward-looking and must take preemptive action to head off inflation before it gathers momentum. There is a lot of controversy going on about the Fed’s policies and how it has been affecting monetary policy within the United States for these past few years. Because this is your money we are talking about, you should have a general understanding of just how these policies can affect you and your wallet.
This article is a very general summary so I encourage you to visit the Federal Reserve Board’s website for more information atwww.federalreserve.gov。
The information contained in this article is not intended to constitute legal, accounting, tax, investment, consulting or other professional advice or services. For specific information that applies to your circumstances you should consult a qualified tax advisor or independent professional advisory.Diversification of your overall investment portfolio does not assure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining markets.
Diana Palmieri is dually registered with Vanderbilt Securities LLC and H Beck Inc., which are unaffiliated. Securities offered through Vanderbilt Securities LLC, member SIPC/FINRA/MSRB.
