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GLENN
HUBBARD
ANTHONY PATRICK
OBRIEN
CHAPTER
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1.1
Identify the key components of the financial system 1.2
Provide an overview of the financial crisis of 20072009
1.3
Explain the key issues and questions the financial crisis raises
CHAPTER
CAN THE FED RESTORE THE FLOW OF MONEY? During the economic crisis that began in 2007, the financial system was disrupted as it hadnt been since the 1930s. Large sections of the U.S. economy were cut off from the flow of funds they needed. Some government intervention was necessary to pull the economy out of a deep recession. During the recession, more than 8 million jobs were lost, GM declared bankruptcy, and some Wall Street investment houses disappeared. An Inside Look at Policy on page 20 reviews options the Fed considered to support the economy in late 2010.
2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
1.1 Learning Objective Identify the key components of the financial system.
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Three major components of the financial system: 1. Financial assets An asset is anything of value owned by a person or a firm. A financial asset is an asset that represents a claim on someone else for a payment. 2. Financial institutions 3. The Federal Reserve and other financial regulators
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Financial Assets
Economists divide financial assets into those that are securities and those that arent. A security is a financial asset that can be bought and sold in a financial market. Financial markets are places or channels for buying or selling stocks, bonds, and other securities.
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Financial Assets
Five key categories of financial assets: 1. Money 2. Stocks 3. Bonds 4. Foreign exchange 5. Securitized loans
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Financial Assets
Money
Money Anything that is generally accepted in payment for goods and services or to pay off debts.
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Financial Assets
Stocks
Stocks are financial securities that represent partial ownership of a firm; also called equities.
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Financial Assets
Bonds
Bond A financial security issued by a corporation or a government that represents a promise to repay a fixed amount of money.
Interest rate The cost of borrowing funds (or the payment for lending funds), usually expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed.
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Financial Assets
Foreign Exchange
To buy foreign goods and services or foreign assets, a domestic business or a domestic investor must first exchange domestic currency for foreign currency.
Foreign exchange Units of foreign currency. Banks engage in foreign currency transactions on behalf of investors and business firms.
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Financial Assets
Securitized Loans
Before markets for loans were created, it wasnt possible to sell loans. Loans were financial assets but not securities. Securitization The process of converting loans and other financial assets that are not tradable into securities. Note that what a saver views as a financial asset a borrower views as a financial liability. Financial liability A financial claim owed by a person or a firm.
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Financial Institutions
The financial system matches savers and borrowers through two channels: (1) Banks and other financial intermediaries Financial intermediary A financial firm, such as a bank, that borrows funds from savers and lends them to borrowers. (2) Financial markets Funds flow from lenders to borrowers indirectly through financial intermediaries, such as banks, or directly through financial markets, such as the New York Stock Exchange.
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Figure 1.1
The financial system transfers funds from savers to borrowers. Borrowers transfer returns back to savers through the financial system. Savers and borrowers include domestic and foreign households, businesses, and governments. Key Components of the Financial System
2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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Financial Institutions
Financial Intermediaries
Commercial bank A financial firm that serves as a financial intermediary by taking in deposits and using them to make loans. Households rely on borrowing money from banks to purchase big ticket items. Firms rely on banks to meet their short- and long-term needs for credit. Some financial intermediaries, such as savings and loans, savings banks, and credit unions, are legally distinct from banks.
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Pawn Shop Finance: What Happens to Small Businesses When Bank Lending Dries Up? Pawn shops typically make small loans at high interest rates. Before the financial crisis of 2007-2009, banks loosened lending requirements. During the crisis, defaults by households and firms increased dramatically. Loan losses during 20072009 were by far the largest since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many banks cut small businesses off from credit, forcing them to borrow from pawn shops, family, or friends to operate.
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Pawn Shop Finance: What Happens to Small Businesses When Bank Lending Dries Up?
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Financial Markets
Financial markets are places or channels for buying and selling stocks, bonds, and other securities. Today, most securities trading takes place electronically between dealers linked by computers and is referred to as over-the-counter trading. Primary market A financial market in which stocks, bonds, and other securities are sold for the first time. Secondary market A financial market in which investors buy and sell existing securities.
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The Federal Reserve System is divided into 12 districts, each of which has a District Bank located in the city shown on the map. Key Components of the Financial System
2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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Risk Sharing
Risk is the chance that the value of financial assets will change relative to what you expect. Diversification Splitting wealth among many different assets to reduce risk. Risk sharing A service the financial system provides that allows savers to spread and transfer risk.
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Liquidity
Liquidity The ease with which an asset can be exchanged for money. Financial markets and intermediaries help make financial assets more liquid.
Information
Information Facts about borrowers and about expectations of returns on financial assets. Financial markets convey information to both savers and borrowers by determining the prices of stocks, bonds, and other securities.
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Solved Problem
1.1
The Services Provided by Securitized Loans Briefly discuss the extent to which securitized loans embody the key services of risk sharing, liquidity, and information.
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Solved Problem
1.1
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Overly optimistic expectations, and more importantly, changes in the mortgage market for made it easier for families to borrow money to buy houses. Two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), sold bonds to investors and used the funds to purchase mortgages from banks. Investment banks became significant participants in the mortgage market, bundling and selling mortgage-backed securities.
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Figure 1.3
Panel (a) shows that housing bubble resulted in rapid increases in both sales of new houses and housing prices between 2000 and 2005, followed by sharp decreases in sales and prices from early 2006 through early 2009 and then a slow revival. Panel (b) shows that home prices followed a similar pattern to home sales. The Financial Crisis of 20072009
2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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The Deepening Crisis and the Response of the Fed and Treasury
In October 2008, Congress passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), under which the Treasury provided funds to commercial banks in exchange for stock in those banks. Many policies of the Fed and Treasury during the recession of 20072009 were controversial because they involved: Partial government ownership of financial firms Implicit guarantees to large financial firms that they would not be allowed to go bankrupt Unprecedented intervention in financial markets Many feared that the Feds actions might reduce its independence.
The Financial Crisis of 20072009
2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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1.3 Learning Objective Explain the key issues and questions the financial crisis raises.
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Our brief account of the financial crisis raises a number of questions that we will answer in the following chapters. The 17 key issues and questions listed on textbook pages 17 19 provide a roadmap for the topics in the rest of the book.
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AN INSIDE LOOK AT POLICY The Fed was very aggressive in using its discount window to pump reserves into the banking system in 2008 and 2009.
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