CHAPTER 25

FINANCIAL MARKETS AND THE SPECIAL CASE OF

MONEY

I. CHAPTER OVERVIEW

The determination of national output has, up until now, been described with little or no reference to money. It
is now time to correct this omission; money is perhaps the most powerful tool of modern stabilization policy,
and to continue to ignore its potential would be an enormous mistake. As you progress through the next
chapters, it will become clear to you that the omission was a matter of exposition—a recognition that we could
not do everything at once. The models that were constructed in earlier chapters can be expanded to include the
monetary side of an economy. It therefore made sense to develop them fully before adding a second, financial
dimension to their stories.
Chapter 25 begins with a discussion of the evolution of money and its associated financial institutions. It
is perhaps surprising to note here at the beginning that there is no single, functional definition of “money.”
Since there are different “near-money” financial instruments available from across a wide spectrum of
contemporary financial institutions, it is not possible to write a single all-encompassing definition of money.
Economists offer, instead, a list of definitions, each one applying to a slightly different notion and/or
application of “money” or “credit.”
In this chapter you are also introduced to the demand for and the supply of money. You may begin to
suspect that you will soon see a money market evolve, which could be incorporated into our multiplier model;
this will happen in the next chapter. Before that happens, though, we need to learn a little more about money
and commercial banking.
The final section explores other types of financial assets. Included here is a discussion of assets that lie
outside the technical definitions of M1 and M2, but nevertheless are held in great quantities by millions of
Americans. There is a brief analysis of the workings of the stock market as well as an introduction to some of
the strategies of financial investment.

II. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After you have read Chapter 25 in your text and completed the exercises in this Study Guide chapter, you
should be able to:

1 Outline the highlights of the evolution of the monetary system from barter, through commodity
money, and into today’s system of fiat money.
2. Understand the differences between M1 and M2.
3. Discuss the role of interest rates in determining the price of money, and understand the differences
between nominal and real interest rate movements.
4. Describe the three functions of money and explain their role in supporting the transactions demand
and the assets demand for money.
5. Outline briefly the evolution of the banking system from a collection of simple goldsmith depositories
of wealth into an interconnected array of banks and other financial intermediaries.
6. Describe the process by which a banking system built on fractional reserves can create money.
Understand the mathematics behind the resulting money multiplier, and define the two qualifications
upon which its precise computation is dependent.
7. Understand the trade-off between risk and return on financial investments.
8. Discuss some of the historical trends in the U.S. stock market, including the great crash of 1929 and
the fall in October, 1987.
9. Understand the basis of the efficient-market hypothesis and how it translates into a random walk
theory of stock market prices.
10. Understand the economic concepts that lie behind the formulation of a rudimentary personal financial
strategy.
 416

III. REVIEW OF KEY CONCEPTS

Match the following terms from column A with their definitions in column B.
A B
__ Money 1. Measures the ease with which an asset can be converted into cash.
__ Barter 2. Money which is used to purchase goods and services—M1 is considered this.
__ Financial 3. Process by which the banking system transforms reserves into a much larger
Intermediaries amount of bank money.
__ Monetary economy 4. Interest rate on money, measured in money terms; also called the money interest
rate.
__ Financial 5. Anything that serves as a commonly accepted medium of exchange or means of
derivations payment.
__ Commodity 6. Sometimes called asset money or near money, it includes M1 plus savings
money accounts in banks and similar assets.
__ Term of maturity 7. The exchange of goods for other goods.
__ Bank money 8. Value determined by reserve requirements, and measures the number of times
each new dollar of deposits is expanded into new money by the banking system.
__ Transactions money 9. Describes how investors diversify their wealth into different assets.
__ Fiat money 10. Bank assets held in the form of cash.
__ Broad money 11. Checks written on funds deposited in a bank or other financial institution.
__ TIPS 12. Particular physical good, with some intrinsic value, that also serves as a
medium of exchange.
__ Riskless 13. Rate of interest that is paid on loans that have virtually no chance of
interest rate default or nonpayment.
__ Liquidity 14. Money that is recognized as the legally accepted medium of exchange.
__ Nominal interest rate 15. Accepts deposits from one group of people and lends them to others.
__ Portfolio 16. Economic system in which trade takes place through a commonly accepted
theory medium of exchange.
__ Financial 17. Institutions that provide financial services and products.
Intermediary
__ Reserves 18. A financial instrument whose values are based on or derived from the
values of other assets.
__ Money-supply 19. The length of time until an asset must be paid off.
multiplier
__ Multiple expansion 20. A bond that has its interest and principal tied to inflation.
of bank deposits

There are so many new terms and expressions in this chapter that we have included another section of matching.
To help you keep the two sections separate, the expressions in this section are preceded with letters rather than
numbers. Persistence now will pay off!
A B
__ Amortization a. Borrowing money to buy stock, using the stock itself for collateral on the loan.
__ Inflation-indexed b. Market prices contain all the available information on the value of a stock.
bonds
__ Transactions demand c. The use of money as a measure of current value or price.
__ Asset demand d. Movements of stock prices which, over time, are completely unpredictable.
__ Risk-averse e. Repayment of the principal on a loan.
__ Balance sheet f. Occurs when many depositors go to a bank and attempt to withdraw their funds.
__ Unit of account g. Price increases based on the market’s expectation of further price increases, rather
than on actual increases in firm profits or dividends.
__ Financial h. U.S. government financial asset with interest payments linked to the price
intermediary level in the economy.
__ Bank run i. Stock market with rising prices.
__ Bear market j. Weighted average of the prices of a group or basket of company stocks.
__ Bull market k. Institutions that take deposits from one group and lend the funds to other
groups.
 417

__ Margin purchases l. Financial statement comparing a company’s asset with its liabilities and net
worth.
__ Speculative bubble m. The need for money to purchase goods and services.
__ Stock price index n. Stock market with falling prices.
__ Efficient-market o. The desire to avoid taking gambles when making financial investments.
theory
__ Random walk p. The holding of money as a store of value or wealth.

IV. SUMMARY AND CHAPTER OUTLINE

This section summarizes the key concepts from the chapter.

A. The Modern Financial System

1. The financial system in the U.S. plays a critical part in our modern economy. The major functions
include:
a. A transfer of resources across time, sectors, and regions. This allows investorS with money to invest
in the most productive opportunities whether that opportunity is in Indian or India.
b. Investors who will help manage risk. This function moves risk from those people or sectors that most
need to reduce their risk to others who are better able to whether risk taking.
c. Pooling and subdividing funds. This allows investors with limited resources to participate in
investing opportunities that would not be open to them under other circumstances.
d. A clearinghouse function. This allows money to be transferred from one part to another part of the
country in an efficient way.
2. Financial assets are monetary claims by one party against another party. In the U.S. the main financial
instruments include:
a. Money which is a barren asset i.e., does not pay a rate of return.
b. Savings accounts which usually pay a guaranteed return and are insured by a federal agency.
c. Government securities which represents money borrowed by the federal, state, and local governments.
These are considered safe investments.
d. Equities which represent ownership rights to companies. This type of financial instrument is
commonly called stock in a company.
e. Financial derivatives whose values are based on or derived from the values of other assets. The most
widely known type of derivative are stock options i.e., puts and calls.
f. Pension funds, which represent ownership in the assets that are held by companies or pension plans.
Workers and companies contribute to these funds during working years, and the funds are then drawn down
to pay pensions during retirement.
3. Although we often talk about “the interest rate”, it is a fact that there are numerous rates of interest
available at any point in time. Loans vary in term or maturity, risk, and liquidity along with other factors,
which have a direct bearing on the interest rate. It is also important to note that bond prices have an inverse
relationship with the rate of interest. When interest rates go up bond prices go down. (The term “bond” here
does not refer to a “Saving Bond” that is sold by the federal government. Bonds in this context are a
negotiable instrument that is bought and sold in a continuous market that is similar to the stock market.)
4. It is important to remember the difference between real and nominal interest rates. The nominal interest
rate is the interest rate on money in terms of money. Real interest rate is corrected for inflation and is
calculated as the nominal interest rate minus the rate of inflation.

B. The Special Case of Money

1. The money used in the U.S. economy (and for that matter in most developed economies) has no intrinsic
value, but its supply has an enormous effect on the nation’s output, employment, and price level. It would be
difficult to overstate its importance.
2. Economies based primarily on a barter system of transactions do not work very well. Individuals spend
too many precious (and scarce!) resources lining up trading partners and less time producing goods and services.
3. The primary measure of money that we will use in our model of the economy is transactions money, or
M1. M 1 includes coin and currency in circulation (i.e., not held by banks), plus demand and other checkable
deposits. Our focus on money that is in circulation stems from our concern for money that can be used to
facilitate economic transactions. Money held by banks has little influence on the pace of economic activity.
The term demand deposits is used synonymously with checking accounts since you have access to this money
anytime and anywhere you are, as long as you have your checkbook. The money is available upon (your)
demand, as long as the recipient of the money is willing to accept your check. NOW accounts are an example
 418

of bother checkable deposits.” The acronym stands for “Negotiable Order of Withdrawal.” These are interest-
bearing accounts that allow depositors to write checks.
4. While M1 is the most appropriate measure of money as a means of payment, a broader monetary aggregate,
M2, is also watched very closely. M2 includes M1 plus savings accounts and small time-deposits. Savings
accounts and time deposits earn interest and are slightly less liquid than the components of M1. Over the past
10 years, this broader definition of money has been a more stable indicator of money supply growth than has
M1. This is due, in part, to all the new kinds of checking instruments that have been created by banks.
5. Bonds pay a fixed amount of money, called a coupon payment, every year until they mature. (Actually,
most bonds make coupon payments every six months, but we can safely assume here that the payment is made
just once a year.) For example, if you purchase a ten-year $1000 bond that pays 6% interest, you would get
paid $60 interest every year (the coupon payment) and at the end of ten years receive your $1000 (principle)
back as well. Existing bonds can be traded, that is, bought and sold, in the bond market until they mature. If
current market interest rates rise above $6, the market price of your bond would fall. Consider the last year of
your ten-year bond. If current market rates of interest are 8%, why would anyone pay you full price for your
6% bond? They could earn 8% on some alternative financial investment. At the end of the tenth year the
owner of the bond will get paid $1060. We need to find the amount of money, which when multiplied by 1.08
yields $1060. So the present value or current market price of your bond would = $1060/1.08 = $981.48.
6. Interest rates are the price of money. If you save, you may view the interest you earn as a payment, or
return to saving. It can also be considered as the price others (usually banks) are willing to pay you for the use
of your money. Similarly, if you borrow, you must pay interest to compensate the lender for giving up the
opportunity to use the money (that you borrowed) in some alternative use.
There is no one rate of interest for the economy. Other things held constant, the rate of interest will be higher:
a. The longer the time to maturity of the deposit or loan.
b. The greater the risk associated with that particular loan or financial investment.
c. The less liquid the asset is. Liquidity measures the ease with which an asset can be converted into
cash.
d. The higher the administrative costs associated with the loan.
U.S. government securities (or bonds) are among the safest loans a saver can make because the U.S.
government is very unlikely to default on its loans. For this reason the U.S. government is able to borrow
money at relatively low rates of interest. This rate of interest is often referred to as the “riskless interest rate.”
7. Lenders and borrowers alike need to be concerned about the effect of inflation on the value of their financial
assets and debt. As inflation increases, the real value, or purchasing power, of money decreases. Suppose you
borrow $500 from a bank for one year at an interest rate of 6 percent. When the bank decides to give you a
loan, it gives up the opportunity to use that $500 in other ways. In this particular case, let us assume that the
bank gave up the opportunity to purchase a new $500 desk for one of its managers. At the end of the year, you
must pay the bank back $530 ($500 X 1.06). Suppose further that during the year that you had your loan,
inflation in the economy increased by 10 percent. The desk that the bank could have purchased last year now
costs $550! When you pay back the loan, the bank cannot use your loan repayment—even with the interest—to
purchase the desk. In real, or inflation-adjusted, terms, the bank lost money. Nominally, or in dollar terms,
the bank earned 6 percent on its loan. However, in real terms it lost 4 percent! (The bank is now $20 short of
the purchase price of the desk; $20 is 4 percent of $500.) You can calculate the real rate of interest very easily:

Real rate = nominal rate - inflation rate

In 1997 the government introduced inflation-indexed bonds. The interest rate on these 10-year bonds is
indexed to the general price level. In addition, when the principal is repaid when the bond terminates, its value
is also adjusted for inflation in the economy. You should realize that when the government (or any other
organization) issues or sells bonds, it is really borrowing money. Buying bonds is a form of saving.
Individuals buying government bonds get paid interest for their loan.
8. Money has no usefulness as a commodity. We cannot eat it or wear it or use it for shelter. We demand
money so that we can use it to purchase the commodities we need or want. There are three basic functions that
money performs. It serves as:
a. a medium of exchange.
b. a unit of account.
c. a store of value.
The medium of exchange function is the most basic. If people do not universally accept the money (at least
within a country) as a means of payment, then we are back to barter. It is that simple.
 419

Unit of account means that whatever we use as money should also be used to measure prices or value. It
would be silly to have dollars as our money and then measure prices in terms of apples or donuts or Mexican
pesos.
Money serves as a store of value in that it does not physically deteriorate over time (this was a problem
with some forms of commodity money) or lose its acceptability. Rates of interest on cash are naturally
nonexistent, but NOW accounts and the components of M2 earn interest. While these rates of interest are
relatively low, there is also virtually no risk associated with this form of wealth.
9. The cost of holding wealth or assets as money is the forgone opportunity to earn higher rates of return or
interest on other financial investments.
10. There are two main reasons why people hold wealth as money: (a) transactions demand and (b) asset
demand. The transactions demand goes hand in hand with the medium of exchange function of money, while
the asset demand matches up with the store of value function. While other assets may pay higher rates of
interest, most portfolio managers diversify their wealth among different types of assets.

C. Banking and the Supply of Money

1. Banks hold a portion of their assets in the form of non-interest-earning reserves. These reserves are held on
hand in the form of cash or are deposited with the central bank. The reserves are held to meet legal reserve
requirements and to meet the day-to-day cash needs of the bank.
2. The fractional-reserve banking system enables banks to expand (or contract) the money supply. A portion
of each new deposit must be held in the form of idle reserves, but the rest can be loaned out. As the money
that is lent out is deposited in other banks, they “pick up the ball” and create additional new loans (money).
Just as the MPS was a key component of the expenditure multiplier, the reserve requirement is the key
component of the money-supply multiplier.

1
Money-supply multiplier = required reserve ratio

Note that in both cases, the denominator indicates an amount of money that is being withdrawn from the
system each time it changes hands. Every time a new deposit is made, the bank must withdraw the required
reserves before loaning the rest to a new borrower. Likewise, every time a marginal dollar of income is earned
by a household, a portion is saved before the rest is spent on consumption. The multipliers are not the same,
but their structure is quite similar.
3. In reality, the money creation process will be diminished if banks hold excess reserves or when all of the
new money is not deposited in banks.
Banks make loans in order to make profits. If bankers are pessimistic about the economy or the
creditworthiness of loan applicants, they will make fewer loans and hold excess reserves. It is preferable to
make no money (on reserves) than to lose money on bad loans.
The money creation process assumes that at each step along the way, the newly created money is deposited
in someone’s checking account. If, instead, the money is held outside of banks (it could even leave the
country), then the expansion process will slow down.

D. The Stock Market

1. Financial economics studies how rational investors should allocate their funds to attain their financial
objectives. The word “rational” implies that individuals make use of all the available information in the market
place. It does not mean that individuals are infallible or that mistakes never occur. After all, sometimes the
information we receive is not entirely accurate. Besides money itself, and savings accounts, the main financial
assets that households hold include government bonds and bills, stocks or equities, and pension funds.
Generally, there is a trade-off between return and risk on financial assets. Assets with higher risk, or more
volatility on their rate of return, usually offer the potential for greater earnings.
2. Millions of Americans have purchased stock in the stock market. In recent years, the U.S. stock market
has reached one record high after another and new investors may not have learned that there is no guarantee that
the market will always rise. While analysts seem to agree that current market increases have been fueled by a
strong economy with low inflation and low unemployment, investors need to be wary of speculative bubbles.
In this case, stock prices increase because people think they are going to rise in the future. Such bubbles are
not based on actual firm earnings or dividends and invariably pop.
 420

In an efficient market, new information affects stock and commodity prices; predictable events have
already been incorporated into market prices. Since the new information is unpredictable, prices in the market
tend to follow a random walk.

V. HELPFUL HINTS

1. Money is like grease or oil for an engine; it makes the economy run more smoothly and efficiently.
2. “Small time-deposits” are savings deposits (at banks) of up to $100,000.
3. There is an example in Chapter 25 dealing with interest rates and monthly payments on a 30-year fixed-
interest rate mortgage. If the annual rate of interest is 10 percent, you would have to pay one-twelfth of that
every month. Each month your payment would include one-twelfth of 10 percent or l0/l2 percent (or 0.833
percent) of the annual interest on the loan. Note that if the monthly payment is $877.58, over 30 years you
would pay a total of $315,928.80, $215,928.80 of which is interest on the $100,000 loan!
4. Remember, bonds pay a fixed amount of interest during their life. There is an inverse relationship between
current market interest rates and the market price of bonds.
5. Whether you lend or borrow, always make the effort to get an estimate of the (projected) rate of inflation in
the economy. This is precisely why many banks now offer loans with rates of interest that vary over the life of
the loan. They are protecting themselves against inflation.
6. There are other definitions of money beyond M1 and M2. As you move to “higher” definitions the
additional components of money become less and less liquid. Each new broader definition of money includes
the components of the lower-numbered definition that precedes it.
7. In recent years there have been many changes in the banking system. Many savings banks now offer
checking or demand-deposit accounts, and commercial banks may offer savings-type accounts. While
commercial banks are still the primary source of bank money (or checking accounts), the distinction between
commercial banks and savings banks has become blurred.
8. When bankers and portfolio managers use the term investment they are probably not using it in our
economic sense of the word. To avoid confusion, think of the assets these professionals work with as financial
investments.
Remember, to economists investment means the purchase of something tangible that adds to the
productivity capability of the economy. Companies may use the funds they receive from selling stocks and
bonds to make investment purchases (new equipment, factories, etc.), but the stocks and bonds themselves are
not considered investment. They are part of savings.

VI. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

These questions are organized by topic from the chapter outline. Choose the best answer from the options
available.

A. The Modern Financial System

1. The major functions of the financial system are:
a. transfers resources across time, sectors, and regions.
b. manage risk and pool funds.
c. to function as a clearinghouse and to subdivide funds.
d. A and B.
e. A, B, and C.
2. The major financial instrument or assets are:
a. money and savings accounts.
b. government securities and equities.
c. financial derivatives and pension funds.
d. A and B.
e. A, B, and C.
3. What is the relationship between interest rates and asset prices?
a. Inverse.
b. Direct.
c. There is no relationship between the price of an asset and the interest rate.
d. It could be any of the above depending upon if the economy is in a recession.
e. There is not enough information to answer this question.
 421

4. Assume that the money interest rate is 7 percent and that inflation is 2 percent. What is the real interest
rate?
a. 9 percent.
b. 7 percent.
c. 5 percent.
d. 2 percent.
e. None of the above.

B. The Special Case of Money

5. Barter, the first step in the evolution of a monetary system above self-sufficiency, gave way to commodity
money because:
a. barter was an inefficient transaction mechanism involving high transaction cost incurred by the
necessity of finding someone willing to trade what you have for what you want.
b. barter was inconvenient at best.
c. barter stood in the way of efficient division of labor unless the output was divisible.
d. barter depended upon a double coincidence of wants that became increasingly unlikely as economies
grew more diverse.
e. all the above.
6. Commodity money was a step toward efficiency, but it was undermined frequently by:
a. a frequent relapse into barter.
b. the vagaries of supply and demand for the commodity that altered the value of the money.
c. the inability of communities to agree to one commodity.
d. the inability of communities to find a commodity that was not perishable.
e. none of the above.
7. Suppose that a one-year bond pays $100 of interest plus the original principal of $2000 when the bond
matures. If market rates of interest are 8%, how much should you be willing to pay for this bond?
a. $1888.88.
b. $1944.44.
c. $2000.20.
d. $2160.50.
e. $2268.68.
8. Suppose that a one-year bond pays $100 of interest plus the original principal of $2000 when the bond
matures. If market rates of interest are 4%, how much should you be willing to pay for this bond?
a. $1784.00.
b. $1888.88.
c. $2019.23.
d. $2080.20.
e. $2184.00.
9. The real rate of interest is equal to:
a. the nominal rate minus the inflation rate.
b. the inflation rate minus the nominal rate.
c. the nominal rate plus the inflation rate.
d. the inflation rate divided by the nominal rate.
e. the nominal rate divided by the inflation rate.
10. The strictest definition of money, M1, includes:
a. coins, currency, and demand deposits.
b. coins, currency, and time deposits.
c. coins, currency, and all deposits in a bank.
d. all currencies and near-monies.
e. none of the above.
11. Financial intermediaries are institutions that:
a. buy and sell all types of goods, including merchandise.
b. include only international corporations that have large holdings of various types of currency.
c. accept the deposits of some people and institutions and use that money to support the borrowing needs
of others.
d. are not really necessary in the United States because of the size of the federal debt.
e. all the above.
 422

12. Commercial banks are the largest category of financial intermediaries; others include:
a. life insurance companies.
b. pension funds.
c. savings and loan institutions.
d. money market funds.
e. all the above.
13. The essential difference between money and near-money is that:
a. money is directly spendable, whereas near-money is not.
b. near-money includes all deposits in bank accounts, whereas money includes none of these.
c. the velocity of circulation of money is rapid, while that of near-money is slow.
d. near-money is fiat money, whereas money is not.
e. near-money is made up of any and all items that can be marketed for a money price.
14. If you write a check on your bank account, that check:
a counts as part of M1 provided it is a valid check, i.e., there are funds in the bank to support it.
b. counts as part of M1 whether valid or not, provided the person to whom it is given accepts it.
c. counts as part of M1 if used to buy goods and services, but not otherwise.
d. does not count as part of M1, since no bank account is considered part of the money supply.
e. does not count as part of M1; to count both it and the deposit account on which it is drawn would be
double counting.
15. When money has been deposited in any private financial institution (e.g., a commercial bank, a savings
and loan association, etc.), the critical factor in deciding whether that deposit should count as part of M1 is
that:
a. checks can be freely written against the deposit by its owner.
b. the deposit has insurance or backing by the government or some public institution.
c. the institution maintains 100 percent backing or reserve for the deposit—whether the backing is
provided by the government or not.
d. the institution has a legal franchise which permits its deposits to be counted as money.
e. as long as the money deposited consists of genuine bills or coins, then the deposit within any such
institution must be counted as part of the money supply.
16. Money serves as:
a. a medium of exchange.
b. a store of value.
c. a unit of account.
d. all the above.
e. none of the above.
17. On the basis of the transactions demand component of the demand for money:
a. the demand for money climbs as the interest rate climbs.
b. the demand for money climbs as the interest rate falls.
c. the demand for money falls as nominal income rises.
d. the demand for money falls as nominal income falls.
e. none of the above.
18. Which answer to question 10 would have been correct had that question referred to the assets demand
component of the demand for money?
a. coins, currency, and demand deposits.
b. coins, currency, and time deposits.
c. coins, currency, and all deposits in a bank.
d. all currencies and near-monies.
e. none of the above.
19. The “demand for money” means:
a. the desire to hold securities which can readily be converted into money at a fixed or near-fixed price if
necessary.
b. the amount which businesses will wish to borrow at any given interest rate.
c. the desire to save more money out of income as protection against the uncertainties of the future.
d. the same thing as “asset demand for money alone.”
e. the same thing as the sum of “assets and transactions demand for money.”

C. Banking and the Supply of Money

 423

20. In a fractional-reserve banking system, such as that of the United States, the required reserve ratios imposed
on commercial banks:
a. are primarily intended to set a limit on the total money supply rather than to serve as adequate
protection against bank runs.
b. are in excess of what is normally required but are sufficient to cover what would be needed if for any
reason people became uneasy over the safety of bank deposits.
c. are essentially an average of the amounts needed to meet the public’s demands in good times and bad.
d. are now obsolete, according to the text, and will shortly be replaced by a 100 percent reserve
requirement.
e. are not correctly described by any of the above.
21. The commercial banking system (all banks taken together) lends money to business firms and consumers,
normally by setting up demand deposits which the borrowers may spend. As a result, the money supply:
a. decreases by the total amount of all coins and bills deposited with the banking system for safe-
keeping.
b. neither increases nor decreases.
c. increases by an amount somewhat less than the system’s total coin-and-bill deposits, owing to the
fraction it holds as reserves.
d. increases by an amount just equal to the system’s total coin-and-bill deposits.
e. increases by an amount considerably greater than the system’s total coin-and-bill deposits.
22. The economy’s total money supply will increase whenever commercial banks:
a. increase their deposits with a Federal Reserve Bank.
b. increase their total loans to the public.
c. increase their demand deposit liabilities by receiving coins or bills from the public as deposits.
d. withdraw part of their deposits from a Federal Reserve Bank.
e. reduce their demand-deposit liabilities by paying out part of these accounts in the form of coins or
paper bills.
23. Jackie deposits, in bank X, $10,000 in paper currency that has been hidden and out of circulation for a long
time. The legal minimum reserve requirement for banks is 25 percent of deposits. Bank X is one among many
banks. Unless bank X is already short on reserves, this deposit would enable the bank, if it wished, to increase
its loans by at least:
a. an undetermined amount.
b. $7500.
c. $10,000.
d. $30,000.
e. more than $30,000.
24. Assuming that the loan increase does not set off any increase of coins and paper currency in hand-to-hand
circulation, the deposit described in question 16 would enable the banking system to increase its loans by a
maximum of:
a. zero.
b. $7500.
c. $10,000.
d. $30,000.
e. more than $30,000.
25. In the circumstances of questions 16 and 17, if consideration were given to some small increase of coins
and paper currency in hand-to-hand circulation, the most probable maximum amount (among the five
alternatives listed below) by which the banking system as a whole could increase loans would be:
a. zero.
b. less than $5000.
c. between $20,000 and $30,000.
d. between $30,000 and $40,000.
e. more than $40,000.
26. Had bank X been a monopoly bank, with all other circumstances as in question 16 (including zero hand-to-
hand circulation leakage), then the maximum amount by which this deposit would have enabled bank X to
increase its loans, if so disposed, would be:
a. zero.
b. $7500.
c. $10,000.
 424

d. $30,000.
e. more than $30,000.
27. If the required reserve ratio had been 20 percent rather than 25 percent, with all other circumstances as in
question 16, the deposit would have enabled bank X to increase its loans, if so disposed, by:
a. zero.
b. $2000.
c. $8000.
d. $10,000.
e. $40,000.
28. If the deposit of question 16 (where the reserve requirement equaled 25 percent) had been a $10,000 check
drawn on bank Y, then this deposit (considered in isolation from all other deposits or withdrawals) would have
enabled bank X to increase its loans, if so disposed, by:
a. zero.
b. $7500.
c. $10,000.
d. $30,000.
e. more than $30,000.
29. The deposit of question 21 would enable the entire banking system to increase its loans, if so disposed,
by:
a. zero.
b. $7500.
c. $10,000.
d. $30,000.
e. more than $30,000.
30. If the legal required reserve ratio is a minimum of 30 percent of the amount of demand deposits, and if the
banking system now has excess reserves of $15 million, then (disregarding any resulting increase in hand-to-
hand circulation) the banking system could increase demand deposits by a maximum of:
a. zero.
b. $10.5 million.
c. $15 million.
d. $35 million.
e. $50 million.
31. The “excess reserves” of a commercial bank consist of:
a. assets which, although not money, can be quickly converted into money by the bank should the need
arise.
b. money and near-money assets possessed by the bank in excess of 100 percent of the amount of its
demand deposits.
c. cash which must be kept on hand, not because everyday bank needs require it but because of a legal
requirement.
d. money held by the bank in excess of that fraction of its deposits required by law.
e. the difference between the amount of its money assets and the amount of its demand deposits.
32 The money multiplier is the multiplicative inverse of the required reserve ratio as long as:
a. currency leakages into circulation and/or foreign markets do not occur.
b. banks do not maintain excess reserves.
c. the required reserve ratio is far in excess of the reserves that banks think are prudent given the deposits
that they hold.
d. all the above.
e. none of the above.

D. The Stock Market

33. The Dow-Jones Industrial Average:
a. is an example of a stock-price index.
b. is used to follow trends in the stock market.
c. includes some corporations whose stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
d. is all of the above.
e. is none of the above.
34. The Standard and Poor 500:
 425

a. is a package of 500 basic stocks for lower income investors.

b. includes the 500 most profitable stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
c. has, on average, been the most profitable Wall Street investment.
d. was one of the few stock market indexes not to fall during the stock market drop of October 1987.
e. is a weighted average of the stock prices of the largest 500 American corporations.
35. A speculative bubble:
a. is compatible with the efficient-market theory.
b. is more likely to occur during a bear market.
c. was probably at least partly responsible for the stock market collapse in October 1987.
d. is a theoretical concept and not likely to be observed in reality.
e. is none of the above.
36. The essential property of margin buying of a stock is:
a. participation in stock buying during a period of price rise by inexperienced investors.
b. trading in a stock in quantities that do not really exist.
c. any purchase of a stock in anticipation of a rise in its price, provided the stock is held for a short
period only.
d. a stock purchase financed in part by use of borrowed money.
e. none of the above.
37. The contribution of margin buying to the great stock market crash of 1929 was which of the following?
a. Owners of stock were forced to sell that stock in order to raise the cash needed to buy the further stock
which their margin commitment required them to buy.
b. The small, or marginal, stock buyers grew panicky and dumped their stock for whatever price they
could get.
c. Margin buying had increased the volume of stock trading and thus intensified the fall in prices, but
otherwise it played no special part in the crash.
d. The lenders of money sold the stock they were holding as collateral security when stock prices began
to fall substantially.
e. Margin buyers made an unsuccessful attempt to stop the decline in stock prices by increasing the
amount of their buying.
38. As the result of some favorable news regarding a company, the price of its stock rises. If we were to use
supply and demand curves to illustrate the nature of that price rise, we would say that it resulted from:
a. solely a rightward shift of the demand curve.
b. solely a leftward shift of the supply curve.
c. both a rightward demand-curve shift and a leftward supply-curve shift.
d. principally a rightward shift of the supply curve.
e. principally a rightward shift of both demand and supply curves.
39. “It is not possible to make profits by looking at old information or at patterns of past price changes. The
price movements of a stock over time are completely unpredictable.” This statement can best be described as:
a. chaos theory.
b. a speculative bubble.
c. a random walk.
d. “no news is good news.”
e. utter nonsense.
40. The efficient-market theory:
a. states that all public information is reflected almost immediately in the price of a share of common
stock.
b. implies that “beating the market” involves predicting unforeseeable events.
c. implies that stock market prices move in the short run as if they were random numbers.
d. implies that diversification is a reasonable strategy for investing in the stock market.
e. all the above.
41. One group of stock market investors buys and holds for the long pull, disregarding short-term price
fluctuations. The overall effect that this type of investor has on the market is that he or she:
a. destabilizes it in that his or her purchases keep tending to push price upward.
b. stabilizes it by refusing to sell on price declines but destabilizes it by making the market “thinner.”
c. stabilizes it by making it “thinner.”
d. destabilizes it by selling at times which have no relation to the current price of the stock.
e. does none of these things, since his or her group is not of sufficient importance to have any impact.
 426

VII. PROBLEM SOLVING

The following problems are designed to help you apply the concepts that you learned in the chapter.

A. The Modern Financial System

1. The activities involved in finance take place in the financial system. This encompasses the markets, firms,
and other institutions, which carry out the financial decisions of household, businesses, and government, at
home and abroad.
a. Important parts of the financial system include (money market / housing market / commodity
market).
b. Borrowing and lending take place in financial market and through (contact with businesses /
financial intermediaries / the stock market).
2. In order for an economy to grow and prosper it is critical that the economy have an efficient financial
system.
a. Some of the major functions of an efficient financial system would include a well developed (bond
market / housing market / commodity market).
b. List the major function of a financial system in a modern economy.

c. List the major financial instruments in the U.S. economy.

3. It is important to understand that there is a relationship between interest rates and the price of an asset. It
is also important to understand the relationship between interest rates and inflation.
a. The relationship between a price of an asset and interest rates is (direct / inverse / indeterminate).
b. Everything else equal, when inflation increases then real interest rates will (increase / decrease /
remain the same).

B. The Special Case of Money

4. Money evolved because it was essential for large systems of exchange.
a. It began as (fiat money / commodity money / metal money) when people started to measure the
values of various goods and services in terms of so many units of one particular commodity.
b. Today, all U.S. money is (fiat money / commodity money / gold-based money)—legal tender which
must be accepted for (all private and some public / some private and all public / some private and
some public / all private and all public) debts.
5. It has become conventional, in tables listing the money supply, to make the distinction between M1 and
M2. Items within M1 are exclusively the three strictly defined money items. The M2 category takes account of
the “very close to being money” items.
a. M2 consists of the total of (these “very close” items alone / the “very close” items plus the M1
items).
A basic problem with the “very close to being money” idea is, how close is very close? The “official”
definition of M2 includes only time deposits in commercial banks and money market funds. Why not
federal government bonds? The market for such bonds is so well organized that ordinarily they can be
converted into money very rapidly indeed. If such bonds were included, however, then why not other
easily marketed securities? As in all such cases, the decision is necessarily an arbitrary one.
b. Other time deposits and government bonds are lumped into a category called (convertible money /
non-money / near-money / high-grade money).
c. Consider the following list of financial “items”:
(1) Any deposit in a commercial bank on which checks may be issued
(2) Reserves of a commercial bank
(3) A deposit in a mutual savings account or in a credit union of $130,000
(4) A high-grade corporation bond
(5) A check drawn on a commercial-bank checking account
List the numbers of those items that would be included in M1:
 427

Now list those items that would be included in M2:

6. People (and institutions) are willing to pay interest because borrowed funds allow them to satisfy
consumption needs and/or make profitable investments. The rate of interest that is paid is dependent upon a
number of factors. The changes listed below should cause the rate of interest paid to rise (R), fall (F), or stay
the same (S). Put the appropriate letter in the blank preceding each of the following statements:
___ a. An increase in the term of the debt
___ b. A reduction in the risk associated with the debt
___ c. An increase in the degree of liquidity
___ d. A reduction in the cost of administering the debt
___ e. An increase in the rate of inflation
___ f. A decrease in long-term corporate profits
7. The demand for money is a result of both the transactions demand and the asset demand.
a. The transactions demand for money means that the demand for money will (increase / be unaffected /
decrease) as income climbs.
b. As interest rates fall, the demand for money should, through its assets demand component, (fall /
remain the same / climb).

Figure 25-1

8. The four panels in Figure 25-1 show the quantity of money demanded changing from M to M’. Record in
the spaces provided the letter of the panel that best illustrates each of the following changes in economic
conditions:
a. An increase in nominal GDP that leaves interest rates fixed
b. An increase in the rate of interest
 428

c. A reduction in prices that is not yet reflected in interest rates

d. A reduction in interest rates that is not yet reflected in a change in aggregate demand
e. A situation in which banks find themselves with excess idle reserves
f. A decrease in the asset demand for money
g. An increase in the transactions demand for money

C. Banking and the Supply of Money

9. In the spaces below, list five types of financial intermediaries:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
10. The following questions begin with a situation in which there is no “bank money.” They trace the
development of such money through lending activity on the part of banks.
These questions concern an isolated community that initially uses only gold coins as money. The local
goldsmith has a storage vault for gold. She is prepared to store money for others in this vault, charging a
small fee. She chooses to list such deposits as an asset on her balance sheet, matched by a “deposit liability”
of equal amount. Her balance sheet, with respect to such deposits, is shown in Table 25-1.

TABLE 25-1
Assets Liabilities
Gold coins in Deposits payable to
vault ………………. $10,000 customers on
demand …………… $10,000

a. Jones, a customer of the goldsmith, owes her neighbor, Bart, some gold. Bart needs to go shopping
and asks if Jones can repay the loan. The goldsmith’s shop has already closed for the day, so Jones gives
Bart a note reading as follows:
To: Ye Gold Shoppe / Pay Bart $5 from my deposit.
(Signed) Jones
What is the name used today for such a note? ___
b. Bart presents the note the next morning, but instead of taking gold coins, he asks the goldsmith to
keep the money stored in his name. Is any change necessary in the goldsmith’s balance sheet? If so,
explain.
11. Observing how convenient it was to settle an account by check, the townspeople adjust their behavior and
now handle many transactions by check. Occasionally a depositor withdraws gold to make a payment but the
person receiving payment usually deposits it once again, since the vault is the safest place for gold storage and
checks can always be drawn against such deposits.
A responsible merchant now asks the goldsmith for a loan of $2000. The goldsmith has no gold free of
deposit claims, having only the $10,000 deposited with her. Is there any reason why she should nonetheless
consider making the loan? Explain.
12. Assume that the loan is made, and the merchant is given $2000 in gold. Table 25-2 shows the
goldsmith’s balance sheet after these transactions have been completed.

TABLE 25-2
Assets Liabilities
Gold $8,000 Demand deposits $10,000
Loans 2,000

a. Assume that Ye Gold Shoppe is the only goldsmith in the community. When the merchant gets the
loan, he initially deposits it in his account with the goldsmith. Fill in Table 25-3 showing what Ye Gold
Shoppe’s balance sheet would look like after the merchant makes the deposit.
 429

TABLE 25-3
Assets Liabilities
Gold $ Demand deposits $
Loans

b.Has the money supply increased? (Yes / No)

c. If so, by how much?
13. Now we are going to change things slightly. Assume that the community holds $2000 in gold for
transactions, and the goldsmith has made $20,000 in loans. Table 25-4 reflects this new situation.

TABLE 25-4
Assets Liabilities
Gold $ 8,000 Demand deposits $28,000
Loans 20,000

a. The total money supply (M1) is now $___, consisting of $___ in bank money (demand deposits) and
$___ in gold held in circulation.
b. Should the $8000 in gold in the goldsmith’s vault count as part of M1? (Yes / No) Briefly explain
why or why not:

Let us now add three aspects of contemporary realism to the scenario.

(1) Imagine that the institution of goldsmith has evolved into the institution of banker. The balance
sheets that will be considered in the following questions therefore apply to banks.
(2) Suppose that the gold-based currency system of the previous questions has evolved into a system
of fiat money.
(3) Presume that a central financial authority of the government requires that banks maintain reserve
stores of currency equal to at least 20 percent of their total demand deposits.
For the time being, however, there is still only one bank (Bank A, grown up from Ye Gold Shoppe) in town.
14. a. Bank A has $8000 in reserve currency on deposit and is fully “loaned out” against the 20 percent legal
reserve requirement. Assume that $2000 in cash and currency is held across the community in transactions
demand. Show the bank’s balance sheet in Table 25-5.

TABLE 25-5
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $
Loans

b. Given only one bank, the community’s total M1 is at this point $____, consisting of $____ in bank
money (again, demand deposits) and $____ in transactions currency.
15. a. A storekeeper brings $500 in cash into the bank for deposit. Use Table 25-6 to show Bank A’s
resulting balance sheet, before any new loans are issued.

TABLE 25-6
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $____
Loans

b. With this deposit, the storekeeper now has enough money on deposit to repay a $1000 loan. His
deposit is therefore reduced by $1000, and he is given back his note. Disregarding any interest on the
loan, complete a revised balance sheet in Table 25-7.

TABLE 25-7
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $
Loans

c. When the loan is paid off, is the community’s M1 affected? (Yes / No) If so, how? If not, why not?
 430

We have assumed, thus far, that there is just one bank in town. Suppose, instead, that there are two
banks: the original (Bank A) and a new one (Bank B).
16. a. The new bank (Bank B) attracts depositors away from Bank A. Perhaps it has a more convenient
location or has friendlier tellers. In any event, things finally shake out such that each bank is of equal size
and has $4000 in reserves. (The reserve requirement for both banks is still 20 percent.) The townspeople
still hold $2000 in currency for transactions. Complete Table 25-8 to show the balance sheet for either
bank (remember they are, at this point, identical), assuming that each is fully loaned up against a 20
percent required reserve ratio.

TABLE 25-8 Bank A or Bank B

Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $
Loans

b. The community’s total M1 is $____, with $____ in bank money and $____ in circulation.
17. Now suppose that a local woman who has been working abroad returns home with $3000 of new currency.
She deposits the cash entirely with Bank B.
a. Show the balance sheet for Bank B in Table 25-9, assuming that Bank B has not yet had a chance to
issue new loans.

TABLE 25-9 Bank B

Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $
Loans

b. Now assume that Bank B extends loans to the maximum extent allowed by the 20 percent required
reserve ratio. Revise Bank B’s balance sheet in Table 25-10, assuming that all the people who receive a
loan from Bank B deposit their (new) money in demand deposits in Bank A.

TABLE 25-10 Bank B after It Makes the Loans

Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $
Loans

c. What is the resulting amount of new loans for Bank B? $____

18. a. Use Table 25-11 to show the immediate change in Bank A when the loan recipients deposit their
money.

TABLE 25-11
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $
Loans

b. Now use Table 25-12 to show the balance sheet for Bank A after it meets its reserve requirement.

TABLE 25-12
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $
Loans

c How much in new loans has Bank A loaned out? $____

d. What is the total amount of new loans in the community after these first two steps in the process have
been completed? $____
e. By how much has M1 grown? $____
19. Suppose this process continues, back and forth, between the two banks.
a. What will be the total increase in new loans? $____
b. What will be the total increase in reserves? $____
 431

c. What will be the total increase in the money supply? $____

d. What is the value of the money-supply multiplier? ____.
20. a. Complete Table 25-13 by recording in column (1) the money multipliers that correspond to the
required reserve ratios listed in the left-hand column.

TABLE 25-13
Required Money Multipliers
Reserve
Ratio (%) (1) (2)
3
5
10
12
16

b. Now complete column (2) under the assumption that banks hedge against the reserve requirement by
holding 2 percentage points above and beyond the requirement in “extra reserve.” (The notion here is that
banks’ hedging against being short can turn a required reserve ratio, set by the monetary authorities, into a
functionally stricter requirement and that the actual money multiplier can fall as a result.) Required reserve
ratios are, in practice, set higher than necessary so that banks are discouraged from doing too much of this
sort of hedging. Why? Because it adds an element of unpredictability to the computation of the money
multiplier that the monetary authorities would prefer to live without.
21. The combined balance sheet (billions of dollars) of all the commercial banks in Bancoland appears in
Table 25-14. The legal reserve requirement is 10 percent of deposits.

TABLE 25-14
Assets Liabilities
Reserves (deposits Demand deposits $100
Federal Reserve and
cash in vaults) $30
Loans 70

a. These banks thus have excess reserves of ($0 / $5 / $10 / $15 / $20 / $30) billion.
b. Show their balance sheet in Table 25-15 after they have taken full advantage of excess reserves to
expand loans. Assume that all new money remains as demand deposits.

TABLE 25-15
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $ Demand deposits $
Loans

22. The process of bank-money creation is most easily explained in terms of a deposit of cash in a bank. Bear
in mind, though, that once the credit expansion process is completed and banks are fully loaned up, most
deposits made with banks do not permit any further loan expansion at all.
Assume that the banking system is fully loaned up in both of the following cases. The reserve requirement
is 10 percent.
a. Gary deposits $1000 in cash in his bank. Which description of this transaction is better?
(1) This $1000 will permit the banking system to expand loans by $9000.
(2) Unless the $1000 was a net addition to reserves, no loan expansion by the banking system is
possible. The money may have been withdrawn from another bank (or even his bank) a day or two
earlier.
b. Lucille deposits a $1000 salary check in her bank. Again, pick the better description:
(1) This $1000 will permit the banking system to expand loans by $9000.
(2) Lucille’s bank’s reserves are increased but at the cost of the reserves of some other bank. There
has been no net addition to the entire banking system’s reserves.

D. Stock Market
23. Margin buying on the stock market works as follows: You want to buy XYZ stock, currently selling at
$40 per share; you think XYZ will rise to $50 or higher. You have $1000 in cash; this will buy only 25 shares
 432

(disregarding the broker’s commission and other incidental buying costs). But with a margin requirement of 25
percent, you can buy a larger number of shares. You do this by borrowing $3000 from your broker or, via the
broker, from a bank or other lending agency.
a. The loan proceeds plus your own cash will buy (25 / 50 / 100 / 200) shares.
b. Of course, you must put up some security against your loan, but you can furnish XYZ stock worth
($1000 / $3000 / $4000). This is accepted as adequate security for your $3000 loan.
If XYZ does indeed go to 50, you sell your stock, pay off the principal and interest on your loan, and pocket
the rest of your profit, happy at having taken an economics course. But if, instead, XYZ should drop below 40
say, to 35—you will get a call from your broker to report that the bank “wants more margin,” because the value
of the asset you have supplied as collateral is falling.
c. Specifically, if the market price of XYZ is $35, your investment will be worth ($2500 / $3000 /
$3500 / $3750).
d. With a margin requirement of 25 percent, and assuming that you are still using the stock as collateral,
the most you can now borrow is ($2525 / $2625 / $2725 / $2825).
e. You must put up some more security or else pay off part of the loan. You have to come up with an
additional ($375 / $400 / $425 / $450).
If you fail to come across, the bank will sell your XYZ stock. If it sells at close to 30, the entire sale proceeds
go to cover your loan, leaving you with the sad reminder that you should first have read beyond Chapter 1 in
the text before venturing into the stock market.
f. Note the unstable quality of a market heavily involved with margin buying. If prices begin to fall,
this sets off a (further wave of selling / wave of buying), as borrowers cannot furnish more margin and
lenders sell to protect their loans. This pushes stock prices down even more.
24. a. A “bull” market is one in which most expectations are that stock prices are going to (rise / fall). Most
people with cash are accordingly inclined to (buy / refrain from buying) stocks. Most people holding
stocks are inclined to (continue to hold / sell) them. The consequence of such expectations is that stock
prices generally (rise / fall).
b. A “bear” market is one in which most expectations are that stock prices are going to (rise / fall). Most
people with cash are inclined to (buy / refrain from buying) stocks. Most people holding stocks are
inclined to (continue to hold / sell) them. The consequence of such expectations is that stock prices
generally (rise / fall).
25. Suppose, for the sake of illustration, that you decide that you want to buy a few shares of stock in a firm
that has suddenly become more profitable. The firm has just marketed a new product for which demand is
unexpectedly high, or just developed a new technology that will dramatically lower its costs and improve its
competitive position, or just discovered an enormous oil deposit under its Texas plant.
a. In any case, you are attracted to the stock because future earnings by that firm should be significantly
(higher / lower) than had originally been expected.
b. You and other investors will want to (buy / sell) stock in that firm.
c. People who already own stock in that firm will, on the other hand, want to (sell / hold onto) their
shares in the expectation that they will soon be worth (less / more).
d. The result will be an immediate (increase / reduction) in the price of that stock in response to
(higher / lower / unchanged) demand and (higher / lower / unchanged) supply at the original market-
clearing price.
By the time you get to the market and find someone who will be willing to sell you the shares that you want,
the price will already include the increment in value of the newly announced profitability that you had hoped to
cash in on.
e. The problem is that the efficient-market hypothesis means that the effects of foreseeable events are
already included in the prices of stocks before you can get to them. You are therefore left with trying to
predict unforeseeable events in your effort to “beat the market.” As a result, if you invest in the stock
market and accept the hypothesis, then you should (circle one or more):
(1) concentrate your purchases on a small number of stocks.
(2) buy a widely diversified collection of stocks.
(3) keep altering your portfolio—i.e., trade frequently.
(4) stick to your portfolio—i.e., trade infrequently.
 433

VIII. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Answer the following questions, making sure that you can explain the work you did to arrive at the answers.

1. Samuelson and Nordhaus write that the barter system “operates under grave disadvantages.” Briefly discuss
the advantages of a monetary economy.
2. Figure 25-2 is found on page 507 in the text. Are the interest rates on the vertical axis nominal or real?
How do you know?
3. Consider Figure25-3 below. Explain what would happen to the transactions demand for money schedule
under each of the following situations:

Figure 25-3

a. All prices and incomes double.

b. Real income doubles.
c. Interest rates increase.
4. Explain the difference between the transactions demand and the asset demand for money.
5. What are financial intermediaries and what function do they perform?
6. What sorts of real-world considerations tend to slow down the money creation process and reduce the size
of the money-supply multiplier?
7. Briefly explain the efficient-market theory. What are the objections to this view of markets?
8. Compare and contrast two significant U.S. stock market crashes this century. How has the banking system
changed in the interim years?
9. Explain what is meant by the term speculative bubble. What sorts of dynamics does this create in the
market?
10. Carefully explain what information is contained in a stock price index. What are the two most common
indexes used in the United States?

IX. ANSWERS TO STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS

III. Review of Key Concepts

5. Money
7. Barter
17. Financial intermediaries
16. Monetary economy
18. Financial derivatives
12. Commodity money
19. Terms of maturity
11. Bank money
2. Transactions money
14. Fiat money
 434

6. Broad money
20. TIPS
13. Riskless interest rate
1. Liquidity
4. Nominal interest rate
9. Portfolio theory
15. Financial intermediary
10. Reserves
8. Money-supply multiplier
3. Multiple expansion of bank deposits

III. Review of Key Concepts (continued)

e Amortization
h Inflation-indexed bonds
m Transactions demand
p Asset demand
o Risk-averse
l Balance sheet
c Unit of account
k Financial intermediary
f Bank run
n Bear market
i Bull market
a Margin purchases
g Speculative bubble
j Stock price index
b Efficient-market theory
d Random walk

VI. Multiple Choice Questions

1. E 2. E 3. A 4. C 5. E 6. B
7. B 8. C 9. A 10. A 11. C 12. E
13. A 14. E 15. A 16. D 17. D 18. B
19. E 20. A 21. E 22. B 23. B 24. D
25. C 26. D 27. C 28. B 29. A 30. E
31. D 32. D 33. D 34. E 35. C 36. D
37. D 38. C 39. C 40. E 41. B

VII. Problem Solving

1. a. money market
b. financial intermediaries
2. a. bond market
b. transfer of resources, manage risks, pools and subdivides funds, clearinghouse of transactions
c. money, savings accounts, government securities, equities, financial derivatives, pension funds
3. a. inverse
b. remain the same
4. a. commodity money
b. fiat money, all private and all public
5. a. the “very close” items plus the M1 items
b. near-money
c. M1: only (1). (We cannot count (5) because that would be double counting the money in the
checking account.) M2: (1), (3) would count if it were less than $100,000.
6. a. R
b. F
c. F
d. F
 435

e. R
f. S
7. a. increase
b. climb
8. a. (a)
b. (c)
c. (d) (due to the decrease in nominal GDP)
d. (b)
e. (b)
f. (d)
g. (d)
9. a. commercial banks
b. savings and loans
c. life insurance funds
d. pension funds and credit unions
e. money market funds
10. a. This is a check.
b. Total deposits in the goldsmith’s vault are unchanged. Only the ownership of those deposits has
changed. The goldsmith will want to make a record of that.
11. The goldsmith should make the loan. Only a few of the depositors withdraw their gold at any one time.
Besides, the gold that is withdrawn is likely to be paid to someone in the community and then redeposited
with the goldsmith.
12. a. See table 25-3 below.

TABLE 25-3
Assets Liabilities
Gold $10,000 Demand deposits $12,000
Loans 2,000

b. Yes
c. $2,000

13. a. $30,000, $28,000, $2,000

b. No, The gold must be withdrawn before it can be spent. If and when it is withdrawn, bank liabilities
would decrease as well.
14. a. See table 25-5 below.

TABLE 25-5
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $8,000 Demand deposits $40,000
Loans 32,000

b. $42,000, $40,000, $2,000

15. a. See table 25-6 below.

TABLE 25-6
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $8,500 Demand deposits $40,500
Loans 32,000

b. See table 25-7 below.

TABLE 25-7
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $8,500 Demand deposits $39,500
Loans 31,000
 436

c. Yes. Assuming no other changes, M1 falls by $1000. However, the bank can now loan that money to
someone else.
16. a. See table 25-8 below.

TABLE 25-8 Bank A or Bank B

Assets Liabilities
Reserves $4,000 Demand deposits $20,000
Loans 16,000

b. $42,000, $40,000, $2,000

17. a. See Table 25-9 below.

TABLE 25-9 Bank B

Assets Liabilities
Reserves $7,000 Demand deposits $23,000
Loans 16,000

b. See Table 25-10 below.

TABLE 25-10 Bank B after it Makes the Loans

Assets Liabilities
Reserves $4,600 Demand deposits $23,000
Loans 18,400

c. $2,400
18. a. See Table 25-11 below.

TABLE 25-11
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $6,400 Demand deposits $22,400
Loans 16,000

b. See Table 25-12 below.

TABLE 25-12
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $4,480 Demand deposits $22,400
Loans 17,920

c. $1920
d. $4320
e. $4320 + 3000 = $7320
19. a. $12,000
b. $3,000
c. $15,000
d. $5
20. a. b.

TABLE 25-13
Required Money Multipliers
Reserve
Ratio (%) (1) (2)
3 33.33 20.00
5 20.00 14.29
10 10.00 8.33
12 8.33 7.14
16 6.25 5.56
 437

21. a. $20
b. See Table 25-15 below.

TABLE 25-15
Assets Liabilities
Reserves $30 Demand deposits $300
Loans 270

22. a. (2)
b. (2)
23. a. 100
b. $3000
c. $3500
d. $2625
e. $375
f. further wave of selling
24. a. rise, buy, continue to hold, rise
b. fall, refrain from buying, sell, fall
25. a. higher
b. buy
c. hold onto, more
d. increase, higher, lower
e. (2) and (4)

VIII. Discussion Questions

1. In a monetary economy the pace of economic activity increases dramatically. Once there is a universally
accepted currency, people can spend more time producing and far less time looking for trading partners.
2. The interest rates in the diagram must be nominal. Remember, the real rate equals the nominal rate minus
the rate of inflation. The U.S. economy experienced relatively high rates of inflation in the early 1980s. The
increase in nominal interest rates reflects this. Besides, real rates of interest of 10 percent or more would be
incredibly high.
3. a. If all prices and incomes double, the transactions demand for money would double. The curve would
look the same, but the entries on the vertical axis would be doubled as well. The household would have
$6000 in money balances on day 0 and, as before, have $0 left on day 30.
b. If real income doubles, the transactions demand for money will increase but will not double. Most
households would spend part, but not all, of the increase in real income.
c. If interest rates increase, households (and especially businesses) become more concerned with cash
management. At high rates of interest, it is worthwhile for the household to make more frequent trips to
the bank for withdrawals to pay for transactions. Spending patterns may not change. What will change is
the amount of cash that the household keeps on hand. The transactions demand schedule will shift to the
left.
4. When people hold some of their wealth in the form of money in order to buy goods and services, this is
referred to as the transactions demand for money. Alternatively, most financial analysts suggest that
individuals should diversify their wealth into different types of assets with varying degrees of risk. While
wealth held in the form of cash earns relatively little or no interest, it is also a good store of value and is
relatively risk-free. Wealth held in the form of money is very liquid and enables individuals to respond quickly
to changes in the financial marketplace. As the market improves or as new investment possibilities develop,
those individuals with liquid assets will be best able to take advantage of new opportunities.
5. An intermediary is like a middle man. Financial intermediaries (FI) use the money from depositors and
then loan it or invest it. Either way, someone else gets to use the money, and they pay interest back to the FI.
The FI keeps part of the interest to cover expenses and (hopefully) make a profit, and the rest is paid back to the
depositor. For example, banks use deposits to make loans, and pension funds use deposits for long-term, low-
risk investments.
6. When money is created, some of the new money is usually held in the form of cash for transactions
purposes. Banks create money when they receive new deposits. If more money is held for transactions and is
not deposited in banks, this will slow down the money creation process. Also, if people hoard money, i.e., do
 438

not spend it and do not deposit it, the money creation process will slow down. Finally, if money leaves the
domestic economy through foreign travel or trade, the process will again slow down.
7. The efficient-market theory states that the price of a stock reflects all the information the market has about
that stock.
All new information is quickly understood by market participants and becomes immediately incorporated
into market prices. The market does respond to news and surprises, but these are unpredictable events.
Samuelson and Nordhaus discuss four criticisms of the efficient-market theory. (a) If everyone believes the
theory and assumes the market automatically adjusts to changes, there will be little or no incentive to trade. If
everyone behaved this way, the market would be inefficient.. (b) Those who are quicker, and smarter or who
have better advisers may make more money than others. (c) The efficient-market theory does a poor job of
explaining why the value of stocks fell so dramatically during the crash of 1987. (d) The efficient-market
theory works best when applied to individual stocks. It does a poorer job of explaining fluctuations in the
entire market.
8. The crash in 1929 was much longer and more severe. The market eventually lost 85 percent of its value as
opposed to 25 percent in 1987. The recovery in 1987 was very quick. Many analysts believe the recovery was
due, in large part, to the quick reaction by the Fed. The banking system is much more proactive than in 1929
and has established margin requirements which are much higher.
9. A speculative bubble occurs when stock prices increase based on hopes and dreams and not on any concrete
information about the increased profitability of firms. As long as other investors observe the rising prices and
purchase stock in an attempt to benefit from the increase in prices, the market will continue to inflate. At some
point, investors realize the market and their stocks are way overvalued, so they rush to sell in order to avoid the
plunge. The bubble has just popped!
10. Stock price indexes are weighted averages of the prices of a group of stocks. These indexes are used to
track trends in the stock market. The Dow-Jones Industrial Average follows the stocks of 30 large industrial
corporations, and the Standard and Poor 500 tracks the 500 largest American firms.