Financial Alarm and Federal Reserve Response

The Federal Reserve (Fed) has been central in the policy response to the financial turmoil that began in August 2007. It has sharply increased reserves to the banking system through open market operations and lowered the federal funds rate and discount rate on several occasions. Through new credit facilities, the Fed first expanded the scale of its lending to the banking system and then extended direct lending to non-bank financial firms. The latter marked the first since the Great Depression that firms that are not banks or members of the Federal Reserve System have been allowed to borrow directly from the Fed. This book explores the financial crisis and Federal Reserve Policy responses with a focus on the opportunities that exist to strengthen policies and processes for managing emergency assistance.