Messages By: fredastare

Now I have a question for you.  Does the US Central bank offer shares to the public?  As I understand it your Central Bank in not government owned.

Our central bank is really more of a system than a 'bank' per se. There are 12 'banks' representing and serving 12 regions in the country. Those 12 have managers that sit on a board with a Federal Reserve Chairman....Bernake atm. It is a government entity, but operates much the same as a private corporation in regards to hierarchy and authority. It's purpose is to regulate the cash flow and elasticity of money in this country.

An individual can't actually do 'banking' at a Federal Reserve branch. At the end of each day all banks in the nation must report to the FR their in house holdings and deposits. Each day the amount of money that can actually be held in a bank is adjusted by the reserve. Overages are shipped to the FR and underages are supplied by the reserve to said banks. Think of the FR as inventory control. Regulations require that all banks must hold a percentage of deposits with the facility. It is actually a very small percentage. Banks do not as a rule hold large amounts of cash with in them, they simply are not allowed to do so.

Anyway this flow is directed by interest rates that banks can borrow from the reserve for loan purposes. The FR controls the rate at which a bank must borrow money to loan to customers. Thus the prime lending rate is set by the FR.

So the actually monetary policy of the US is directed by the FR chair, with of course the input of five other boards and groups. Those board members are generally some of the top economists in the nation.

And no there are no public shares, but several private US member banks must be vested in regional branch non-transferable shares of the Federal Reserve Banks. Those bank members are also seats on the board. The board itself is made up of regional directors, private banks, Federal Open Market Committee, board of governors, and monetary and fiscal advisory councils from around the country. 

It is an extremely complicated system, but a very fascinating one to me. Probably because I used to run the numbers daily for the Fed in a bank I worked for years ago. The Fed requirements are the most strict of all banking regulations, if they are violated they will shut a bank down in a heartbeat. They are Big Brother. lol   

Monetary policy in this country is somewhat dependent on who our sitting President is as he appoints the Board of Governors and the Director. So of course they choose experts who favor their policy. Though the reality is that with so many people serving from different angles of economic prospective, we actually get a very balanced pool of the top economists in the nation. 

Ami

John McCain is absolutely AWESOME on Letterman right now!!!

He's funny, engaging, as well a very presidential like when it gets to the nitty gritty.

I'm LOVING this!!!

I'm going out on a limb, and going to say that this race will be a "photo finish" I really do.

<3

Fredi

I was told that with RIGHTS, come responsibilities.  You have to pass a test to drive a car, but you can vote for the OBAMA/PALIN ticket!  In my opinion, there should be three questions you must answer before you can vote.  One question...who are the Presidential candidtes?  Who are the Vice Presidential candidates?

What is today's date?  If you can't answer, you can't vote. 

This isn't racist, because I have heard WORSE from my own community.  Last Friday, I was at a benefit for a neighbor who was seriously injured doing construction work.  Of course the conversations were about the economy and the election.  One man, sober, and very uncaring about the whole thing said he'd vote for McCain since he's a Republican.  A woman who was an Obama supporter asked why he wasn't voting for George Bush.  The man repied that he didn't think he could, and only Bloomberg wanted the third term...so he would give Bush another chance. Then, went on to say it really wasn't all Bush's fault, so we'd be better off not changing the President, yet.   THIS MAN DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE!

If voters will not take the time to know who is running...that's ALL I ask,  they shouldn't vote, because they are not interested enough to be responsible. 

Voting is not "just a RIGHT,". it is a privledge.  I have more respect for those who choose not to vote, than I do for those who dare influence our government , by going to the polls to say "hello" to their neighbors.

Three questions...and then, you have the right to vote.

"A link between terrorism plots and hardcore child pornography is becoming clear after a string of police raids in Britain and across the Continent, an investigation by The Times has discovered. Images of child abuse have been found during Scotland Yard antiterrorism swoops and in big inquiries in Italy and Spain.

Secret coded messages are being embedded into child pornographic images, and paedophile websites are being exploited as a secure way of passing information between terrorists"

For more information...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4959002.ece