Central Banks and Monetary Policy Essay Example for Free

Central Banks and Monetary Policy Essay In order to fully understand the nature of monetary policy, there is a need to define the function of money. According to economists, the general functions of money are as follows: 1) measure of goods and services, 2) standard of value, 3) medium of exchange, 4) storage of wealth, and 5) speculative function (related to contingency). In a very simple economy, efficiency can be achieved through general exchanges of goods and services. Every family unit or community specializes in the production of one commodity. Goods are exchanged through what economists call ‘barter system. ’ As the community grows, transactions within the simple economy become more and more complicated. There is a need to utilize a new medium of exchange. Money, whatever its earliest forms were, serves as the new medium of exchange, reducing bulkiness and inefficiency in the economy. At some point in time, the quantity of money circulating in this economy increases. This leads to rising price levels of goods and services. As the quantity of money circulating in an economy increases, price levels of goods and services also increase (inflation). The institution tasked to maintain the monetary health of an economy is the central bank. The main functions of central banks are as follows: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To regulate price levels in an economy by increasing or decreasing the supply of money circulating in an economy; 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To provide a manageable amount of credit in an economy (serves as a stimulus to increased investments); 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To regulate or control exchange rates (in countries where currencies are on a non-floating status); 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To determine equilibrium interest rates (here monetary policy is directly related to fiscal policy, or more accurately interest rates nominally determine consumption levels, supply of money, and investment levels); 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To provide financial/monetary information to businesses and households (central banks report on the general status/health of an economy). The main function of central bank can be summed up as follows: if the general price levels in an economy increases, central banks decreases money supply; if the price levels decreases, central banks increases the supply of money (secondary money markets). Interest rates are also adjusted based on investment, consumption, and government expenditure patterns. When central banks sells bonds and securities, the monetary base of an economy contracts. When central banks buy bonds and securities (in capital markets), the monetary base of an economy expands. Through this process of adjustment/readjustment, central banks are able to regulate financial transactions in an economy. In recent years, the US economy experiences relative decrease in overall national output. Fiscal policies are directed to decrease equilibrium interest rate to encourage increased consumption, investment, and government expenditure (increasing output in the long-run). As of the present, the Federal Reserve monetary policy is directed to: 1) increasing the supply of money in the US economy (Federal Funds Rate), and 2) increasing the flow of credit (provide households and businesses with increased volatile funds). According to the recent Federal Reserve Report, there are indications that the US economy continues to contract. Household spending has shown signs of stabilization but gravely constrained by job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Overall sales and demand for manufactures continue to decline. There are also signs that inflation could persist for a time. To counter these economic difficulties, the Committee of the Federal Reserve will maintain the target range for the fed funds rate at 0 to 25%. To increase the money supply in the US economy (to prevent contraction), the Federal Reserve will buy a total of $1.25 trillion of agency-backed securities. At autumn, the Federal Reserve will purchase about $300 billion of treasury securities as a form of credit collateral. Note that the Federal Reserve is increasing the monetary base of the US economy by purchasing securities and treasuries. What are the general effects of monetary policy on production and employment? Suppose that the economy is in the process of contraction (not to be confused with the monetary base). The central bank has two complimentary options: decreasing the nominal interest rate and increasing the money supply. An increase in both the interest rate and the money supply would increase aggregate demand. This will shift the aggregate demand to the right, indicating a higher national output. On the supply side, this will induce firms to decrease their supply of goods to the market; indicating a leftward shift of the aggregate supply. Depending on the strength of income and substitution effect, the increase in national output via the aggregate demand may be higher or lower than the decrease in output via the supply side. In short, a monetary policy only serves to maintain the stability of an economy.

Life in the 1960s was Better than Life Today Essay examples -- essays

Life in the 1960s was both better for the people and significantly different to life today. When comparing the 1960s and today, there are many significant differences. The 1960s held events that were unique to that era, such as the Vietnam War and the landing on the moon, and today we are trying to find ways to advance technology further. The two eras also had different lifestyles, clothing, technology and pass-times. Life in the 1960s was better than the life today because the world hadn?t yet advanced too far, and life was revolved more around friends and family then other things. Events in the 1960s changed the people of that era. People who did adventurous things such as Neil Armstrong walking on the moon and those men who returned home from the Vietnam War inspired them, feminism bettered the life for women, teens began to enjoy life more as the counter culture began, the cold war made people aware of the danger of nuclear technology and the JFK assassination gave people a topic of conversation. Important events today include the discovery of cloning, which is a way of c...

Ap Bio Respiration Frq

40) Describe the structure of a mammalian respiratory system. Include in your discussion the mechanisms of inspiration and expiration. In mammals, oxygen first passes through the nasal cavity. The nasal cavity is covered with mucus and cicilia to filter the air. The nasal cavity leads to the pharynx. The pharynx consists of the eustachian tube and the tonsils. The inhaled air then passes to the larynx, trachea, and bronchi. The bronchi lead to the bronchioles in the lungs. In the lungs the pleural membrane facilitates breathing. The bronchioles end in microscopic alveoli lined by a thin, moist epithelium.The alveoli is the primary site of gas exchange. Branches of the pulmonary arteries send oxygen poor blood to the alveoli; branches of the pulmonary veins transport oxygen rich blood from the alveoli back to the heart. Inspiration (the process of inhaling) begins as the external intercostals and diaphragm contract. When this happens, the lungs expand. After this, negative pressure is used to facilitate respiration. So, air moves from an area of higher pressure, which is the air, to an area of lower pressure in the lungs and aveoli. During inspiration the diaphragm and intercostal muscles contract.The diaphragm moves downwards, while the intercostal muscles make the rib cage move upwards. These two processes increase the volume of the thoracic cavity and also reduces the air pressure to below atmospheric pressure allowing air to rush into the airways then into the alveoli. With expiration (the process of exhaling) the opposite occurs. Here, the diaphragm and intercostal muscles relax. This allows the diaphragm to move upwards and the intercostal muscles let the rib cage relax to its resting state. This concept is called passive recoil.After passive recoil occurs, the volume within the thoracic cavity now decreases. This decrease in volume causes an increase in pressure above atmospheric pressure which forces air up and out the airway. In mammals, a large part pa rt of the process of respiration is controlled neurally through the medulla oblongata. The medulla contains the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting and vasomotor centers and deals with autonomic, involuntary functions, such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. The main centers in the medula that control respiration are the inspiratory and expiratory center. 3) Discuss the processes of exchange of O2 and CO2 that occur at the alveoli and muscle cells of mammals. Include in your answer a description of the transport of these gasses in the blood. The aveoli is very important to respiration. The aveoli needs to be efficient in obtaining oxygen as the air is approximately 20% oxygen. The aveoli are small, thinly-walled, sacs of air made out of collagen and elastic fibers. It is lined by a thin, moist epithelium, which allows for easy expansion. In respiration, first the lungs are ventilated to maintain their concentration gradient, which draws in fresh air with a higher concentration of O2.The air then fills the alveoli, which are completely surrounded by many blood capillaries in order to maintain a short diffusion distance for the O2 to diffuse in, and the CO2 to diffuse out, so both bring down the concentration gradients. The blood then carries the Oxygen away, and cycles the CO2 back, maintaining a strong concentration gradient, helping to raise the diffusion rates. It is by this mechanism that mammals are able to maintain respiration in all the cells of their body. The concentration discussed above is crucial to gas exchange because it allows osmosis and diffusion to take place.To further facilitate diffusion the surface of the aveoli is moist. Eventually, the oxygen diffuses from the capillaries into the interstitial fluid to be taken up by the cells. At the same time, carbon dioxide diffuses from the interstitial fluid into the capillaries. The oxygen can also be stored in myoglobin, which can be found in muscles. Some CO2 will be present in plasma. This lowers the pH of blood. The levels of dissolved oxygen in the blood are usually 100 mm Hg in the lungs, 40 mm Hg in the muscles during rest, and 20 mm Hg in the muscles during exercise.The oxygen in the aveoli is carried by hemoglobin or in red blood cells. Hemoglobin can be found in red blood cells themselves. The transportation of hemoglobin and oxygen uses cooperation. The cooperation is allosteric. Once oxygen attaches to it, more oxygen molecules attach easily. The opposite occurs when hemoglobin looses one oxygen molecule. The graph of this relationship would be an s-shaped curve. But, both carbon monoxide and oxygen compete to be able to get to the binding site on hemoglobin. Most carbon dioxide is carried as bicarbonate ions (HCO3).The enzyme carbonic anhydrase speeds up reactions and lets the carbon dioxide dissolve more easily. If the CO2 is not dissolved by an aqueous solution, some of it can be carried by hemoglobin. The hemoglobin carries the CO2 at a different site so it doesn’t compete with the O2. When the CO2 starts out at the alveolus, it first goes to the pulmonary vein, then the left atrium, the left ventricle, the artery, the capillary, and finally the CO2 gets to the muscle cells. If the CO2 travels from the muscles cells to the alveolus, the same process occurs in reverse. 4) Many physiological changes occur during exercise. -Design a controlled experiment to test the hypothesis that an exercise session causes short term increases in the heart rate and breathing rate in humans. -Explain how at least three organ systems are affected by the increased physical activity and discuss interactions among these systems. a. An experiment to test this: First, you would need at least 10 people to participate in the experiment. The bigger the data pool, the more reliable your results will be. You would just need a stopwatch for this experiment.First, you would measure the heart rate and respiration rate of all the participants. The heart rate would be measured by feeling the pulse of the person by touching their neck. The number of beats felt in one minute is multiplied by 10 to obtain the heart rate. To obtain the respiration rate, simply count the amount of times the person's chest cavity rises and falls during breathing. This data of the participants at rest would serve as the control. The experimental data would come from the participants during exercise.So, afterward all the participants would be instructed to run along the some course for about 5 minutes. They would run at a moderate jogging speed. When the 5 minutes are up, the heart rate and breathing would be recorded the same way as before. Then, immediately after the data is recorded, the runners would run for another 15 minutes. The data would be recorded the same way immediately afterward. After the data is recorded, the runners would take a 30 minute rest in order to return to a homeostatic condition. After the rest, the heart rate and respiration rate woul d be recorded yet again.If the hypothesis is true, the heart rate and respiration rate should be higher when the participants were exercising. After the rest, the participants should be back to normal. b. – Circulatory System: First of all, the heart in creases the stroke volume (SV). The stroke volume is the volume of blood pumped from one ventricle of the heart with each beat. Then, the body increases the rate of blood circulation to carry oxygen and nutrients to working muscle cells. The increased flow also carries excess CO2 out of the body. So, the cardiac output increases and the blood pressure increases as well.To cause heat loss during exercise, the capillary beds that go to the skin dilate. – Respiratory System: During exercise there is an increased gas exchange between CO2 and O2. This is needed so a lot more oxygen (O2) can travel to the cells and be used as energy. Also, the increased rate of respiration helps expel the extra CO2 that is produced by the mus cle cells. The increased blood circulation during exercise causes the lungs to adapt by recruiting extra capillaries to carry the increased output of the heart, further increasing the quantity of blood in the lung.This means that the diffusion capacity of the lungs is also affected. – Digestive System: During exercise, the digestive system immediately increases the rate of glycogenolysis. During glycogenolysis there is an increased rate of digestion in the body to break down the carbohydrates into glucose. Cellular respiration uses the glucose to increase the production of ATP. The digestive system also diverts blood away from splanchnic renal areas, where it is not needed much. All these processes help provide fuel and energy for physical activity.

The Truth Of Aids Stigma Through The Lens Of Two...

The early days of the AIDS epidemic challenged the cartesian nature of biomedical culture. With its emphasis on empiricism, the superior biomedical mind could normally make sense of the inferior patient’s bodily concerns. In the early 80s, though, the scientific method seemed to be failing with AIDS, with no clear biological etiologic agent being identified, and rumors circulated. As the biomedical mind struggled to define and categorize AIDS, the moralistic nature of medical authority revealed itself. Instead of pathology residing in the biology of a patient, it appeared to transcend the patient’s biology and reveal deviant sexual behavior. Instead of being able to treat or study the disease, the diseased bodies were quarantined. Even when it was understood that AIDS had a viral cause, biomedicine’s quarantining practices became subtler, but still perpetuated the social stigma of AIDS patients. In this essay, I examine the nature of AIDS stigma through the lens of two biomedical professionals’ memories of the first decade of the epidemic. One such professional is Dr. M. Robert Hill, M.D. He is a retired internist of 68 years, who used to work at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country, Missouri, and treated several AIDS patients before antiretroviral therapy was discovered. The other ethnographic source is Dr. Daniel Hanson, a current Immunology lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, who was completing his second postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at