ECN 200: Introduction to Economics
Nusrat Jahan
Lecture-8
Money and Inflation
The meaning of Money
Money is the set of assets in an economy that people regularly use to buy goods and
services from other people.
The functions of Money
Medium of exchange
A medium of exchange is an item that buyers give to sellers when they want to
purchase goods and services.
A medium of exchange is anything that is readily acceptable as payment.
Unit of account
A unit of account is the yardstick people use to post prices and record debts.
Store of value
A store of value is an item that people can use to transfer purchasing power from the
present to the future.
The kinds of Money
Commodity money – Commodity money takes the form of a commodity with
intrinsic value.
Examples: Gold, silver, cigarettes.
Fiat Money – Fiat money is used as money because of government money
decree. It does not have intrinsic value.
Examples: Coins, currency, check deposits.
Components of Money Supply
Transactions Money, M1= Cash + Checking Account Deposits
Broad Money, M2= M1 + Small Time Deposits + Money Market Mutual
Funds
The Price of Money: Interest Rate
Interest is the payment made for the use of money.
Interest rate is the amount of interest paid per unit of time expressed as a
percentage of the amount borrowed.
Nominal Interest Rate: It measures the yield in taka per year per taka invested
i.e. it is the interest rate on money in terms of money.
Real Interest Rate: It measures the quantity of goods we get tomorrow for
goods forgone today.
Real Interest Rate= Nominal Interest Rate- Inflation Rate
Money Creation
Banks and the Money Supply
Banks can influence the quantity of demand deposits in the economy and the
money supply.
Reserves are deposits that banks have received but have not loaned out.
In a fractional-reserve banking system, banks hold a fraction of the money
deposited as reserves and lend out the rest.
The reserve ratio is the fraction of deposits that banks hold as reserves.
Money Creation with Fractional-reserve Banking
When a bank makes a loan from its reserves, the money supply increases
The money supply is affected by the amount deposited in banks and the amount
that banks loan.
Deposits into a bank are recorded as both assets and liabilities.
The fraction of total deposits that a bank has to keep as reserves is called the
reserve ratio.
Loans become an asset to the bank
Suppose Ms. Borrower deposits deposits $1000 in her checking account at
Bank 1.
Assets
Liabilities
Reserves
$1000
Deposits
$1000
Total
$1000
Total
$1000
Table (1): Bank 1’s initial balance sheet
If the banks were to keep 100% of the deposit in reserves no extra money would be
created. The $1000 checking deposit would just match the $1000 reserve. Suppose
reserve ratio is 10%. Bank 1 must set aside as reserve $100 0f $1000 deposit.
Assets
Liabilities
Reserves
$100
Loans
$900
Total
$1000
Deposits
$1000
Total
$1000
Table (2): Bank 1’s final balance sheet
•When one bank loans money, that money is generally deposited into another bank.
•This creates more deposits and more reserves to be lent out.
•When a bank makes a loan from its reserves, the money supply increases.
Bank 1 now has $900 more in reserves than it needs to meet the reserve
requirement with which it can make loan. The person who borrows money takes
the $900 and deposits it in her account in another bank.
The Money Multiplier
The money multiplier is the amount of money the banking system generates with each
dollar of reserves.
The money multiplier is the reciprocal of the reserve ratio:
M = 1/R
With a reserve requirement, R = 10% or 1/10,
The multiplier is 5.