Topic 5 - Money, Banking and the Financial System Flashcards
5.01 - What is money?
Money is anything that performs the function of money. It is what it does.
5.02 - What are the three functions of money?
1) medium of exchange - used to buy & sell
2) unit of account - used to measure relative worth
3) store of value - store wealth (liquid and convenient)
5.03 - What are the two official measures of money in Australia?
M3 & Broad Money
5.04 - what is M3 the sum of?
- Currency (coins and notes)
- Current deposits (in banks on which cheques can be drawn)
- Other deposits (non current accounts such as savings (ADIs))
5.05 - What is Broad money?
It is M3 plus the non-deposit borrowings from the private non-financial sector by all financial institutions (AFI) less holdings of currency and bank deposits by registered financial corps (RFCs) and cash management trusts.
5.06 - What is currency?
Is the coin and note components of money supply.
5.07 - What are the two forms of money supply in Australia?
Token money - coins in supply
Currency - Coin and notes
5.08 - What is token money?
It is a term that refers to money for which the intrinsic value of the commodity used to hold the monetary unit is less than the recorded value of the money.
5.09 - What are current deposits?
They are deposits in banks on which cheques can be drawn.
5.10 - What are three important functions of a cheque?
- they enable ownership to be transferred
- they are acceptable as a medium of exchange
- they can be readily converted into currency.
5.11 - What are non-current deposits (or other ADI deposits)?
They are certain highly liquid financial assets that can be readily converted into currency or current deposits or transferred as payment for goods and services.
5.12 - What is included as a non-current deposit?
- savings and term deposits (non-cheque book accounts)
- credit unions & building societies (CUBs)
- specialist credit card institutions (SCCIs)
5.13 - What is a new technology that has increased the importance of non-current deposits?
EFTPOS
5.14 - Which is the preferred measure of money, M3 or Broad Money and why?
M3 because it is directly and immediately useable as a medium of exchange
5.15 - Why are some currency and deposits excluded from M3?
Because thy are owned by the government and this avoids overstating the money supply and because money in the possession of households and businesses is more relevant to the level of spending in the economy.
5.16 - Some components of M3 and / or broad money are described as less ‘money-like’ than other forms? What is this and why?
Term deposits etc because they are less liquid and cannot be used immediately.
5.17 - What are credit cards?
They are not money, they are simply a convenient method of receiving a short term loan and facilitate the synchronisation of receipts and expenditures reducing the demand for cash.
5.18 - What is the monetary base? and what is its other name?
The monetary base (or high-powered money) refers to the net monetary liabilities of the government to the non-bank public and banks in the form of:
- currency held by the public
- currency held by the banks
- band’s demand deposits with the RBA
5.19 - How is Australia’s money supply backed?
By the amount of G&S that money will purchase - not linked to precious metals. Australia’s notes and deposits have no intrinsic value.
5.20 - Why is money valuable?
- It is accepted as money
- It is legal tender
- It has relative scarcity
5.21 - what is the real value or purchasing power of money?
Is the amount of goods and services a unit of money will buy.
5.22 - What sort of relationship exists between the general price level and the value of the dollar?
A reciprocal relationship.
5.23 - What are the Government’s tools in managing its responsibility to stabilise the value of money?
- Appropriate fiscal policy
* intelligent management of monetary conditions
5.24 - The demand for money is the demand for real money balance. What are the two reasons why people demand money?
- Transaction demand (Dt) - as a medium of exchange
* Asset demand (Da) - as a financial asset and store of wealth.
5.25 - How does Dt vary and because of this how is the demand curve drawn?
It varies directly with nominal GDP, reflecting both the number and average value of transactions conducted throughout the economy. So the level of demand depends on money GDP (not interest rates). The money demand curve is vertical.
5.26 - How does Da vary and because of this how is the demand curve drawn?
It varies inversely with the interest rate on bonds, which represents the opportunity cost of holding money in terms of the interest forgone. The asset demand has a down sloping money demand curve.
5.27 - What is Dm?
Total demand for money - that is transactions demand and assets demand are added horizontally. Changes in interest rates lead to movement along the curve. Anything that changes money GDP leads to a shift in the money demand curve.
5.28 - How is the money market represented?
Total demand for money (Dm) combined with the total money supply.
5.29 - Where the total supply for money is vertical or upsloping, what can we tell?
Where the equilibrium interest rates are - they are determined at the point where the total demand for money equates to the supply of money. (ie)
5.30 - What does the interest rate represent?
The opportunity cost of holding money balances.
5.31 - What is the Australian financial system comprised of?
- The Reserve Bank of Australia
- The banks
- Financial Intermediaries
5.32 - What legislation sets out the Reserve Bank of Australia’s responsibilities?
REserve Bank Act 1959
5.33 - What are the main functions of the Reserve Bank of Australia under the Reserve Bank Act 1959?
- control of note issue
- act as banker to the banks
- Act as banker to the government
- Manage the international means of payment (foreign exchange)
- direct monetary management of the interests of the economy (monetary policy)
5.34 - How does the RBA act as banker to the banks?
- through exchange settlement accounts and non-callable deposits.
5.35 - What are exchange settlement accounts?
These are accounts kept by the banks ( and ADIs) with the RBA to settle debts owing to other banks which arise as a result of the exchange of cheques and to provide funds on which to draw additional notes and coin.
5.36 - What functions do the banks have?
- accept money deposits
- make loans
- provide cheque paying and other account transfer facilities
5.37 - What is the outcome of banks lending?
By lending, the banks create deposits and therefore are money-creating institutions.