By Kayla Holeman and Dante Wilds

A representative from the Federal Reserve gave a presentation to American Government students in the Media Center on March 7. The Federal Reserve is a national banking system that plays a major role in regulating the U.S. economy.

The decisions made by the Federal Reserve (Fed for short) can affect you in many ways. It can affect how much money you borrow by controlling interests rates that influence your spending and saving habits. This in turn helps to stabilize the average prices you pay for goods and services.

The Fed helps promote a healthy overall job market for you and other workers. Everyone wants to get paid more, but higher pay can lead to increased prices for goods and services you need.

The Fed (along with other government agencies) checks to make sure your bank is financially sound. The Fed issues the currency (money) you use and helps get payments from Point A to Point B. The Fed even connects to your community by gathering information on economic conditions in different parts of the country.

Congress designed the Federal Reserve to ensure it is acceptable to the public but free from short-term political pressure. The Federal Reserve system includes Federal Reserve banks, a Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Many different people work for the Federal Reserve, including bank presidents, network developers, cash tellers, risk managers etc.

So the Fed controls almost everything about the American economy to keep you where you need to be financially. The Fed helps keep you on track with your money on how you spend it or on goods and services and it helps ensure that your bank is financially sound so you do not have to worry about whether or not your money is safe.

The Federal Reserve visit to Patterson was very informative. At the end, they gave the students $100 each! Unfortunately, it can’t be spent, as it has been taken out of circulation and shredded into hundreds of tiny pieces.