An asset that is generally acceptable in transactions
Types of money
Narrow money (M1)
Broad money (M2)
M3
Narrow money (M1)
Money balances held to carry out day-to-day spending
Broad money (M2)
Money balances held as a store of value in addition to that held for transaction purposes
M3
Includes currency, deposits with an agreed maturity of up to two years, deposits redeemable at notice of up to three months and repurchase agreements, money market fund shares/units and debt securities up to two years
Basic functions of money
Unit of account
Store of value
Medium of exchange
Standard of deferred payment
Durability
Money needs to be durable to withstand frequent movement from one hand to another as a medium of exchange
Acceptability
Money must be acceptable by all those involved in transactions otherwise it will collapse as a medium of exchange
Divisibility
Money should be divisible to facilitate effective exchange since different goods and services fetch various prices
Portability
Money should not be cumbersome to carry
Liquidity
Money should be liquid i.e. it should be easy to carry out transactions using it
Types of financial institutions
Commercial banks
Central bank
Non-bank financial institutions
Commercial banks
Accept deposits and give credit, facilitate exchange, provide facilities for savings, distribute credit to business enterprise and consumers
Central bank
Issue of currency, supervision of banks and other financial institutions, bankers' bank, government's bank, represents the country in international monetary meetings
Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs)
Financial institutions that do not have a full banking license and cannot accept deposits from the public, but facilitate alternative financial services such as investment, risk pooling, financial consulting, brokering, money transmission, and check cashing
Creation of money
1. Bank converts liability (deposits) into asset (reserves and loans)
2. Required reserves - minimum amount of deposits commercial banks must hold by law
3. Excess reserves - amount commercial banks can loan out
Limitations on money creation
Cash ratio
Lack of demand for loans
Cash drain
Transactions demand for money
Amount of money held for future exchange of goods and services
Speculative demand for money
Amount of money held to take advantage of profitable opportunities that may arise in financial markets
Precautionary demand for money
Amount of money held to provide for unexpected expenditures
Transactions demand for money
Depends on level of income, spending habits, time interval between income receipts
At very high interest rates and increased income
People convert some of their idle balances into interest bearing securities
Transactions and precautionary demand for money are interest inelastic
Speculative demand for money looks at money as a store of value, unlike transactions and precautionary motives which look at money as a medium of exchange
Mt
Combined transaction and precautionary demand for real cash balances
Classical quantity theory
Assumes the world is perfect with all receipts and expenditures known
Keynesian model
Assumes uncertainty, hence the need for precautionary money balances
Precautionary motive
Arises from the need to provide for contingencies that require sudden expenditure and for unforeseen opportunities
Precautionary demand for money
Interest inelastic
Fall in the interest rate
Leads to an increase in the speculation demand for money
MSP
Speculative demand for money, represented as Li(r) where Li(r) < 0
Md
Aggregate demand for money, sum of speculative demand, transactions demand, and precautionary demand for money
Aggregate demand for money
Downward sloping and convex to the origin
At a certain level of interest (r*), becomes horizontal (perfectly interest-elastic)
Liquidity trap
Situation where further fall in interest has no effect on the speculative demand for money
Modern quantity theory of money
Money is just one of the many ways in which wealth can be held
Md/P
Real demand for money, function of W (total wealth), r (expected rate of return on various forms of wealth), w (ratio of human wealth to non-human wealth), and T (society's tastes and preferences)
Permanent income
Income measure used in the modern quantity theory of money
Velocity of circulation of money
Rate at which the money stock is used to make transactions for final goods and services
MV ≡ PT
Quantity theory of money equation, where M = nominal stock of money, V = transactions velocity of circulation of money, P = general price level, and T = number of transactions