U.S. monetary authority is not only a legal category, also is an extremely important category of economics, the monetary authority form, mode selection and mechanism of shaping has experienced a complex and tortuous historical process, fully reflects the market economy system construction process and the configuration of economic power in the federal and local process. The expansion of monetary power in the United States, on the one hand, extends from the value measurement and credit function of the real economy to the trading and profit function of the virtual economy. On the other hand, the monetary power of the United States crosses national borders and becomes an invisible hand that affects other countries' economies, regional economies and the world economy.
Monetary power is a legal power, which is stipulated by a country's constitution and relevant laws and is an important part of national sovereignty. Therefore, a country's monetary power is also called monetary sovereignty. In general, a country's monetary authority is limited to their borders, but the dollar is recognized as a world currency, the dollar control not only impact on the U.S. economy, for the rest of the capital market, exchange rate, foreign exchange reserves and international borrowing and foreign trade price will have direct impact, which makes us monetary authority quietly across the incoming extend all over the world. Since world war ii, almost all the world's economic prosperity and crisis is closely related to the U.S. currency manipulation of power, so from the perspective of economics at America's monetary authority has both practical significance, but also through the prism prospective thinking history.
The formation of monetary power in the United States has gone through a long and tortuous historical process, which can be roughly divided into three stages:
As early as the British colonial period, the king of England had the right to issue money in the north American colonies and strictly controlled the inflow of metal money into the colonies. On September 1, 1764, the British parliament passed the money act, which prohibited all colonies from issuing money and explicitly denied the legal status of paper money. At the same time, the British government banned the smuggling of metal currency into the colonies to cut off the access of north American traders. The above measures have severely damaged the colonial economy of North America, further intensified the long-standing economic contradiction between the colonies of North America and the United Kingdom, and made the American war of independence imminent. At the second continental congress, held shortly after the outbreak of the revolutionary war, state representatives drafted the articles of confederation on permanent union, a constitutional document. The act provides that the federal government and the states shall have the rights of the United States to mint, manage the currency and issue the notes. A constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787, established the constitution of the United States of America, which specify: monetary powers belong to the nature of state sovereignty, national currency power enjoyed by congress and any state are not allowed to cast, distribution and use of any items except gold and silver as repayment of the debt of the currency. The federal congress has full monetary authority, including the power to coin money, determine the color and standard of metal money, and determine foreign currency. The federal government enjoys national sovereignty, and the fiscal, tax, monetary and creditor rights are exercised by congress. The relevant provisions of the first constitution of the United States have a far-reaching historical impact on the formation of the monetary power of the United States and its nature and function positioning, which are embodied in the following aspects:
One is completed the monetary authority ZhuQuanHua, the legal definition of the monetary authority clear to the category of state sovereignty, first established the main body of monetary authority is the national, rather than the local government, this is the American economy law concept of a historic sublimation.
Second, the right to seigniorage and issue of banknotes was granted to the federal parliament, enabling the country to form a unified currency and currency, thus laying the necessary foundation for a unified domestic market.
3 it is to give congress has the power to "set value of foreign currency", means that the congress shall have the right to adjust the value of foreign currency to the dollar, to make foreign currency to correspond to the value of the dollar standard, in order to ensure the states in the federal system the stability of the currency exchange value.
Fourth, congress has the power to levy taxes and hold creditor's rights, providing an important guarantee for the country to effectively exercise monetary power and maintain fiscal stability.
In the federal constitution comes into force, the American government began by the monetary authority in the constitutional spirit and construct the relevant provisions of the new monetary system, the process is not only a practical process, is also a game full of fierce debate, interests and constant process of correction and improvement. The basis of monetary system is to determine the monetary standard system and monetary unit. In 1792 congress passed the coinage act, practice the system of gold and silver and should be, for sure, the dollar as the basic monetary unit of the real exchange rate of gold and silver as 15:1, the decimal currency system. In 1900, the gold standard act was promulgated, and the system of duplication was officially abolished. Gold became the only standard of value in the United States. During the civil war, the northern government issued "greenbacks" as legal tender. After the civil war, some economists have suggested should take this opportunity to establish a credit currency system, make the green printing system survive for a long time, but the finance minister Hugh McCulloch, congress rejected the credit monetary system, the United States and return to the gold standard.
To build the core of the country's monetary system is to establish the central bank, but the United States on a central bank is quite controversial from the start, this kind of dispute both the legal level, also have profit level. In 1790 congress approved the establishment of the first United States bank, but only for 20 years. By 1811, the first bank of the United States was terminated because the charter could not be renewed. In 1812, the war between the United States and Britain broke out, and congress approved the establishment of the second United States bank to finance the war. The second bank of the United States is dissolved in 1836, where the federal government largely given up on banking supervision and management of the United States entered the "free banking" period of nearly 27 years, is an age of money market chaos. In June 1864, congress passed the national banking act, which gave up first and the second bank of the United States period of the centralized type management mode, to adopt the way of dual banking system to establish the national banking system, in order to play a role similar to the central bank. Under this system, the ministry of finance sets up the monetary supervision agency to supervise the banking industry and guarantee the issuance of national currency. However, the implementation of the national banking act and failed to establish the real meaning of the central bank, because there are still quite a number of state Banks expanding business and keep exuberant vitality, finally formed the dual banking system continues today. In addition, the law gives the Treasury the authority to set up the office of the comptroller of the currency (comptroller of the currency) and the ability to create money, which should belong to the central bank.
The economic crisis of 1907 as a direct result of the U.S. government had to give up the idea of national bank system, in 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed by the President of the federal reserve act, set up the federal reserve system, responsible for the issuance of federal reserve notes. Compared with the national bank system, the federal reserve system is a real central bank, is a certain independence in monetary and financial decision-making mechanism, its power and are constrained by the reasonable. The federal reserve system consists of the federal reserve board and 12 federal reserve Banks. The seven members of the federal reserve board are nominated by the President and approved by the senate for a 14-year term. One is appointed every two years. The Treasury secretary and the comptroller of the currency are ex officio members, and any eligible state bank may voluntarily apply to join the federal reserve system. The federal reserve system, however, are still lack of strong, need money management, place the reserve bank of fragmented, in times of crisis can't play a lender of last resort function, so in 1929-1933 during the great depression failed to rise to effectively curb the deterioration of the economic crisis and the spread of role. So, President Roosevelt drive and signed the banking act of 1935, the federal reserve system for reform of the structure, mechanism and power configuration, the concrete content includes the following several aspects: one is the director of finance ministers and monetary who is no longer the fed board members, to ensure that the fed is independent of the ministry of finance committee. Second, the board of directors of the federal reserve bank of the election of the chairman, vice chairman, must be approved by the federal reserve board, thereby establishing the authority of the board. Third, the fed's committee has the power to conduct open market operations and adjust reserve requirements. The reform to the fed's monetary committee get real power and the country's monetary policy decisions, make the fed a veritable central bank, is the American monetary power reconfiguration and monetary management mechanism, and the central bank functions to the final positioning. However, in the practice of monetary management, the influence of the Treasury on the fed is always present. In 1951, President Truman, under the coordination of the fed and the Treasury last understanding agreement between debt management and monetary policy in the future, the finance minister and chairman of the federal reserve will common policy on the basis of equal consultation. Only then did the fed get rid of the constraints of the Treasury Department in the system and speak with the Treasury on an equal footing and become an independent institution in the federal government.
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