Question

In an open-market operation, the Fed buys $10 million of government bonds from individual investors. If the required reserve ratio is 10 percent, the largest possible increase in the money supply that could result is $________ million, and the smallest possible increase is $_________ million.

Answer 1

Answer:

$100 million ; $10 million

Explanation:

Required reserve ratio (r) = 10%

Worth of bond = $10,000,000

The smallest increase can be thought of as being the $10million generated from open market operation and could be held by the bank as reserve.

To calculate the largest increase in deposit:

Money multiplier * deposit (worth of bond)

Money multiplier = (1 / reserve ratio)

Money multiplier = (1 / 0.1) = 10

Increase in deposit = 10 * $10,000,000 = $100,000,000 ( $100 million)