|
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was a government corporation in the United States that operated between 1932 and 1957 which provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgage associations and other businesses. Its aim was to boost the country’s confidence and help banks return to performing daily functions after the start of the Great Depression. It continued to operate through the New Deal where it became more prominent and through World War II. It was disbanded in 1957 when the US government felt it no longer needed to stimulate lending. It was an independent agency of the United States government, established and chartered by the US Congress in 1932, Act of January 22, 1932, c. 8, 47 Stat. 5, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover. When Eugene Meyer became Governor of the Federal Reserve Board, he had suggested creating the RFC. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation of World War I. The agency gave $2 billion in aid to state and local governments and made a large number of loans which were nearly all repaid. The RFC was created to solve the problem that the Federal Reserve could not fix by itself since they had some limitations. The Federal Reserve System was created in 1913 to act as a lender of last resort during financial panics but was not able to lend to every bank or firm. The RFC continued under the New Deal and played a major role in recapitalizing banks. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was effective at reducing the probability of bank failure and stimulating bank lending. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation played a major role in handling the Great Depression in the United States and setting up the relief programs that were taken over by the New Deal in 1933. ==History== The Federal Reserve’s mission was to act as a lender of last resort to banks during financial panics. There were other missions as well but the leaders were in conflict in how to itemize their missions. The Federal Reserve banks were not able to come up with a solution to which everyone agreed with and the Board did not have enough authority to mandate policies or act independently. Many board members in the Federal Reserve, Congress, and the public wanted the Federal Reserve to be more active during this time. Some things that were expected were to increase the amount of money in circulation and to liquidate all financial markets. The ones who opposed these ideas believed that policies that would allow this would end the contraction and/or eventually create high inflation. These things would hurt the economy in the future. To solve this problem, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) Act was drafted. Like the Federal Reserve, the RFC would loan to banks. Even though it was owned by the government, the staff consisted of individuals not part of the civil service system. It addressed the problem of state-chartered banks that did not join the Federal Reserve System. Small banks in rural cities were also not part of the Federal Reserve System. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation initial money came from selling $500 million worth of stock bonds to the US Treasury. To obtain more capital, $1.5 billion bonds were sold again to the Treasury which was then sold to the general public. In the next couple of years the RFC would find itself needing a loan of $51.3 billion from the Treasury and from the public it needed $3.1 billion. A distinction of the RFC and the Federal Reserve was that the RFC would loan money and as collateral could accept they seemed acceptable. Loans would be available to solvent institutions that could not be sold to repay their current responsibilities but in the long-run would be able to accomplish this. A main reason why loans were given out was to relieve the depositors to get their money back. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation spent $1.5 billion in 1932, $1.8 billion in 1933, and $1.8 billion in 1934. Then it dropped to about $350 million a year. On the eve of World War II (August 31, 1939), it greatly expanded to build munitions factories, disbursing $1.8 billion in 1941. The total loaned or otherwise disbursed by the RFC from 1932 through 1941 was $9.465 billion.〔 Chairmen of the Board of Directors〔Preliminary inventory of the records of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1932-1964 (PI 181, Record Group 173), National Archives and Records Service, 1973.〕 Administrators and Deputy Administrators〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Reconstruction Finance Corporation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|