New tools of monetary policy? And what are “ample reserves”? If you are teaching AP Macroeconomics, you definitely need to know!
If you don’t already know, College Board updated the Course and Exam Description for AP Macroeconomics for the Fall of 2022. (Link to the CED here: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-macroeconomics-course-and-exam-description.pdf)
The biggest addition was updating 4.6 Monetary Policy to include the new tools of monetary policy. Since the Great Recession in 2008, the Fed has been using new tools to implement monetary policy. However, the AP Macroeconomics curriculum continued to have us teach the old tools: the required reserve ratio, the discount rate, and open market operations. Well, that all changed in the summer of 2022 and we are all scrambling to learn the new material!
St. Louis Fed to the rescue!! If you haven’t already checked out all of the teaching resources that the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides, it’s worth a peek!
Anyway, back to monetary policy. Here is a link to all of the resources they have to learn the new tools of monetary policy and to teach it: Teaching New Tools of Monetary Policy | St. Louis Fed (stlouisfed.org) If you scroll down a bit, there is a section called Webinars and Recorded Presentations which are really quick and easy ways to learn about the new process. If you already know about the ample reserves framework but just need a presentation and some notes for the kids to take, they have that too! Lecture Guide: How the Federal Reserve Implements Monetary Policy | Education | St. Louis Fed (stlouisfed.org). And finally, I’ve updated my Macro Unit 4 Review to include the new tools of monetary policy. You can find that here: AP Macro – Unit 4 Financial Sector Review | Print and Digital | TPT (teacherspayteachers.com).
Before I go, I want to also alert you to an amazing AP Summer Institute that the St. Louis Fed puts on for FREE! It’s a hybrid session, so you can attend in person or virtually. I attended virtually last summer and I am going to attend again this summer…it’s just that good! Event Overview – AP Economics Summer Institute (stlouisfed.org)
Happy Teaching!!