Fundamentals of Money and Banking

1. 📌 Essentials

• Money serves as a medium of exchange, unit of account, and store of value.
• Types of money include commodity, representative, fiat, and greenbacks.
• The gold standard limited money supply by backing currency with gold.
• Bonds are debt paying periodic interest and maturing at par.
• Central banks regulate money supply, act as lenders of last resort, and supervise banks.
• Monetary policy influences GDP, inflation, and overall economic stability- Market trends: bull markets (rising) and bear markets (falling).
• Mortgage loans are secured by real estate; foreclosure is the legal process for unpaid loans.
• Diversification reduces investment risk across assets.
• Bonds are rated from AAA (highest quality) to junk (high risk).

2. 🧩 Key Structures & Components