100 Wealthiest Towns and Cities in Maryland

[Hawa]

Where is Germantown? It's richer than some of these cities

[fishfister]

I am humored by the fact this thread still runs.

The country is on the verge of inflation/recession/depression, take your pick - you can believe the politicians if you don't want to face the TRUTH - gasoline prices are in the $3.27 gallon range(and climbing), heating oil and gas prices for heating homes is unreal, food prices are way higher than they were a year ago and the federal reserve plays with interest rates to the point I can't save money the way I used to.
Forget the stock market - that goes up and down like a pogo stick. I prefer bonds or CDs but most are paying 2-3% interest currently and that changes monthly. The Fed will cut it again shortly.

And we are still but a service nation that services nothing but itself.



Explaining The Federal Reserve System

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States and the guardian of the US economy's well being. Its goal is to keep unemployment low, prices stable, and interest rates not too high and not too low. It does this by conducting monetary policy: that is, influencing the amount of available money and credit in the US economy, through its control of bank reserves. (The Fed is where banks do their banking.)

Congress created the Fed back in 1913, in response to the periodic financial crises that had been plaguing the US economy. In addition to carrying out US monetary policy, the Fed's duties include keeping an eye on banking institutions, maintaining stability in financial markets (stocks and bonds), and performing some financial services for the US government and foreign official institutions.

The main actors in the Fed are the seven-member Board of Governors, headed by Alan Greenspan, based in Washington DC, and 12 regional Reserve Banks in major cities around the country. They meet frequently to determine where the economy is headed. The Fed chairman is required by law to report to Congress twice a year.

The Federal Open Market Committee, which announced the bias change on Tuesday, is a 12-member committee that meets about every six weeks. It comprises the seven members of the Board of Governors and the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, with the four remaining seats filled on a rotating basis by the presidents of the other 11 Reserve Banks.

The main thing to remember about the Fed is that it has the authority to raise or lower interest rates, which causes movement in the economy. In general, if inflation threatens, the Fed might want to raise interest rates to dampen it, and if an economic downturn seems imminent, it could decide to lower them.

How an Interest Rate Change Affects the Economy

When interest rates go up, it becomes more expensive to borrow money, and there is more incentive for consumers to put their money in interest-bearing accounts, so they tend to spend less. This causes prices to fall because there is less demand for products. In this way, inflation is thwarted.

From a company's point of view, however, higher interest rates mean lower profits. This is because the company's costs increase (interest it has to pay on loans to finance its activities) and its revenue decreases (demand for its products is down). When a company's earnings decrease, its stock value does too, because lower earnings mean lower dividends are paid out to the shareholder.

Conversely, when the Fed lowers interest rates, it has the opposite effect on the economy.


America has been raised to live in debt rather than save our earnings and buy what what we need when we can.
The interest rate is continually toyed with by the Fed because too many Americans are strapped by debt and cannot afford to spend, spend, spend in a manner than would keep cash flowing through merchant's hands in the way they annually project.
Is your money frozen in debt, scraping barnacles in CDs/bonds or are you independently wealthy?

At this juncture it's safe to ask...
Does it matter where the 10 wealthiest cities are?

[TuborgP]

Fish, you are right. If we revisited the thread we would probably both agree that the discussion on wealth to often involved income and not assets. As the chickens of income and spending in excess of come home to roost, those with assets well in excess of debt will be left standing. Many of the wealthy in Maryland by income standards are only a job layoff away from big trouble.