The Growth of Financial Intermediaries: Their Effect on Commercial Banks and Monetary Policy

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to acquaint its reader with the growth and present importance of financial intermediaries. The first section is a general overview of the growing importance of financial intermediaries and their role in the United States financial market.,' The second section is a systematic summary of the controversy among economists concerning this growth and its effect on the ability of the Federal Reserve authorities to effectively implement monetary policy. The third section summarizes the paper and explicitly states my own views on the impact of the financial 1ntermediary on the financial structure and monetary policy effectiveness.

With honors.