213-618: The United States Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913. The Federal Reserve System is the third central banking system in United States history. The First Bank of the United States (1791–1811) and the Second Bank of the United States (1817–1836) each had a 20-year charter. Both banks issued currency, made commercial loans, accepted deposits, purchased securities, maintained multiple branches and acted as fiscal agents for
426-424: A clearing house , or calling in loans. With little private deposit insurance and no federal deposit insurance, if a bank was rumored to be having liquidity problems, this might cause many people to withdraw their funds . Because of the crescendo effect (repeated situations of moral distress) of banks that lent more than their assets could cover, the United States economy experienced a series of financial panics during
639-728: A general armistice ended the fighting. In the German Revolution (November 1918), Wilhelm II and the ruling princes abdicated their positions, and Germany was declared a federal republic . Germany's new leadership signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, accepting defeat by the Allies . Germans perceived the treaty as humiliating, which was seen by historians as influential in the rise of Adolf Hitler . Germany lost around 13% of its European territory and ceded all of its colonial possessions in Africa and
852-556: A great power with a strong economy ; it has the largest economy in Europe by nominal GDP . As a global power in industrial, scientific and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer . As a developed country , it offers social security , a universal health care system , and tuition-free university education . Germany is a member of the United Nations , Council of Europe , NATO and OECD , and
1065-510: A lower house based on population; and the Senate , an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while the country's political culture promotes liberty , equality , individualism , personal autonomy , and limited government . One of the world's most developed countries , the United States has had the largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 15% of
1278-456: A sustainable energy supply, the debt brake for balanced budgets, measures to increase the fertility rate ( pronatalism ), and high-tech strategies for the transition of the German economy, summarised as Industry 4.0 . During the 2015 European migrant crisis , the country took in over a million refugees and migrants. Germany is the seventh-largest country in Europe . It borders Denmark to
1491-555: A temperate climate, ranging from oceanic in the north and west to continental in the east and southeast. Winters range from the cold in the Southern Alps to cool and are generally overcast with limited precipitation, while summers can vary from hot and dry to cool and rainy. The northern regions have prevailing westerly winds that bring in moist air from the North Sea, moderating the temperature and increasing precipitation. Conversely,
1704-562: A " Special Relationship " with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines , Japan , South Korea , Israel , and several European Union countries ( France , Italy , Germany , Spain , and Poland ). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries in the Americas through
1917-455: A NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban . In the 2005 elections , Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor. In 2009, the German government approved a €50 billion stimulus plan. Among the major German political projects of the early 21st century are the advancement of European integration , the energy transition ( Energiewende ) for
2130-569: A banking bill, that bill would have no chance whatever of passage by Congress. Yet, who was there in Congress who might have drafted a sound piece of legislation dealing with the purely banking problem with which we were concerned? Despite meeting in secret, from both the public and the government, the importance of the Jekyll Island meeting was revealed three years after the Federal Reserve Act
2343-638: A centralised totalitarian state , withdrew from the League of Nations , and dramatically increased the country's rearmament . A government-sponsored programme for economic renewal focused on public works, the most famous of which was the Autobahn . In 1935, the regime withdrew from the Treaty of Versailles and introduced the Nuremberg Laws which targeted Jews and other minorities. Germany also reacquired control of
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#17328591302872556-414: A centralized bank was better than the government-issued bond system that he had previously supported. Centralized banking was met with much opposition from politicians, who were suspicious of a central bank and who charged that Aldrich was biased due to his close ties to wealthy bankers such as J.P. Morgan and his daughter's marriage to John D. Rockefeller Jr. In 1910, Aldrich and executives representing
2769-553: A clean sheet of paper to write upon; and step-by-step we shall make it what it should be, in the spirit of those who question their own wisdom and seek counsel and knowledge, not shallow self-satisfaction or the excitement of excursions we can not tell. While a system of 12 regional banks was designed so as not to give eastern bankers too much influence over the new bank, in practice, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York became " first among equals ". The New York Fed, for example,
2982-533: A coordinated, continent-wide military effort. Finally, deteriorating relations between the British military establishment and the colonists, relations that were already less than positive, set the stage for further distrust and dislike of British troops. Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance ; one of
3195-474: A decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida . The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which
3408-399: A few leaders of finance ... which has resulted in a vast and growing concentration of control of money and credit in the hands of a comparatively few men ... the condition thus described exists in this country today ... To us the peril is manifest ... When we find ... the same man a director in a half dozen or more banks and trust companies all located in the same section of the same city, doing
3621-407: A few prominent industrialists , largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent competition. Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad , petroleum , and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry . These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic inequality , slum conditions , and social unrest , creating
3834-560: A founding member of the World Bank , Organization of American States , NATO , and the United Nations , as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council . The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan , a Continental Army aide to General George Washington , wrote to Joseph Reed , Washington's aide-de-camp , seeking to go "with full and ample powers from
4047-564: A founding member of the European Union, G7 and G20 . It has the third-highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites , 54 , of which 51 are cultural. The English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania , which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine . The German term Deutschland , originally diutisciu land ('the German lands'),
4260-599: A framework laid out in the 1949 constitution known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat ; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law , are valid in perpetuity. The president , currently Frank-Walter Steinmeier ,
4473-473: A full blow and you would have won. In order to get the Federal Reserve Act passed, Wilson needed the support of populist William Jennings Bryan , who was credited with ensuring Wilson's nomination by dramatically throwing his support Wilson's way at the 1912 Democratic convention. Wilson appointed Bryan as his Secretary of State. Bryan served as leader of the agrarian wing of the party and had argued for unlimited coinage of silver in his " Cross of Gold Speech" at
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#17328591302874686-499: A full year and were led by the subcommittee's counsel, Democratic lawyer Samuel Untermyer , who later also assisted in drafting the Federal Reserve Act . The "Pujo hearings" convinced much of the populace that America's money largely rested in the hands of a select few on Wall Street. The Subcommittee issued a report saying: If by a 'money trust' is meant an established and well-defined identity and community of interest between
4899-602: A joint responsibility of the international community. It was the world's second-biggest aid donor in 2019 after the United States. Germany's military, the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence), is organised into the Heer (Army and special forces KSK ), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Cyber- und Informationsraum (Cyber and Information Domain Service) branches. In absolute terms, German military spending in 2023
5112-416: A part "in completing a work ... of lasting benefit for the country," knowing that it took a great deal of compromise and expenditure of his own political capital to get it enacted. This was in keeping with the general plan of action he made in his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1913, in which he stated: We shall deal with our economic system as it is and as it may be modified, not as it might be if we had
5325-583: A period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations . A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson , emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country , which would be reinforced by
5538-488: A prominent leader in the early 1960s. The Great Society plan of President Lyndon Johnson 's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering institutional racism . The counterculture movement in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality . It also encouraged open defiance of
5751-537: A provisional capital, to emphasise its stance that the two-state solution was temporary. West Germany was established as a federal parliamentary republic with a " social market economy ". Starting in 1948 West Germany became a major recipient of reconstruction aid under the American Marshall Plan . Konrad Adenauer was elected the first federal chancellor of Germany in 1949. The country enjoyed prolonged economic growth ( Wirtschaftswunder ) beginning in
5964-453: A remedy for a great national evil – the concentrated control of credit ... The Money Trust has not passed [died] ... You rejected the specific remedies of the Pujo committee, chief among them, the prohibition of interlocking directorates. He [your enemy] will not cease fighting ... at some half-baked enactment ... You struck a weak half-blow, and time will show that you have lost. You could have struck
6177-518: A sense of manifest destiny . The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It further prohibited slavery in all other lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ parallel . As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans,
6390-603: A sense of American identity as well. Men who otherwise never left their own colony now traveled across the continent to fight alongside men from decidedly different backgrounds but who were no less "American". British officers trained American officers for battle, most notably George Washington ; these officers would lend their skills and expertise to the colonists' cause during the American Revolutionary War to come. In addition, colonial legislatures and officials found it necessary to cooperate intensively in pursuit of
6603-615: A state, the East German authorities eased border restrictions, but this actually led to an acceleration of the Wende reform process culminating in the Two Plus Four Treaty under which Germany regained full sovereignty. This permitted German reunification on 3 October 1990, with the accession of the five re-established states of the former GDR. The fall of the Wall in 1989 became a symbol of
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6816-611: A status solidified after its involvement in World War I . After Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II . Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War , during which both countries struggled for ideological dominance and international influence . Following the Soviet Union's collapse and
7029-642: A symbol of the Cold War . Tensions between East and West Germany were reduced in the late 1960s by Chancellor Willy Brandt 's Ostpolitik . In 1989, Hungary decided to dismantle the Iron Curtain and open its border with Austria , causing the emigration of thousands of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary and Austria. This had devastating effects on the GDR, where regular mass demonstrations received increasing support. In an effort to help retain East Germany as
7242-618: A vote. Most every Democrat was in support of and most Republicans were against it. As noted in a paper by the American Institute of Economic Research: In its final form, the Federal Reserve Act represented a compromise among three political groups. Most Republicans (and the Wall Street bankers) favored the Aldrich Plan that came out of Jekyll Island. Progressive Democrats demanded a reserve system and currency supply owned and controlled by
7455-401: A year). Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined. As of January 2023, the United States has the sixth-highest per capita incarceration rate in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in
7668-571: Is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas. Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the Mississippian culture , developed agriculture , architecture , and complex societies . In the post-archaic period , the Mississippian cultures were located in the midwestern , eastern , and southern regions, and the Algonquian in
7881-554: Is derived from deutsch ( cf. Dutch ), descended from Old High German diutisc 'of the people' (from diot or diota 'people'), originally used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants . This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic * þiudiskaz 'of the people' (see also the Latinised form Theodiscus ), derived from * þeudō , descended from Proto-Indo-European * tewtéh₂- 'people', from which
8094-637: Is devoted to agriculture, while 30% is forested and 14% is covered by settlements or infrastructure. Plants and animals include those generally common to Central Europe. According to the National Forest Inventory, beeches , oaks , and other deciduous trees constitute just over 40% of the forests; roughly 60% are conifers , particularly spruce and pine . There are many species of ferns , flowers , fungi , and mosses . Wild animals include roe deer , wild boar , mouflon (a subspecies of wild sheep), fox , badger , hare , and small numbers of
8307-492: Is known as the presidential system , in contrast to the parliamentary system , where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States , especially in the Americas. The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties. Since then,
8520-599: Is largely autonomous in regard to its internal organisation. As of 2017 , Germany is divided into 401 districts ( Kreise ) at a municipal level; these consist of 294 rural districts and 107 urban districts . Germany has a civil law system based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law . The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review . Germany's specialized supreme court system includes
8733-438: Is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts. Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity. Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through
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8946-471: Is solely responsible for conducting open market operations , at the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee. Democratic Congressman Carter Glass sponsored and wrote the eventual legislation, and his home state capital of Richmond, Virginia, was made a district headquarters. Democratic Senator James A. Reed of Missouri obtained two districts for his state. However, the 1914 report of
9159-627: Is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second-highest official in the German order of precedence is the Bundestagspräsident ( President of the Bundestag ), who is elected by
9372-688: Is the Wall Street Plan ... I have alleged that there is a 'Money Trust'", said Lindbergh. "The Aldrich plan is a scheme plainly in the interest of the Trust". In response, Rep. Arsène Pujo , a Democrat from Louisiana, obtained congressional authorization to form and chair a subcommittee (the Pujo Committee ) within the House Committee Banking Committee, to conduct investigative hearings on the alleged "Money Trust". The hearings continued for
9585-542: Is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues . The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act . The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in
9798-483: Is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form the legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections using the mixed-member proportional representation system. The members of the Bundesrat represent and are appointed by the governments of the sixteen federated states. The German political system operates under
10011-457: The Gründerzeit period following the unification of Germany, Bismarck's foreign policy as chancellor of Germany secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances and avoiding war. However, under Wilhelm II , Germany took an imperialistic course, leading to friction with neighbouring countries. A dual alliance was created with the multinational realm of Austria-Hungary ;
10224-484: The Bundestag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the chancellor, who is appointed by the Bundespräsident after being elected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the Bundestag . The chancellor, currently Olaf Scholz , is the head of government and exercises executive power through his Cabinet . Since 1949,
10437-916: The Allies de jure abolished the German state and partitioned Berlin and Germany's remaining territory into four occupation zones. The western sectors, controlled by France, the United Kingdom , and the United States , were merged on 23 May 1949 to form the Federal Republic of Germany ( German : Bundesrepublik Deutschland ); on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) ( German : Deutsche Demokratische Republik ; DDR). They were informally known as West Germany and East Germany. East Germany selected East Berlin as its capital, while West Germany chose Bonn as
10650-536: The Allies of World War I , helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers . In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage . During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression , which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with
10863-548: The Atlantic slave trade . The original Thirteen Colonies that would later found the United States were administered as possessions of Great Britain , and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners . The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations; by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for
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#173285913028711076-553: The Battle of Britain in the same year. In 1941, German troops invaded Yugoslavia , Greece and the Soviet Union . By 1942, Germany and its allies controlled most of continental Europe and North Africa , but following the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad , the Allied reconquest of North Africa and invasion of Italy in 1943, German forces suffered repeated military defeats. In 1944,
11289-765: The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest . The outcome of this battle dissuaded the Romans from their ambition of conquering Germania and is thus considered one of the most important events in European history . By 100 AD, when Tacitus wrote Germania , Germanic tribes had settled along the Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus ), occupying most of modern Germany. However, Baden-Württemberg , southern Bavaria , southern Hesse and
11502-578: The Berchtesgaden National Park . In addition, there are 17 Biosphere Reserves , and 105 nature parks . More than 400 zoos and animal parks operate in Germany. The Berlin Zoo , which opened in 1844, is the oldest in Germany, and claims the most comprehensive collection of species in the world. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic. Federal legislative power
11715-414: The Black Death of 1348–1350. The Golden Bull issued in 1356 provided the constitutional structure of the Empire and codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors . Johannes Gutenberg introduced moveable-type printing to Europe, laying the basis for the democratization of knowledge . In 1517, Martin Luther incited the Protestant Reformation and his translation of the Bible began
11928-538: The Carolingian Empire in 800; it was divided in 843 . The eastern successor kingdom of East Francia stretched from the Rhine in the west to the Elbe river in the east and from the North Sea to the Alps. Subsequently, the Holy Roman Empire emerged from it. The Ottonian rulers (919–1024) consolidated several major duchies . In 996, Gregory V became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin Otto III , whom he shortly after crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy under
12141-471: The Celtic , Iranian , Baltic , and Slavic tribes. Southern Germany was inhabited by Celtic-speaking peoples, who belonged to the wider La Tène culture . They were later assimilated by the Germanic conquerors. Under Augustus , the Roman Empire began to invade lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes, creating a short-lived Roman province of Germania between the Rhine and Elbe rivers. In 9 AD, three Roman legions were defeated by Arminius in
12354-407: The Council on Foreign Relations . There, Paul Warburg of Kuhn, Loeb, & Co. directed the proceedings and wrote the primary features of what would be called the Aldrich Plan. Warburg would later write that "The matter of a uniform discount rate (interest rate) was discussed and settled at Jekyll Island." Vanderlip wrote in his 1935 autobiography From Farmboy to Financier : Despite my views about
12567-414: The Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France , Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt ; the largest urban area is the Ruhr . Settlement in the territory of modern Germany began in the Lower Paleolithic , with various tribes inhabiting it from
12780-399: The Environmental Performance Index . The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments. The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a separate federal capital district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions . The U.S. is
12993-430: The Eurasian beaver . The blue cornflower was once a German national symbol . The 16 national parks in Germany include the Jasmund National Park , the Vorpommern Lagoon Area National Park , the Müritz National Park , the Wadden Sea National Parks , the Harz National Park , the Hainich National Park , the Black Forest National Park , the Saxon Switzerland National Park , the Bavarian Forest National Park and
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#173285913028713206-485: The Fall of Communism , the dissolution of the Soviet Union , German reunification and Die Wende ("the turning point"). United Germany was considered the enlarged continuation of West Germany so it retained its memberships in international organisations. Based on the Berlin/Bonn Act (1994), Berlin again became the capital of Germany, while Bonn obtained the unique status of a Bundesstadt (federal city) retaining some federal ministries. The relocation of
13419-437: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights , national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts ' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals of state court decisions . There is no unified "criminal justice system" in
13632-404: The Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe . It lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 82 million in an area of 357,596 km (138,069 sq mi), making it the most populous member state of the European Union . It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and
13845-415: The Great Lakes , Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico . British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620). The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies. While European settlers in what
14058-543: The Great Lakes region and along the Eastern Seaboard , while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the southwest . Native population estimates of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million. Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California . France established its own settlements along
14271-513: The Imperial Estates . The legal system initiated by a series of Imperial Reforms (approximately 1495–1555) provided for considerable local autonomy and a stronger Imperial Diet . The House of Habsburg held the imperial crown from 1438 until the death of Charles VI in 1740. Following the War of the Austrian Succession and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle , Charles VI's daughter Maria Theresa ruled as empress consort when her husband, Francis I , became emperor. From 1740, dualism between
14484-426: The Midwest . At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England . During the Great Migration , millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics . African Americans endured
14697-467: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland , beginning World War II in Europe ; Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. In the spring of 1940, Germany conquered Denmark and Norway , the Netherlands , Belgium , Luxembourg , and France , forcing the French government to sign an armistice . The British repelled German air attacks in
14910-553: The National Park Service and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the Western States . Most of this land is protected , though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes. Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy , air and water pollution , biodiversity , logging and deforestation , and climate change . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
15123-424: The Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts . Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity . A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire . During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation . Following the Napoleonic Wars and
15336-583: The New Deal , a series of sweeping programs and public works projects combined with financial reforms and regulations . All were intended to protect against future economic depressions. Initially neutral during World War II , the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the Empire of Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor . The U.S. developed
15549-759: The Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement . In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia , the Marshall Islands , and Palau through the Compact of Free Association . It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India , but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014,
15762-638: The Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law , rechargeable lithium-ion batteries , the first gene therapy trial, and cloning either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998. In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait . The September 11 attacks on
15975-644: The Saarland in 1935, remilitarised the Rhineland in 1936, annexed Austria in 1938, annexed the Sudetenland in 1938 with the Munich Agreement , and in violation of the agreement occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) saw the burning of synagogues, the destruction of Jewish businesses, and mass arrests of Jewish people. In August 1939, Hitler's government negotiated
16188-690: The Salian emperors (1024–1125), although the emperors lost power through the Investiture controversy . Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), German princes encouraged German settlement to the south and east ( Ostsiedlung ). Members of the Hanseatic League , mostly north German towns, prospered in the expansion of trade. The population declined starting with the Great Famine in 1315, followed by
16401-576: The Spanish–American War . (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.) American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War . The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917. The United States entered World War I alongside
16614-766: The Swabian Jura , including 42,000-year-old flutes which are the oldest musical instruments ever found, the 40,000-year-old Lion Man , and the 41,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels . The Nebra sky disk , created during the European Bronze Age , has been attributed to a German site. The Germanic peoples are thought to have emerged from the Jastorf culture during the Nordic Bronze Age or early Iron Age . From southern Scandinavia and northern Germany , they expanded south, east, and west, coming into contact with
16827-616: The Triple Alliance of 1882 included Italy. Britain, France and Russia also concluded alliances to protect against Habsburg interference with Russian interests in the Balkans or German interference against France. At the Berlin Conference in 1884, Germany claimed several colonies including German East Africa , German South West Africa , Togoland , and Kamerun . Later, Germany further expanded its colonial empire to include holdings in
17040-609: The United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a country primarily located in North America . It is a federal union of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the states of Alaska to the northwest and the archipelagic Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands . The country has
17253-521: The common person to maintain and support them. President Andrew Jackson vetoed legislation to renew the Second Bank of the United States, starting a period of free banking . Jackson staked the legislative success of his second presidential term on the issue of central banking. "Every monopoly and all exclusive privileges are granted at the expense of the public, which ought to receive a fair equivalent. The many millions which this act proposes to bestow on
17466-670: The cotton gin made the institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites . This sectional conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America , while the other states remained in the Union . War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter . After
17679-514: The end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding significant geopolitical influence globally . The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches : legislative , executive , and judicial . It has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives ,
17892-575: The fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union , which marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the world's sole superpower . The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history , a dramatic decline in U.S. crime rates , and advances in technology . Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the World Wide Web , the evolution of
18105-400: The global economy in 2023. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness , productivity , innovation , human rights , and higher education . Its hard power and cultural influence have a global reach. The U.S. is
18318-623: The inflation rate. On June 25, 2003, the federal funds rate was lowered to 1.00%, its lowest nominal rate since July 1958, when the overnight rate averaged 0.68%. Starting at the end of June 2004, the Federal Reserve System raised the target interest rate, and then continued to do so 17 more times. In February 2006, President George W. Bush appointed Ben Bernanke as the chairman of the Federal Reserve. United States The United States of America ( USA ), commonly known as
18531-595: The inquisitorial Federal Court of Justice for civil and criminal cases, along with the Federal Labour Court , Federal Social Court , Federal Fiscal Court , and Federal Administrative Court for other matters. Criminal and private laws are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system seeks the rehabilitation of
18744-488: The revolutions of 1848 in the German states , raising the German question. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, a temporary setback for the movement. King William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as the Minister President of Prussia in 1862. Bismarck successfully concluded the war with Denmark in 1864 ;
18957-436: The "Money Trust" be destroyed before it could undertake major currency reforms. The opponents particularly objected to the idea of regional banks having to operate without the implicit government protections that large, so-called money-center banks would enjoy. The group almost succeeded in killing the bill, but were mollified by Wilson's promises to propose antitrust legislation after the bill had passed, and by Bryan's support of
19170-488: The 15 districts would elect thirty out of the 39 members of the board of directors of the National Reserve Association. Aldrich fought for a private monopoly with little government influence, but conceded that the government should be represented on the board of directors. Aldrich then presented what was commonly called the "Aldrich Plan" – which called for establishment of a "National Reserve Association" – to
19383-764: The 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord , igniting the American Revolutionary War . At the Second Continental Congress , the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army , and created a committee that named Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence . Two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation the Declaration
19596-468: The 1896 Democratic convention. Bryan and the agrarians wanted a government-owned central bank which could print paper money whenever Congress wanted, and thought the plan gave bankers too much power to print the government's currency. Wilson sought the advice of prominent lawyer Louis Brandeis to make the plan more amenable to the agrarian wing of the party; Brandeis agreed with Bryan. Wilson convinced them that because Federal Reserve notes were obligations of
19809-515: The 2010s, political polarization in the country increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the January 2021 Capitol attack , when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S. Capitol and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an attempted self-coup d'état . The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 contiguous states and
20022-602: The Aldrich plan was perhaps "60–70% correct". When Virginia Rep. Carter Glass, chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, presented his bill to President-elect Wilson, Wilson said that the plan must be amended to contain a Federal Reserve Board appointed by the executive branch to maintain control over the bankers. After Wilson presented the bill to Congress, a group of Democratic congressmen revolted. The group, led by Representative Robert Henry of Texas, demanded that
20235-631: The American West have an alpine climate . The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California , and oceanic in coastal Oregon , Washington , and southern Alaska . Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar . Hawaii , the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical . States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of
20448-865: The Austrian Habsburg monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1772, 1793, and 1795, Prussia and Austria, along with the Russian Empire , agreed to the Partitions of Poland . During the period of the French Revolutionary Wars , the Napoleonic era and the subsequent final meeting of the Imperial Diet , most of the Free Imperial Cities were annexed by dynastic territories;
20661-555: The Currency . This federal agency, which still exists today, examines and supervises all banks chartered nationally and is a part of the U.S. Treasury Department. National bank currency was considered inelastic because it was based on the fluctuating value of U.S. Treasury bonds. If Treasury bond prices declined, a national bank had to reduce the amount of currency it had in circulation by either refusing to make new loans or by calling in loans it had made already. The related liquidity problem
20874-470: The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government , with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to
21087-662: The District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km ). The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the Piedmont plateau region. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest . The Mississippi River System ,
21300-562: The Elder concluded that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America to win the war against France. For the first time, the continent became one of the main theaters of what could be termed a " world war ". The British colonies' position as an integral part of the British Empire became more apparent during the war, with British military and civilian officials becoming a more significant presence in American life. The war increased
21513-796: The Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic . The Nazi rise to power in 1933 led to the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship , World War II , and the Holocaust . In 1949, after the war and a period of Allied occupation , Germany was organized into two separate polities with limited sovereignty: the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany , and the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany . Berlin continued its de jure Four Power status . The Federal Republic of Germany
21726-520: The Fed. Sharp disagreements arose within the Federal Reserve System over its levers on the economy and how to use them appropriately. The Great Depression started in 1929, as a result of this contraction; however, the Federal Reserve took basically no action. According to David Wheelock of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the Fed "more or less let the banking system collapse, allowed the money supply to collapse, and allowed
21939-581: The Federal Reserve Act, Frank Vanderlip proposed before the Senate Banking Committee his own competing plan to the Federal Reserve System, one with a single central bank controlled by the Federal government, which almost derailed the legislation then being considered and already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Even Aldrich stated strong opposition to the currency plan passed by the House. However,
22152-681: The Federal Reserve Board amid roaring inflation. Volcker tightened the money supply, and by 1986, inflation had fallen sharply. In October 1979, the Federal Reserve announced a policy of "targeting" money aggregates and bank reserves in its struggle with double-digit inflation. In January 1987, with retail inflation at only 1%, the Federal Reserve announced it was no longer going to use money-supply aggregates, such as M2, as guidelines for controlling inflation, even though this method had been in use from 1979, apparently with great success. Before 1980, interest rates were used as guidelines; inflation
22365-567: The Federal Reserve Organization Committee, which clearly laid out the rationale for their decisions on establishing Reserve Bank districts in 1914, showed that it was based almost entirely upon current correspondent banking relationships. To quell Elihu Root's objections to possible inflation, the passed bill included provisions that the bank must hold at least 40% of its outstanding loans in gold. (In later years, to stimulate short-term economic activity, Congress would amend
22578-580: The Federal Reserve had finished setting up its 12 Reserve Banks, which opened for business in mid November 1914. The markets crashed in a short financial crisis as the war broke out before the Federal Reserve was in a position to do anything about it. $ 385.6 million in emergency banknotes and $ 211.8 million clearinghouse loan certificates were issued under the Aldrich-Vreeland Act briefly, allowing banks to continue serving withdrawal requests. All of these funds were eventually rescinded. US spending on WWI
22791-706: The Federal Reserve. After WWII, the Employment Act of 1946 added the goal of maximum employment as a responsibility of the Fed. The 1951 Accord , also known simply as the Accord , was an agreement between the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve that restored independence to the Fed. During World War II , the Federal Reserve pledged to keep the interest rate on Treasury bills fixed at 0.375 percent. It continued to support government borrowing after
23004-496: The German Bundestag , though they have never been part of the federal government. In the 2017 German federal election , the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany gained enough votes to attain representation in the parliament for the first time. Germany is a federation and comprises sixteen constituent states which are collectively referred to as Länder . Each state ( Land ) has its own constitution, and
23217-459: The Government in order to counter the "money trust" and destroy the existing concentration of credit resources in Wall Street. Conservative Democrats proposed a decentralized reserve system, owned and controlled privately but free of Wall Street domination. No group got exactly what it wanted. But the Aldrich plan more nearly represented the compromise position between the two Democrat extremes, and it
23430-432: The Government issues the money, whereas by the Aldrich bill the issue was controlled by the banks ... Wall Street will control the money as easily through this bill as they have heretofore.(Congressional Record, v. 51, page 1447, Dec. 22, 1913) Republican Congressman Victor Murdock of Kansas, who voted for the bill, told Congress on that same day: I do not blind myself to the fact that this measure will not be effectual as
23643-486: The Holocaust , the German government persecuted minorities , including interning them in concentration and death camps across Europe. The regime systematically murdered 6 million Jews, at least 130,000 Romani , 275,000 disabled , thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses , thousands of homosexuals , and hundreds of thousands of political and religious opponents . Nazi policies in German-occupied countries resulted in
23856-616: The January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation , many freed slaves joined the Union army . The war began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg , and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the Battle of Appomattox Court House . The Reconstruction era followed the war. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln , Reconstruction Amendments were passed to protect
24069-450: The National Monetary Commission. Most Republicans and Wall Street bankers favored the Aldrich Plan, but it lacked enough support in the bipartisan Congress to pass. Because the bill was introduced by Aldrich, who was considered by southern and western states the epitome of the "Eastern establishment", the bill received little support. It was derided by southerners and westerners who believed that wealthy families and large corporations ran
24282-507: The Pacific and China. The colonial government in South West Africa (present-day Namibia ), from 1904 to 1907, carried out the annihilation of the local Herero and Namaqua peoples as punishment for an uprising; this was the 20th century's first genocide . The assassination of Austria's crown prince on 28 June 1914 provided the pretext for Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia and trigger World War I . After four years of warfare, in which approximately two million German soldiers were killed,
24495-464: The Pacific. On 11 August 1919, President Friedrich Ebert signed the democratic Weimar Constitution . In the subsequent struggle for power, communists seized power in Bavaria , but conservative elements elsewhere attempted to overthrow the Republic in the Kapp Putsch . Street fighting in the major industrial centres, the occupation of the Ruhr by Belgian and French troops, and a period of hyperinflation followed. A debt restructuring plan and
24708-426: The Reichstag after a special election in 1932 and Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. After the Reichstag fire , a decree abrogated basic civil rights and the first Nazi concentration camp opened. On 23 March 1933, the Enabling Act gave Hitler unrestricted legislative power, overriding the constitution, and marked the beginning of Nazi Germany. His government established
24921-476: The Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone Caldera , is the continent's largest volcanic feature. In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland. With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian , the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The western Great Plains are semi-arid . Many mountainous areas of
25134-453: The Soviets pushed into Eastern Europe ; the Western allies landed in France and entered Germany despite a final German counteroffensive . Following Hitler's suicide during the Battle of Berlin , Germany signed the surrender document on 8 May 1945, ending World War II in Europe and Nazi Germany. Following the end of the war, surviving Nazi officials were tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials . In what later became known as
25347-529: The U.S. Treasury. The U.S. Federal Government was required to purchase 20% of the bank capital stock shares and to appoint 20% of the board members (directors) of each of those first two banks "of the United States." Therefore, each bank's majority control was placed squarely in the hands of wealthy investors who purchased the remaining 80% of the stock. These banks were opposed by state-chartered banks, who saw them as very large competitors, and by many who insisted that they were in reality banking cartels compelling
25560-451: The U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine ; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion . The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The Department of Defense , which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of
25773-661: The U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: federal prisons , state prisons , local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities . Federal prisons are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees. State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses. Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under
25986-416: The United States and the peaceful transfer of power , respectively. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. Lingering issues with Britain remained , leading to the War of 1812 , which was fought to a draw. Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward , many with
26199-541: The United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to dominate world affairs . The U.S. utilized the policy of containment to limit the USSR's sphere of influence, and prevailed in the Space Race , which culminated with the first crewed Moon landing in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. experienced economic growth , urbanization , and population growth following World War II . The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming
26412-495: The United States has operated as a de facto two-party system , though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican . The former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the latter is perceived as relatively conservative . In the American federal system , sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in
26625-402: The United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror , and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq . The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting. The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession , the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in
26838-415: The United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette , on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence . The Second Continental Congress adopted
27051-434: The United States, despite the usage of "the Americas " as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb. The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago; the Clovis culture , which appeared around 11,000 BC,
27264-478: The United States, except Iran , North Korea , and Bhutan . Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan. The United States has
27477-509: The United States. The American prison system is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons , civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in
27690-497: The act to allow more discretion in the amount of gold that must be redeemed by the Bank.) Critics of the time (later joined by economist Milton Friedman ) suggested that Glass's legislation was almost entirely based on the Aldrich Plan that had been derided as giving too much power to elite bankers. Glass denied copying Aldrich's plan. In 1922, he told Congress, "no greater misconception was ever projected in this Senate Chamber." Wilson named Warburg and other prominent experts to direct
27903-491: The banks of J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, and Kuhn, Loeb & Co. , secluded themselves for ten days at Jekyll Island , Georgia . The executives included Frank A. Vanderlip , president of the National City Bank of New York, associated with the Rockefellers; Henry Davison, senior partner of J.P. Morgan Company; Charles D. Norton, president of the First National Bank of New York; and Col. Edward M. House , who would later become President Woodrow Wilson's closest adviser and founder of
28116-404: The bill was passed, Murdock told Congress: You allowed the special interests by pretended dissatisfaction with the measure to bring about a sham battle, and the sham battle was for the purpose of diverting you people from the real remedy, and they diverted you. The Wall Street bluff has worked. When Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act on December 23, 1913, he said he felt grateful for having had
28329-419: The bill. After months of hearings, amendments, and debates the Federal Reserve Act passed Congress in December, 1913. The bill passed the House by an overwhelming majority of 298 to 60 on December 22, 1913 and passed the Senate the next day by a vote of 43 to 25. An earlier version of the bill had passed the Senate 54 to 34, but almost 30 senators had left for Christmas vacation by the time the final bill came to
28542-424: The bipartisan National Monetary Commission was Nelson Aldrich , a financial expert and Senate Republican leader. Aldrich set up two commissions – one to study the American monetary system in depth and the other, headed by Aldrich, to study and report on the European central-banking systems. Aldrich went to Europe opposed to centralized banking but, after viewing Germany 's banking system, he came away believing that
28755-429: The communist-controlled Socialist Unity Party of Germany , supported by the Stasi , an immense secret service. While East German propaganda was based on the benefits of the GDR's social programmes and the alleged threat of a West German invasion, many of its citizens looked to the West for freedom and prosperity. The Berlin Wall , built in 1961, prevented East German citizens from escaping to West Germany, becoming
28968-405: The contiguous United States are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands , and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in
29181-408: The country and would thus run the proposed National Reserve Association. The National Board of Trade appointed Warburg as head of a committee to persuade Americans to support the plan. The committee set up offices in the then-45 states and distributed printed materials about the proposed central bank. The Nebraskan populist and frequent Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan said of
29394-493: The country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons —the second-largest share after Russia. The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries. State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under
29607-413: The country's territory would expand with the admission of new states , rather than the expansion of existing states. The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a federal republic governed by three separate branches that together ensured a system of checks and balances . George Washington
29820-405: The creation of a new currency in 1924 ushered in the Golden Twenties , an era of artistic innovation and liberal cultural life. The worldwide Great Depression hit Germany in 1929. Chancellor Heinrich Brüning 's government pursued a policy of fiscal austerity and deflation which caused unemployment of nearly 30% by 1932. The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the largest party in
30033-413: The creation of a more unified European political, economic and security apparatus. The governments of Germany and the United States are close political allies . Cultural ties and economic interests have crafted a bond between the two countries resulting in Atlanticism . After 1990, Germany and Russia worked together to establish a "strategic partnership" in which energy development became one of
30246-536: The criminal and the protection of the public. With the exceptions of petty crimes, tried by a single professional judge, and of serious political crimes, all charges are adjudicated by mixed tribunals where lay judges ( Schöffen ) and professional judges preside together. As of 2016, Germany's murder rate stood at a low of 1.18 murders per 100,000. In 2018, the overall crime rate fell to its lowest since 1992. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Germany since 2017, and LGBT rights are generally protected in
30459-461: The deaths of an estimated 2.7 million Poles , 1.3 million Ukrainians , 1 million Belarusians and 3.5 million Soviet prisoners of war . German military casualties have been estimated at 5.3 million, and around 900,000 German civilians died. Around 12 million ethnic Germans were expelled from across Eastern Europe, and Germany lost roughly one-quarter of its pre-war territory. After Nazi Germany surrendered,
30672-405: The deficit became so great that, in 1951, President Truman invited the entire Federal Open Market Committee to the White House to resolve their differences. Eccles's memoir, Beckoning Frontiers , presents a detailed eyewitness account of this meeting and surrounding events, including verbatim transcripts of pertinent documents. William McChesney Martin , then Assistant Secretary of the Treasury,
30885-584: The development of self-governance, and the First Great Awakening , a series of Christian revivals , fueled colonial interest in religious liberty . For a century, the American colonists had been providing their own troops and materiel in conflicts with indigenous peoples allied with Britain's colonial rivals , especially France, and the Americans had begun to develop a sense of self-defense and self-reliance separate from Britain. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) took on new significance for all North American colonists after Parliament under William Pitt
31098-414: The dispossession of native inhabitants . As more states were admitted , a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America , which fought states remaining in the Union in the 1861–1865 American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of the United States, slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power ,
31311-399: The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the German Confederation was formed in 1815. Formal unification of Germany into the modern nation-state commenced on 18 August 1866 with the North German Confederation Treaty establishing the Prussia -led North German Confederation , which became the German Empire in 1871. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919 ,
31524-447: The early 1950s. West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community . On 1 January 1957, the Saarland joined West Germany. East Germany was an Eastern Bloc state under political and military control by the Soviet Union via occupation forces and the Warsaw Pact . Although East Germany claimed to be a democracy, political power was exercised solely by leading members ( Politbüro ) of
31737-411: The ecclesiastical territories were secularised and annexed. In 1806 the Imperium was dissolved; France, Russia, Prussia, and the Habsburgs (Austria) competed for hegemony in the German states during the Napoleonic Wars . Following the fall of Napoleon , the Congress of Vienna founded the German Confederation, a loose league of 39 sovereign states . The appointment of the emperor of Austria as
31950-407: The environment for labor unions to begin to flourish . This period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era , which was characterized by significant reforms. Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy ; the islands were annexed in 1898. That same year, Puerto Rico , the Philippines , and Guam were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in
32163-414: The federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation . The Trail of Tears (1830–1850) was a U.S. government policy that forcibly removed and displaced most Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to lands far to the west. These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi. The Republic of Texas
32376-434: The first nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the " Four Policemen " who met to plan the post-war world , alongside the United Kingdom , Soviet Union , and China . The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater economic power and international political influence . After World War II,
32589-411: The first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution , with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783 Revolutionary War , the country continued to expand westward across North America , resulting in
32802-432: The former point was also made by Republican Representative Charles Lindbergh Sr. of Minnesota, one of the most vocal opponents of the bill, who on the day the House agreed to the Federal Reserve Act told his colleagues: But the Federal reserve board have no power whatever to regulate the rates of interest that bankers may charge borrowers of money. This is the Aldrich bill in disguise, the difference being that by this bill
33015-417: The government and because the president would appoint the members of the Federal Reserve Board, the plan fit their demands. However, Bryan soon became disillusioned with the system. In the November 1923 issue of "Hearst's Magazine" Bryan wrote that "The Federal Reserve Bank that should have been the farmer's greatest protection has become his greatest foe." Southerners and westerners learned from Wilson that
33228-410: The government too much control over markets and private business dealings. The New York Times called the Act the "Oklahoma idea, the Nebraska idea" – referring to Owen and Bryan's involvement. However, several Congressmen, including Owen, Lindbergh, La Follette, and Murdock claimed that the New York bankers feigned their disapproval of the bill in hopes of inducing Congress to pass it. The day before
33441-434: The government was completed in 1999, and modernisation of the East German economy was scheduled to last until 2019. Since reunification, Germany has taken a more active role in the European Union , signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, and co-founding the eurozone . Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent German troops to Afghanistan as part of
33654-437: The head of the New York Fed, Benjamin Strong, to aggressively use open market operations in purchasing government securities to stem the downturn. The Fed made substantial open-market purchases in 1924 and 1927. In 1928, as it became more apparent that a stock market bubble was forming, the Federal Reserve increased discount rates, sold securities, and set guidelines prohibiting banks that made stock market loans from borrowing from
33867-463: The integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force. There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff departments in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The state police departments have authority in their respective state , and federal agencies such as
34080-412: The last quarter of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to a particularly severe panic in 1907 , there was a motivation for renewed demands for banking and currency reform. The following year, Congress enacted the Aldrich–Vreeland Act , which provided for an emergency currency and established the National Monetary Commission to study banking and currency reform. The chief of
34293-431: The member banks on a basis of their capitalization. The National Reserve Association would issue currency, based on gold and commercial paper, that would be the liability of the bank and not of the government. The Association would also carry a portion of member banks' reserves, determine discount reserves, buy and sell on the open market, and hold the deposits of the federal government. The branches and businessmen of each of
34506-427: The military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). A societal shift in the roles of women was significantly responsible for the large increase in female paid labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw
34719-403: The money supply increased and consenquently prices inflated. Federal Reserve leaders did not take steps to reduce inflation, however. While the institution was ostensibly created as an independent organization from the government to remove it from political pressures, the political pressure of war nonetheless pressured the Fed to cater to the Treasury's appetite for low-cost war debt financing. At
34932-612: The most attractive to the population are the most vulnerable. The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species : about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians , and around 91,000 insect species. There are 63 national parks , and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas , managed by
35145-410: The most important factors. As a result of the cooperation, Germany imported most of its natural gas and crude oil from Russia. Germany's development policy functions as a distinct sector within its foreign policy framework. It is formulated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and carried out by the implementing organisations. The German government sees development policy as
35358-478: The most violent, the California genocide of thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s, just as additional western territories and states were created. During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies , though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in the North enacted abolition laws , though support for slavery strengthened in Southern states , as inventions such as
35571-409: The nation. Germany has a network of 227 diplomatic missions abroad and maintains relations with more than 190 countries. Germany is a member of NATO , the OECD , the G7 , the G20 , the World Bank and the IMF . It has played an influential role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a strong alliance with France and all neighbouring countries since 1990. Germany promotes
35784-476: The new system, which began operations in 1915 and played a major role in financing the Allied and American war efforts. Warburg at first refused the appointment, citing America's opposition to a "Wall Street man", but when World War I broke out he accepted. He was the only appointee asked to appear before the Senate, whose members questioned him about his interests in the central bank and his ties to Kuhn, Loeb, & Co. 's "money trusts". WWI broke out just before
35997-435: The north, Poland and Czechia to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France , Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west. Germany is also bordered by the North Sea and, at the north-northeast, by the Baltic Sea. German territory covers 357,596 km (138,069 sq mi). Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,963 metres or 9,721 feet) in
36210-404: The party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany . So far every chancellor has been a member of one of these parties. However, the smaller liberal Free Democratic Party and the Alliance 90/The Greens have also been junior partners in coalition governments . Since 2007, the democratic socialist party The Left has been a staple in
36423-421: The permanent president reflected the Congress's rejection of Prussia 's rising influence. Disagreement within restoration politics partly led to the rise of liberal movements, followed by new measures of repression by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich . The Zollverein , a tariff union, furthered economic unity. In light of revolutionary movements in Europe , intellectuals and commoners started
36636-448: The plan: "Big financiers are back of the Aldrich currency scheme." He asserted that if it passed, big bankers would "then be in complete control of everything through the control of our national finances." There was also Republican opposition to the Aldrich Plan. Republican Sen. Robert M. La Follette and Rep. Charles Lindbergh Sr. both spoke out against the favoritism that they contended the bill granted to Wall Street. "The Aldrich Plan
36849-408: The policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation . An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to rapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries , allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by
37062-403: The power to issue standardized national bank notes based on United States bonds held by the bank. The Act was totally revised in 1864 and later named the National-Bank Act, or National Banking Act , as it is popularly known. The administration of the new national banking system was vested in the newly created Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and its chief administrator, the Comptroller of
37275-465: The price level to fall." In reaction to the Great Depression, Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act in 1933, established the FDIC , and required bank holding companies to be examined by the Fed. Roosevelt also issued Executive Order 6102 in 1933, which outlawed the holding of more than $ 100 of gold or gold certificates, among other related decrees. The Banking Act of 1935 created the Federal Open Market Committee , along with making other changes to
37488-420: The primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen , particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them . To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 and passed the Continental Association , a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in
37701-429: The public from financial panics and "the domination of what is known as the "Money Trust." During the 1912 election, the Democratic Party took control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress. The newly elected president, Woodrow Wilson , was committed to banking and currency reform, but it took a great deal of his political influence to get an acceptable plan passed as the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. Wilson thought
37914-515: The rights of African Americans . National infrastructure, including transcontinental telegraph and railroads , spurred growth in the American frontier . From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the port of New York City , and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish , Irish , and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to
38127-437: The rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua , Sonoran , and Mojave deserts. In the northwest corner of Arizona , carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon , a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast . The lowest and highest points in
38340-417: The same class of business and with a like set of associates similarly situated all belonging to the same group and representing the same class of interests, all further pretense of competition is useless. ... Seen as a "Money Trust" plan, the Aldrich Plan was opposed by the Democratic Party as was stated in its 1912 campaign platform, but the platform also supported a revision of banking laws intended to protect
38553-405: The same time, European gold flowed into the vaults of reserve banks and allowed the dollar to remain backed by gold despite massive monetary expansion, while European countries suspended their gold standards temporarily during the war. The US economy boomed post war as Europe was reliant on US goods their damaged and rebuilding industries couldn't supply for themselves. In 1923, a recession prompted
38766-464: The six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force . The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime. The United States spent $ 916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country , making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of
38979-407: The sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor . They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933 , which created the Guard and provides for
39192-549: The south to the shores of the North Sea ( Nordsee ) in the northwest and the Baltic Sea ( Ostsee ) in the northeast. The forested uplands of central Germany and the lowlands of northern Germany (lowest point: in the municipality Neuendorf-Sachsenbande , Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres or 11.6 feet below sea level ) are traversed by such major rivers as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Significant natural resources include iron ore, coal, potash , timber, lignite , uranium , copper, natural gas, salt, and nickel. Most of Germany has
39405-756: The southeast regions have more extreme temperatures. From February 2019 – 2020, average monthly temperatures in Germany ranged from a low of 3.3 °C (37.9 °F) in January 2020 to a high of 19.8 °C (67.6 °F) in June 2019. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 30 litres per square metre in February and April 2019 to 125 litres per square metre in February 2020. Average monthly hours of sunshine ranged from 45 in November 2019 to 300 in June 2019. The territory of Germany can be divided into five terrestrial ecoregions : Atlantic mixed forests , Baltic mixed forests , Central European mixed forests , Western European broadleaf forests , and Alps conifer and mixed forests . As of 2016 , 51% of Germany's land area
39618-449: The standardization of the language; the 1555 Peace of Augsburg tolerated the "Evangelical" faith ( Lutheranism ), but also decreed that the faith of the prince was to be the faith of his subjects ( cuius regio, eius religio ). From the Cologne War through the Thirty Years' Wars (1618–1648), religious conflict devastated German lands and significantly reduced the population. The Peace of Westphalia ended religious warfare among
39831-543: The states are also represented by local elected governments , which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents , and further divided into municipalities . The District of Columbia is a federal district containing the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. . The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations . The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has
40044-406: The stockholders of the existing bank must come directly or indirectly out of the earnings of the American people," Jackson said in 1832. Jackson's second term in office ended in March 1837 without the Second Bank of the United States' charter being renewed. In 1863, as a means to help finance the Civil War , a system of national banks was instituted by the National Currency Act . The banks each had
40257-418: The strains and pressures of the panic of 1907. I do not feel it is any exaggeration to speak of our secret expedition to Jekyl Island as the occasion of the actual conception of what eventually became the Federal Reserve System. ... Discovery, we knew, simply must not happen, or else all our time and effort would be wasted. If it were to be exposed publicly that our particular group had gotten together and written
40470-451: The structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of checks and balances . The three-branch system
40683-429: The subsequent decisive Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Confederation which excluded Austria . After the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War , the German princes proclaimed the founding of the German Empire in 1871. Prussia was the dominant constituent state of the new empire; the King of Prussia ruled as its Kaiser, and Berlin became its capital. In
40896-402: The system was decentralized into 12 districts and surely would weaken New York and strengthen the hinterlands. Sen. Robert L. Owen of Oklahoma eventually relented to speak in favor of the bill, arguing that the nation's currency was already under too much control by New York elites, who he alleged had singlehandedly conspired to cause the 1907 Panic. Large bankers thought the legislation gave
41109-415: The value to society of greater publicity for the affairs of corporations, there was an occasion, near the close of 1910, when I was as secretive, indeed, as furtive as any conspirator. None of us who participated felt that we were conspirators; on the contrary we felt we were engaged in a patriotic work. We were trying to plan a mechanism that would correct the weaknesses of our banking system as revealed under
41322-418: The war ended, despite the fact that the Consumer Price Index rose 14% in 1947 and 8% in 1948, and the economy was in recession . President Harry S. Truman in 1948 replaced the then- Chairman of the Federal Reserve Marriner Eccles with Thomas B. McCabe for opposing this policy, although Eccles's term on the board continued for three more years. The reluctance of the Federal Reserve to continue monetizing
41535-468: The western Rhineland had been incorporated into Roman provinces . Around 260, Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands. After the invasion of the Huns in 375, and with the decline of Rome from 395, Germanic tribes moved farther southwest: the Franks established the Frankish Kingdom and pushed east to subjugate Saxony and Bavaria . Areas of what is today eastern Germany were inhabited by Western Slavic tribes. Charlemagne founded
41748-439: The word Teutons also originates. Pre-human ancestors, the Danuvius guggenmosi , who were present in Germany over 11 million years ago, are theorized to be among the earliest ones to walk on two legs. Ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The first non-modern human fossil (the Neanderthal ) was discovered in the Neander Valley . Similarly dated evidence of modern humans has been found in
41961-406: The world's fourth-longest river system , runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains , west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado . Farther west are
42174-449: The world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024 . It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council , and home to the United Nations headquarters . The United States is a member of the G7 , G20 , and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with
42387-461: The world's third-largest land area , largest exclusive economic zone , and third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York , Los Angeles , and Chicago , and its three most populous states are California , Texas , and Florida . Paleo-Indians migrated across the Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies . British colonization led to
42600-444: The world's oldest surviving federation, and its presidential system of national government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their decolonization . It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law ". The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document , also establishing
42813-423: The world's tornadoes occur in the country , mainly in Tornado Alley . Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the American Southwest , droughts became more persistent and more severe. The regions considered as
43026-434: The world, with almost 2 million people incarcerated . An analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database from 2010 showed U.S. homicide rates "were 7 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25 times higher". Germany – in Europe (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union (light green) Germany , officially
43239-458: Was annexed in 1845, and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest . Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest . The California gold rush of 1848–1849 spurred a huge migration of white settlers to the Pacific coast, leading to even more confrontations with Native populations. One of
43452-408: Was a founding member of the European Economic Community and the European Union , while the German Democratic Republic was a communist Eastern Bloc state and member of the Warsaw Pact . After the fall of the communist led-government in East Germany, German reunification saw the former East German states join the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990 . Germany has been described as
43665-703: Was adopted on July 4, 1776. The political values of the American Revolution included liberty , inalienable individual rights ; and the sovereignty of the people ; supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy , aristocracy , and all hereditary political power; civic virtue ; and vilification of political corruption . The Founding Fathers of the United States , who included Washington, Jefferson, John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , James Madison , Thomas Paine , and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman , Renaissance , and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and established
43878-412: Was closest to the final legislation passed. Frank Vanderlip , one of the Jekyll Island attendees and the president of National City Bank, wrote in his autobiography: Although the Aldrich Federal Reserve Plan was defeated when it bore the name Aldrich, nevertheless its essential points were all contained in the plan that was finally adopted. Ironically, in October 1913, two months before the enactment of
44091-404: Was elected the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in
44304-568: Was largely caused by an immobile, pyramidal reserve system, in which nationally chartered rural/agriculture-based banks were required to set aside their reserves in federal reserve city banks, which were required to have reserves in central city banks. Rural banks exploited their reserves during the planting season to finance full plantings. Then, during harvest season, they used profits from loan interest payments to restore and grow their reserves. A national bank whose reserves were being drained would replace them by selling stocks and bonds, borrowing from
44517-443: Was massive even before the US officially entered the war. Federal spending increased fifteen-fold from 1916 to 1918, as the US lent an enormous amount of funds to US allies and as the military mobilized. The Federal Reserve offered below-market-rate interest rates to banks who used the funds to buy government bonds and treasury certificates. This "discount rate" was the primary tool the Fed used during this time. Because of these actions,
44730-451: Was passed, when journalist Bertie Charles Forbes in 1916 wrote an article about the "hunting trip". The 1911–12 Republican plan was proposed by Aldrich to solve the banking dilemma, a goal which was supported by the American Bankers' Association. The plan provided for one great central bank, the National Reserve Association, with a capital of at least $ 100 million and with 15 branches in various sections. The branches were to be controlled by
44943-411: Was severe. The Fed complained that the aggregates were confusing. Volcker was chairman until August 1987, whereupon Alan Greenspan assumed the mantle, seven months after monetary aggregate policy had changed. From early 2001 to mid-2003, the Federal Reserve lowered its interest rates 13 times, from 6.25% to 1.00%, to fight recession . In November 2002, rates were cut to 1.75%, and many rates went below
45156-444: Was the seventh-highest in the world . In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that German military expenditure would be increased past the NATO target of 2%, along with a one-time 2022 infusion of 100 billion euros, representing almost double the 53 billion euro military budget for 2021. In 2023, military spending according to NATO criteria amounted to $ 73.1 billion, or 1.64% of
45369-418: Was the principal mediator. Three weeks later, he was named Chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing McCabe. In 1956, the Bank Holding Company Act named the Fed as the regulator of bank holding companies that owned more than one bank. In 1978, the Humphrey-Hawkins Act required the Fed chairman to report to Congress regularly. In July 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated Paul Volcker as Chairman of
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