The interest rate charged by the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) for loans to commercial banks, which in principle can be used as a means of a controlling the money supply. An increase in the money supply can be achieved when the Fed lowers the discount rate. A decrease in the money supply can be achieved when the Fed raises the discount rate. The discount rate, which is set by Federal Reserve Banks, subject to approval by the Board of Governors, is used more to signal changes in monetary policy rather than to actually control the money supply. The discount rate is one of the three monetary policy tools that the Fed can use, in principle, to control the money supply. The other two are open market operations and reserve requirements.

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In the discussion of recession we see that one of the problems confronting both pedestrians and the economy is stepping in an occasional pothole. These potholes are usually small and do little damage. Every now and then, however, our economy falls face first into one humdinger of pothole that's big enough to swallow the better part of a marching band. Rather than a mere recessionary pothole, these are best thought of as depressionary canyons. The Great Depression of the 1930s was the most memorable depressionary canyon on record for the good old U. S. of A. The question we need to ponder over the next few pages is: Are there any more depressionary canyons like the 1930s lurking along the economic pavement?
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time strolling around a discount warehouse buying club trying to buy either a coffee cup commemorating the moon landing or a how-to book on surfing the Internet. Be on the lookout for a thesaurus filled with typos.
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