In: Economics
Suppose that we define money as the sum of currency and demand deposits. If people hold equal amounts of currency and demand deposits and banks maintain a reserve ratio of 10 percent, what is the size of money multiplier? a. 1.8 b. 10 c. 2.5 d. 5
the answer is (a) but i don't know why
The correct option would indeed be
The money multiplier is (for c is cash-deposit ratio, r is required reserve ratio and e is excess reserve ratio), which is usually reduced to in case e is not given and to if both e and c are not given. In this question, we have the currency-deposit ratio as c=1, since people holds same amount of C and D, and we have c=C/D=1. The excess reserve ratio is not mentioned and only required reserve ratio is given, and hence we must use formula to calculate. Hence, we have or or . Hence, option a is correct.
Note that option b and c are tricky, but incorrect. Option b would be correct if c was not mentioned, and option c would be correct if c=0.5 (which one may mistakenly assume for equal C and D proportion).