What is the Federal Reserve system, and does it exist in every country? Is the Fed part of the government, or independent in your view? What are their tools of monetary policy? How does the Fed implement monetary policy to manage the economy? Has the Fed used any of their tools lately, if so, how and when (include any research links in your post). Given the current state of the U.S. economy, should the Fed be using expansionary monetary policy or contractionary monetary policy? Why or why not?