Federal Home Loan Bank Act

The Federal Home Loan Bank Act has been around since 1932, making home ownership more affordable. We don’t know if you’ve noticed (but we certainly have) that home ownership most other places in the world (including Europe) isn’t such a big cultural expectation like it is in the U.S. It’s a bit chicken-or-the-egg, but there’s no doubt that laws like the Federal Home Loan Bank Act incentivize home ownership by making it cheaper and more accessible.

The Act created multiple institutions, like the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (which supervises federal savings and loans institutions) and the Federal Home Loan Banks (which lend out money to financial institutions of all sorts, including building associations, cooperative banks, insurance companies, community development financial institutions, and what-have-you).

Federal Reserve Communications System For The Eighties, a.k.a. FRCS-80, was a 1980s communication network set up by the US Federal Reserve Bank. The Fed wanted a direct link to the Federal Reserve Banks, which span across the nation, and other Fed-related offices.

The FRCS-80 helped the Fed made electronic funds and securities transfers smoother than ever before, while also increasing the volume they could handle (and increase security, too).

The FRCS-80 took over the old Fedwire, the Fed’s old telegraph-based communications system. Of course, the Federal Reserve Communications System For The Eighties became…well, a thing of the 80s. A cutting edge upgrade at the time, a relic of the past today. Makes you wonder how you’ll look at that smartphone you have in 30 or 40 years.