The class on banking was so informative. The instructor talked about the history of money (in colonial America up to present times), recessions, depressions, stocks, loans, mortgages, foreclosures, Bernanke, bailouts, how banks earn profits, and the purpose of the Federal Reserve. The kids, as usual, were very engaged, asked and answered lots of questions, and even the parents got a lot out of it.
|The whiteboard in the banking class|
A couple of blocks away is the NY Federal Reserve. I love the whole Wall Street/Financial District area. The narrow streets are full of cafes, historical landmarks, and beautiful architecture everywhere you look. "The Fed" is where a lot of new money is made (literally) and where US monetary policy is implemented. We took an elevator down to the vault which lies 80 feet below street level (and 50 feet below sea level). It's underneath the bedrock of Manhattan. This vault holds over $500 billion in gold - more than 90% belonging to other countries. The security is amazing. There are cameras everywhere, a 90-ton steel cylinder door to the vault room, and a different person is needed to open each of the 3 locks with both a key and a combination. We got to go through the open cylinder door to the vault room and we saw stacks of gold bars (each one weighing over 20 lbs, and at around $1600 per ounce right now, they're worth about $600,000 each). Btw, if the cylinder closed and locked us in, there's enough air to last 72 hours.
Great day, great friends, great trip. W and I loved it.
I also took this picture of Federal Hall, which is the birthplace of American government and where George Washington took his oath as the first president. It's a standout structure right on Wall Street and is right across the street from the NY Stock Exchange.