Wednesday July 13 (Chicago)

I did not sleep that well and decided that I had enough of the tour bus yesterday. It was a sunny/cloudy day and a wee bit breezy. I checked out at midday, a nice late checkout, and left three of my bags at the hotel.

I wandered down to the Federal Reserve Museum, I had heard about it on the tour yesterday. It was less than five minutes from the hotel and so not very far if the forecast rain developed today. 

To enter the museum, which is free, visitors have to show some form of government issued ID with photo, bags are put through a metal detector and visitors then step through a detection device similar to that at airports.

The museum, while not huge, was very interesting. It outlines the origins of money, American money through the ages, how the reserve works, inflation and its effects as well as other information. 

There is a cube with $1M stored in it, it weighs 2,000 pounds and is 4 x 4 x 4 feet. There is also a shallow pit, covered with glass, that contains a huge number of coins. 

There is a working model of the flow of money from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing right through the banks and the wider economy.

I did not realise that up until the mid 1970's American military were issued with special money that could be exchanged when they returned home. There was a fun machine where you could design your own note and email it to yourself, naturally, I did this, lol!! I felt like a kid again, lol, I also had my photo in a cardboard cut out as well as having a picture taken hugging a million dollars. The latter was an actual, physical photo, lol!

There is an auditorium where they give a twenty minute talk and answer any questions then end with a film. I had chosen the time to come so I could attend this as I thought it would be worthwhile, it was. 

In 1871 the first attempt at a setting up a Federal Reserve did not succeed as Andrew Jackson, president at the time was opposed. However, on December 23, 1913 Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act and so it came into being to support financial stability and grow the economy. The main goal is to keep economy smooth.

There are now twelve Federal Reserve Banks round the country and most of them have Museums. These banks are for the US government as well as the bank for banks. New York is the only Federal Reserve that stores gold but for other countries, and tours are taken to see this. Fort Knox, of course, stores all the US gold! There are also branches of the Federal Reserve in many other cities. The Board of Governors is situated in Washington DC and there are seven members. These meet every few months with the managers of the twelve reserve banks to make decisions on monetary policy. 

The three main things the reserve does is:

Conduct monetary policy, raise or lower or leave interest rates (Growing the economy)

Act as a financial regulator, checks how banks are lending money (Keeping banks safe)

Oversee money payments of all types (Making payments secure)

Bank examiners travel round their district visiting banks to heck financial risk and consumer law. The Chicago district, the seventh, comprises of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. A serial code on the top left of each banknote indicates where it originated, Chicago is G7.

Every day, about $150M is delivered by armoured trucks from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, either from Washington DC or Fort Worth, Texas. About $30M is shredded each day and about $200M goes out every day to five states. The money is stored in the second and third basements below the building. 

A machines examine all the currency that comes in. it gives each note a rating out of 16, if a note does not make at least 13 it is withdrawn from circulation, This includes notes that are worn or torn but also many notes that are written on! They find about 40 counterfeit bills every day and these get turned over to the secret service who carry out any investigation. bank notes are grouped together and each is identified by a band that states where it is from.

About one half to two thirds of all US currency is actually outside the US. The exchange rate is, of course, regulated by market forces outside of the control of the FRB.

Today, of course, there are many different ways to deal with monetary transactions. There is still a lot of cash being used but there are also ACHs, Automatic Clearing Houses, that oversee all non cash transactions and ensure that payments go where they should.

It was still fine when I came out of the reserve museum, although it did start raining quite heavily later, I think I might order a taxi to take me to Union Station, my train leaves at 9.30 pm so 8.30 should be plenty of time.

When I returned to the hotel, I was waiting in line to ask a question when this older guy, dressed in casual smart and arrogant as they come, went to the side and asked a question, he basically jumped the queue, I am afraid jerks like that make my blood boil!!

I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting my photos out and writing my blog, two days worth. I am pleased I decided to do this rather than tour, I hate getting behind on my blog. I later went through to the Elephant and Castle, attached Pub/Restaurant, for dinner.

As it was so wet and still raining, I caught  taxi to Union Station. The drive was a hoot, a middle aged man and when he opened up the boot to put my bag in, it was partially full. He said "Oh, I had forgotten I was supposed to do the laundry!!!!". Made fr a very pleasant, though short trip to the station, lol!!

I managed to find the Starbucks in the station and grabbed a coffee before returning to the lounge. Seniors were called first, which was excellent!! The train left Chicago right on time last night. We rocked and rolled our way through the countryside at some speed yet still managed to arrive 15 minutes late, lol!

Lisa was there to meet me and it was a happy, though slightly damp, meeting as it was raining! So on to Walmarts to grab a few things even though it was 2 am, lol!

We arrived home and Bruno, the dog, came flying out, tail wagging, happy to see us. Niko, the shy kitty, was the first to greet me, he really has changed.

I gave Lisa her packet of $364, shredded, and after some unpacking we sat down, I needed a cup of tea! After a shower I hit the sack a little after 6 am, lol!!

Guido came with me and must have slept with me as he was in the same place when I woke. He decided a selfie was in order, this after making several loaves of bread on my arm, lol!!