Fluctuations in the overall rate of national economic activity with alternating periods of expansion and contraction; these vary in duration and degrees of severity; usually measured by real gross domestic product (GDP).

A nation's central bank that is established to regulate the money supply and oversee the nation's banks. In the United States the Federal Reserve is the central bank.

The central bank of the United States. Its main function is controlling the money supply through monetary policy. The Federal Reserve System divides the country into 12 districts, each with its own Federal Reserve bank. Each district bank is directed by its nine-person board of directors. The Board of Governors, which is made up of seven members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to 14-year terms, directs the nation's monetary policy and the overall activities of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Open Market Committee is the official policy-making body; it is made up of the members of the Board of Governors and five of the district bank presidents.

The structure of the Federal Reserve revolves around a Board of Governors. There are seven (7) members on the Board of Governors appointed to one fourteen (14) year term by the President. Two appointees are designated by the President as Chairman and Vice-Chairman and are subsequently confirmed by the Senate to four (4) year terms. Only one person from the twelve (12) Federal Reserve districts is only allowed appointment to the Board.

Macroeconomic indicators include Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Product (GNP), New Durable Goods orders, Retail Sales Indicator, New Home/Construction Sales, and Stock Prices.

Changes in the supply of money and the availability of credit initiated by a nation's central bank to promote price stability, full employment and reasonable rates of economic growth.

The buying and selling of government bonds by the Federal Reserve to control bank reserves and the money supply.

The fraction of banks' deposits that they are required by law to keep on hand or with the Federal Reserve.

The tools of the Federal Reserve are wide-ranging. They include: Open Market Operations, Overnight Lending Through the Discount Window, The New Term Auction Facility, and Changing the federal funds rate target to respond to macroeconomic risk.