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Videos
A curated set of videos from central banks, international institutions, and economics educators. Click any card to watch here, or open it on YouTube in a new tab.
How this list is curated
Each video is produced by a central bank, an international institution, or an established economics educator. Thumbnails are hosted here, and the privacy-enhanced YouTube player loads only after you click a card, so no third-party scripts run when you first visit this page.
What a listing means. Inclusion is not an endorsement of every claim in a video. Videos are chosen for how clearly they explain a mechanism. Where a video conflicts with this site's sourced text, the sourced text takes precedence.
Topic
Money creation
How commercial banks create deposits when they lend, and why the textbook multiplier gets the direction wrong.
Money creation in the modern economy - Quarterly Bulletin
The Bank of England's Quarterly Bulletin explainer on how banks create deposits when they make loans, and why the money multiplier story is misleading.
Mar 12, 2014 Play video
Money in the modern economy: an introduction - Quarterly Bulletin
A companion introduction to the same Bulletin: what money is, how it is measured, and how the central bank interacts with commercial banks.
Mar 12, 2014 Play video
How do banks actually create money? We explain
The Economist's one-minute summary of bank money creation. Useful as a quick refresher before the longer central-bank explainers.
Jun 12, 2023 Play videoTopic
Banking system
What banks do with deposits, how their balance sheets work, and why maturity mismatch makes them fragile.
The role of the Bank of England: Money (Episode 1)
The Bank of England's first episode on the role of money: how commercial banks, the central bank, and the payment system fit together.
Jun 27, 2013 Play video
Banking 1 | Money, banking and central banks | Finance & Capital Markets | Khan Academy
Khan Academy works through a bank's balance sheet and shows why a loan and the matching deposit appear on opposite sides of the ledger.
Oct 7, 2008 Play video
Weaknesses of fractional reserve lending | The monetary system | Macroeconomics | Khan Academy
A closer look at the fragility of fractional-reserve lending: maturity mismatch, bank runs, and why deposit insurance exists.
Mar 21, 2012 Play videoTopic
Federal Reserve
The structure, mandate, and operating role of the US central bank.
What is the Fed?
The Federal Reserve's own short introduction to its structure, its mandate, and its role in the payments system.
Oct 13, 2016 Play video
The Federal Reserve System | The Fed Explained
The St. Louis Fed explains the Federal Reserve System, from the Board of Governors to the regional reserve banks.
Dec 20, 2022 Play videoTopic
Monetary policy
The tools central banks use to influence credit conditions, from policy rates to quantitative easing.
Fed Functions: Conducting Monetary Policy
A Federal Reserve explainer on the tools of monetary policy and how changes in the policy rate reach the wider economy.
Jan 18, 2018 Play video
Quantitative easing - how it works
The Bank of England explains quantitative easing, central bank reserves, and what asset purchases can and cannot achieve.
Feb 1, 2010 Play video
The ECB Explained in 3 Minutes
The European Central Bank's three-minute overview of its mandate, the euro, and how euro-area monetary policy is set.
Mar 24, 2023 Play video
John Kay on the mystery of QE
Financial Times columnist John Kay asks what quantitative easing actually achieved and why its effects remain contested.
Jul 22, 2013 Play videoTopic
Money supply
How economists measure money, and what the aggregates do and do not tell us.
Money supply: M0, M1, and M2 | The monetary system | Macroeconomics | Khan Academy
Khan Academy distinguishes the monetary aggregates M0, M1, and M2 and explains what each measure includes.
Mar 23, 2012 Play video
Quantity Theory of Money
Marginal Revolution University introduces the quantity theory of money and the long-run relationship between money growth and prices.
Jan 17, 2017 Play video
Fractional Reserve Banking and the Money Multiplier Made Simple
A plain-language walkthrough of fractional-reserve banking and the money multiplier, with the standard textbook caveats.
Jul 25, 2017 Play videoTopic
Financial risks
Credit booms, bank runs, shadow banking, and the trade-off between stability and moral hazard.
Silicon Valley Bank: what really went wrong?
The Economist reconstructs the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, including interest-rate risk and the role of uninsured deposits.
Mar 14, 2023 Play video
Did Social Media Speed Up 2023 Bank Runs?
St. Louis Fed researchers examine whether social media accelerated deposit withdrawals during the 2023 bank runs.
Nov 1, 2023 Play video
What Are Shadow Banks?
Marginal Revolution University explains shadow banking: credit intermediation that takes place outside traditional deposit-funded banks.
Dec 19, 2017 Play videoTopic
Macroeconomics
The international monetary system and the consequences of money growth for output and prices.
How the IMF Works
The IMF explains its role in the international monetary system, from surveillance and lending to technical assistance.
Jul 10, 2017 Play video
Zimbabwe and Hyperinflation: Who Wants to Be a Trillionaire?
A case study of Zimbabwe's hyperinflation and what happens when money creation runs far ahead of real output.
Jan 3, 2017 Play videoTopic
Deflation risk
Falling prices, debt burdens, and the feedback loops that make deflation dangerous.
Deflation | Inflation | Finance & Capital Markets | Khan Academy
Khan Academy explains deflation, how falling prices affect debt burdens, and why central banks generally try to avoid it.
Jul 22, 2011 Play video
Deflationary spiral | Inflation | Finance & Capital Markets | Khan Academy
A follow-up on the deflationary spiral: how falling demand, falling prices, and rising real debt can reinforce each other.
Jul 25, 2011 Play videoKeep watching
Channels worth following
These are the publishers behind the videos above. Following them directly is the best way to see new material.
- Bank of England Research, speeches, and explainers from the UK central bank.
- Federal Reserve Official explainers from the US Federal Reserve Board.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Economic education and research from the St. Louis Fed.
- European Central Bank Official explainers on the euro, the ECB, and euro-area policy.
- International Monetary Fund The IMF's own introductions to the international monetary system.
- Marginal Revolution University Free economics courses and short explainers from Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok.
- Khan Academy Foundational finance and macroeconomics lessons.
- The Economist Short films on markets, money, and the banking system.
- Financial Times Financial journalism and interviews on central banking and markets.