Government Agencies.

The Treasury Department has a farreaching effect on the U.S. economy and all its private and public financial institutions through the department’s responsibility for managing the federal government’s finances and enforcing laws that ensure the safety and soundness of American and international financial institutions.

Because the Department of Transportation oversees all forms of transportation in the United States, on land, water, and air, a wide range of businesses from airlines to railroads to shipping to automobile manufacturers are affected by its polices.

Through electric power production, agricultural advances, river improvements, land management, and social and recreational programs, the TVA has revitalized much of the Tennessee Valley.

The Social Security system imposes a heavy wage tax on most American workers, provides cash benefits and medical-expense reimbursements for most Americans at least sixty-two years of age...

As the largest backer of business loans in the United States, the Small Business Administration strengthens the American economy by enabling small businesses to function effectively.

The SEC helps maintain the structural integrity of American capital markets by regulating the flow of information about public companies and by enforcing securities laws.

The U.S. Secret Service is one of the country’s oldest federal law-enforcement agencies.

Without the basic services provided by public utilities, industrialization would not have been possible.

Privatization exists on a continuum ranging from the complete takeover of what was once public to the mere charging of a user fee for what was previously funded by a collective account.

The president of the United States guides the federal government, oversees the implementation of laws enacted by Congress, and recommends legislation to Congress.

The postal service has been an essential tool of American business since the country was founded.

The New Deal programs empowered the federal government to exercise greater control over the national economy, to assist poor and unemployed persons, to recognize and enforce the right of collective bargaining, and to administer the complex system of Social Security.

The National Science Foundation provides funding for basic research and development to promote and advance science and engineering in the United States.

The National Labor Relations Board organized and monitored union-recognition elections and protected workers and unions against employers’ unfair practices.

Before the establishment of the national mint, the United States had to depend on foreign or individual states’ coins.

The Department of Labor is directly related to business communities in the United States by its official charge to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners of the United States.

Various agencies within the Justice Department specialize in the investigation and prosecution of white-collar and corporate crime on the federal level.

Since its inception, the Department of the Interior has handled miscellaneous duties in addition to controlling public lands.

Although the official mission of the Department of Housing and Urban Development is to help people find adequate housing and oversee the development of urban areas, it has evolved into the federal agency most helpful to the banking, real estate, and construction industries in the United States.

A major part of the mission of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is to enable commerce to take place freely.

In addition to its impact on the entire economy, spending by government provides attractive opportunities and subsidies for numerous businesses.

Although four other sites also store the nation’s gold bullion holdings, the federal depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, has served as the primary U.S. gold safeguarding facility since the first years of the New Deal, with assets during the early twenty-first century estimated at 147.3 million ounces of gold valued at more than $123 billion.

The oversight provided by the Food and Drug Administration affects directly such businesses as agriculture, tobacco, meat processing and packing, pharmaceuticals, the cosmetics industry, and the makers of much of the biomedical hardware commonly found in modern medical facilities.

The Federal Trade Commission is charged with protecting consumers from unfair competition and unfair or deceptive acts in commerce.