The Federal Government is involved in rural financial markets in a number of ways to ensure the safety and soundness of the financial services delivery system, to correct private financial market failures, and to further a variety of policy objectives that are only coincidentally related to rural financial markets themselves. This report is concerned with the usefulness of Federal intervention in rural financial markets as a mechanism for fostering rural development. The chapters in this report describe the financial system serving rural America, assess the adequacy of this system at meeting the financial needs of rural businesses and governments, and examine the effectiveness of previous Federal "credit" programs of special concern to rural America.