Speaking of the Economy

Renee Haltom and Sonya Waddell share what recent surveys and conversations with Fifth District contacts reveal about the expectations of businesses for their own prospects and the economy as a whole, as well as firms' concerns about inflation, labor markets, and other potential issues in 2025. Haltom is a regional executive and vice president and Waddell is a vice president at the Federal Reserve...

Emily Corcoran and Jen Giovannitti discuss the demand and supply factors that influence the financing of community development in rural areas, as well as the issues that impede the flow of capital into the places that need it. Corcoran is a senior manager of regional and community analysis at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Giovannitti is president of the Claude Worthington Benedum Founda...

Marina Azzimonti discusses the rise in the cost of borrowing for countries following the COVID-19 pandemic and the broader implications of this trend for emerging countries, especially those that don't have strong governmental institutions. Azzimonti is a senior economist and research advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/po...

Amanda Neitzel and Santiago Pinto report on the progress of students after the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, differences in the persistence of learning losses, and efforts to remediate these losses. Neitzel is an assistant research professor at the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, while Pinto is a senior economist and policy advisor at the Federal Re...

Ricardo Reis discusses how swap lines have supported the flow of U.S. currency into global financial markets to meet their liquidity needs and the dollar's prominence in those markets, especially during the 2007-08 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Reis is an economics professor at the London School of Economics and a long-term consultant at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full tra...

Laura Ullrich and Stephanie Norris dive into the initial results of the 2024 Survey of Community College Outcomes, including information on completion rates, transfer rates, and enrollment at more than 120 community colleges in five states. Ullrich and Norris are the director and associate director, respectively, of the Richmond Fed's Community College Initiative. Full transcript and related links...

Bethany Greene and Jason Kosakow review the damage wrought on communities in western North Carolina and other parts of the Fifth District from Hurricane Helene last September. They also share what their business contacts have told them about Helene's economic impacts, both within and outside of the hurricane's path. Greene is a regional economist at the Charlotte branch of the Richmond Fed and Kos...

John Bailey Jones and Urvi Neelakantan discuss their research on the living arrangements of older individuals and the implications of these homeowners aging in place for wealth accumulation and housing markets. Jones is vice president of microeconomic analysis and Neelakantan is a senior policy economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmo...

Felipe Schwartzman explains how he and other economists define the natural rate of interest, what factors have influenced this theoretical estimate of where long-term interest rates will settle, and what it tells us about how the cost of savings and borrowing will respond as monetary policy normalizes after the COVID-19 pandemic. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podca...

For our 150th episode, Anna Kovner reviews her career path to becoming the research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and reflects on the work of the Bank's Research department. Kovner also offers her views on various topics — including the banking turmoil of 2023, the Fed's "lender of last resort" role, current risks to the financial system, and the "neutral rate" of interest — as...

Alaina Barca and Surekha Carpenter examine the decline in the number of bank branches in certain communities and the economic effects of that trend. They also share data from the Banking Deserts Dashboard developed for the Fed Communities website. Barca is a community development research analyst at the Philadelphia Fed and Carpenter is a research analyst at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and r...

Erika Bell and Emily Corcoran discuss the capital needs of small business owners and recent insights yielded by the Federal Reserve's annual Small Business Credit Survey. Bell is community development regional manager for North Carolina and South Carolina and Corcoran is senior manager of regional and community analysis, both at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.rich...

Toan Phan reviews the risks faced by banks from the increased frequency and intensity of floods and other extreme weather events, and how banks and financial markets have responded to those risks. Phan is a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_10_23_banks_flood_ri...

Deborah Diamond and Adam Scavette discuss how anchor institutions such as universities and hospitals fit into the economic life of communities. Diamond is director of the Anchor Economy Initiative at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and Scavette is a regional economist at the Baltimore office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfe...

Anne Davlin discusses the current state of lending to the commercial real estate sector in the Fifth District, including the challenges faced by office building and multiunit housing developers and the ensuing risks posed to their lenders. Davlin is a senior quantitative analyst in the Richmond Fed's Supervision, Regulation and Credit department. Full transcript and related links: https://www.rich...

Tom Barkin, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, looks back on recent economic trends and how they have shaped the current state of the national economy. Topics include return to work, technology adoption and its implications for labor productivity, the surge in new business formation, and the Richmond Fed's current efforts to understand the economy better. (Note: This episod...

Pierre-Daniel Sarte and Sonya Waddell share survey results on businesses' use of AI tools and other forms of automation, and research on the potential effects of automation on the nation's overall productivity growth. Sarte is a senior advisor and Waddell is a vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of...

Katarína Borovičková and Claudia Macaluso describe their research on differences in wage growth between workers as they progress in their careers. Borovičková and Macaluso are economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_09_11_career_ladders

Sierra Stoney outlines the factors that have recently driven up premiums for homeowners insurance, adding pricing pressure to housing markets. Stoney is a senior research analyst on the Regional and Community Analysis team at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_08_21_homeowners_insurance

David Cox, Adin Hammond and Tyrese Wheaton describe their summer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond interning in three different departments. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_08_14_summer_interns

Chen Yeh discusses the differences in how much power companies have in labor markets and how that affects employees and their wages. Yeh is an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_08_07_monopsony

Jason Smith, senior community development advisor at the Richmond Fed, discussed the results of the first round of the Bank's Community Investment Training, which helps rural communities obtain funding for their economic and community development projects. He also shared his interview with one of the program's participants, Craig Sewell of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission....

Stephanie Norris and Laura Ullrich explain how an effort to make it easier for prospective college students to apply for federal financial aid has had ripple effects on enrollment at community colleges and other institutions of higher education. Norris is a senior research analyst and Ullrich is a senior regional economist at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmon...

Andy Bauer and Renee Haltom talk about why consumers and businesses are telling a different story about the economy than the data suggests. They also discuss how economists reconcile such differences between sentiment and data. Bauer and Haltom are regional executives at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_...

Borys Grochulski and Zhu Wang discuss the compensation structure of real estate agents and how that has shaped the homebuying process and the housing market in general. Grochulski is a senior economist and Wang is vice president for research in financial and payments systems at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/sp...