Speaking of the Economy

Host Tim Sablik shares some of the key insights from community development experts at the Richmond Fed's fifth annual Investing in Rural America Conference. The event was held in Roanoke, Va., in May 2024. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_06_19_ira_recap

Jason Kosakow and Adam Scavette review the economic effects of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on the national, regional, and local level. Kosakow is the Richmond Fed's survey director and Scavette is a regional economist at the Bank's branch office in Baltimore. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_...

Alexander Wolman discusses the Federal Reserve's establishment of an inflation target in 2012 and how that has fit within the Fed's evolving monetary policy framework. Wolman is vice president for monetary and macroeconomic research at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_05_22_inflation_target

Taylor Bennett and Kim Reed describe how community development organizations in West Virginia use land banks to bring new economic activity to abandoned property. Bennett is executive director of the West Virginia Land Stewardship Corporation and Reed is executive director of the Nitro Land Reuse Authority. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_eco...

Daniel Weitzner, an information security expert at MIT, discusses the cyber threats to the financial services industry and the challenges of measuring and modeling those risks. He also shares learnings from a recent conference co-hosted by MIT, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/pod...

Adam Scavette, a regional economist at the Baltimore branch of the Richmond Fed, and Keith Waters of George Mason University discuss their analysis of migration patterns in Maryland and how they might help explain a significant reduction in the state's workforce since the COVID-19 pandemic. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speakin...

Richmond Fed economist Santiago Pinto discusses what economists have learned about policies intended to promote economic development in specific communities. He also outlines the intended and unintended spillover effects beyond the targeted communities. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_04_10_place_based_policies

Richmond Fed economist Nicolas Morales shares his research on immigration policy and how the regulation of the flow of information technology workers from India to the United States during the 1990s benefited both countries' IT sectors. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_04_03_immigration_it_india

Laura Ullrich and Jacob Walker review data they have gathered from the Richmond Fed Survey of Community College Outcomes about high school students who take dual enrollment classes. They also discuss difference in how these classes are funded. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_03_20_dual_enrollment

Richmond Fed economist Nicholas Trachter shares his research on the market concentration and power of firms and whether the increased concentration in national markets has reduced competition in local markets. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_03_13_market_concentration

Felipe Schwartzman and Sonya Waddell discuss their research on the relationship between inflation and firms' expectations for their costs and prices, informed by the responses to special questions added to the Richmond Fed's business surveys since 2021. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_03_06_inflation_expectations

Yaa Opoku-Agyeman of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Rachel Lee of Uber Eats talk about their careers as economists and how they have applied their research and analysis skills to address everyday issues. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_02_21_econ_in_action

Richmond Fed economist John Bailey Jones shares what he has learned about the savings decisions of people when they're single compared to when they're married, particularly during retirement. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_02_14_marriage_retirement

Richmond Fed economists Andreas Hornstein and Marios Karabarbounis discuss their research on unemployment insurance (UI), most recently on the disincentive effects of the substantial expansion of UI benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_02_07_unemp_insurance

Workforce development was a major topic of conversation when Matt Martin and Erika Bell recently met with business and community leaders in Pickens County and Oconee County, South Carolina. In this episode, Martin and Bell discussed what they learned during their visit. Two local workforce development leaders — Jeromy Arnett and Ray Farley of Alliance Pickens — also shared their stories. Full tran...

John O'Trakoun reviews different ways of tracking inflation that are intended to screen out noise and provide a more accurate forecast of price levels. He also discusses his unique approach to capturing this key economic indicator. O'Trakoun is a senior policy economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_...

Thomas Lubik and Christian Matthes discuss how economists wrestle with measuring the natural rate of interest or r-star, why this measure is important for monetary policymakers, and how their model has evolved to better chart the path of interest rates. Lubik is a senior advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Matthes is a professor of economics at Indiana University. Full transcript a...

Kartik Athreya, the Richmond Fed's research director, answers questions submitted by listeners about housing, the Fed's bond purchases, interest rate targeting, and artificial intelligence. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2023/speaking_2023_12_20_ask_richmond_fed

Claudia Macaluso discusses the surge in workers doing their jobs at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing effects of the remote work option on labor markets and the economy as a whole. Macaluso is an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2023/speaking_2023_12_13_remote_work

Tim Sablik, host of the Speaking of the Economy podcast, reviews the five most popular episodes of 2023 that explored topics beyond inflation and monetary policy. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2023/speaking_2023_23_06_greatest_hits

Laura Ullrich provides an update on the Richmond Fed Survey of Community College Outcomes, which aims to provide more accurate and detailed data on the performance of community colleges and their students. Ullrich is a senior regional economist at the Charlotte branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_ec...

Paul Ho talks about how countries are connected to each other through international trade and how these connections help spread economic shocks across the globe. Ho is an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2023/speaking_2023_11_15_cross-country_spillovers

Jarrod Elwell and Jason Smith share what the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has learned about the financing needs of rural parts of the Fifth District and how the Bank's Rural Investment Collaborative and other programs help community leaders address those needs. Elwell is a community development manager and Smith is a senior community development advisor at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and...

Tom Bilston and Tony Murray discuss how banks use machine learning, chat bots and other forms of AI as well as what these technological innovations mean for bank examiners, both in terms of the risks they monitor and how they do their job. Bilston is Assistant Vice President and Horizontal Team Lead, LISCC Program, Capital Retail Credit; and Murray is SRC Strategy, Risk and Innovation Team Lead at...

Andy Bauer and Danny Twilley discuss the research they are doing to better understand gaps in the housing markets of rural communities and small towns and the unique challenges they face in addressing these gaps. Bauer is vice president and regional executive for the Baltimore branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Twilley is assistant vice president of economic, community and asset devel...