Speaking of the Economy

Sierra Latham and Sarah Gunn discuss the current shortage of teachers nationally and in the Fifth Federal Reserve District, how supply-demand forces have contributed to this labor market gap, and what is happening in response. Latham is a senior research analyst and Gunn is director of economic education at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmo...

Chen Yeh discusses the factors that have contributed to an increase in new business formation during the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic implications of this entrepreneurship surge. 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/2023/speaking_2023_01_18_startups

Huberto Ennis explores how the Federal Reserve used its asset purchases to deal with market disruptions and the unprecedented economic issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also discusses why and how the Fed is unwinding these purchases. Ennis is group vice president for macro and financial economics at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.rich...

Claudia Macaluso and Sonya Ravindranath Waddell discuss recent challenges in finding and retaining workers, and how businesses have changed their recruitment tactics, adjusted wages, and made other changes in response to these challenges. Macaluso is an economist and Waddell is a vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.ri...

Joanne Hsu talks about the widely followed Surveys of Consumers and the information they provide on inflation expectations. Hsu is director of the surveys and a research associate professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. She was a panelist at the " Demystifying Inflation " session of the Richmond Fed's District Dialogues event series on November 7, 2022. Full t...

Adam Scavette provides an approach to interpreting news coverage of the economy and applies that framework to the major economic stories of 2022. Scavette is a regional economist based at the Baltimore, Md., branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_12_14_economics_news

Jason Kosakow and Santiago Pinto describe how survey data is gathered and used to assess regional and national economic conditions. Kosakow is survey director and Pinto is a senior economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_12_07_surveys

Carrie Cook describes the role of the Federal Reserve System in the community development sector and how the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond partners with communities to fulfill this role. Cook became the Richmond Fed's community affairs officer and vice president of community development in 2022. Full transcript and related links: https://richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking...

John O'Trakoun and Pierre-Daniel Sarte discuss the persistence of inflation over the years and what may set apart the current period of elevated prices compared to historical patterns. O'Trakoun is a senior policy economist and Sarte is a senior advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_...

Horacio Sapriza discusses a new measure of conditions in credit markets and how shocks in those markets affect the broader economy. Sapriza is a senior economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_11_09_credit_sentiment

Kartik Athreya responds to recent critiques of the Federal Reserve and its efforts to combat inflation. Athreya is executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_10_19_fed_inflation 

Russell Wong discusses the emergence of stablecoin as an alternative to more volatile cryptocurrencies in the financial system. Wong 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/speaking_2022_10_12_stablecoin

Chang-Tai Hsieh and Tao Zha share their research on China's economy and financial system, and discuss the country's growth during the last decade as well as its recent regulation of private firms and banks. Hsieh is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, while Zha is executive director of the Center for Quantitative Economic Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and a pro...

Grey Gordon discusses his research and other economists' work on the macroeconomic and policy factors that shape the price of higher education. Gordon 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/speaking_2022_09_14_college_tuition

Does everyone have the same set of choices when it comes to retirement and other financial decisions pertaining to aging, and is there anything we can do about disparities in access to those choices? Charles Gerena posed these questions to the three panelists from the District Dialogues event in August 2022 titled " The Economics of an Aging America ." Full transcript and related links: https://ww...

Andy Bauer reviews economic conditions in Maryland, the District of Columbia and West Virginia, based on recent conversations with local contacts and analysis of the data. Bauer is a vice president and regional executive at the Richmond Fed, with responsibility for business and community engagement in these parts of the Fifth Federal Reserve District. Full transcript and related links: https://www...

Renee Haltom offers an overview of economic conditions in Virginia, based on her recent conversations with local contacts and analysis of the data. Haltom is a vice president and regional executive at the Richmond Fed, with responsibility for engagement with businesses and communities in Virginia. Full transcript and related links: https://richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_...

Matt Martin provides an update on economic conditions in North Carolina and South Carolina, based on his recent conversations with local business contacts and analysis of the data. Martin is the regional executive based at the Richmond Fed's Charlotte office. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_08_10_carolinas

Sierra Latham and Stephanie Norris discuss the challenges of collecting socioeconomic data on small towns and rural areas, how data analysts address them, and the value of that work in analyzing and improving the Richmond Fed's understanding of these communities. Latham and Norris are senior research analysts on the Regional and Community Analysis team at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and rela...

Toan Phan discusses the current state of research on climate economics and how the effects of climate change are reflected in financial markets. Phan is a senior economist at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_07_20_climate_change

John O'Trakoun offers an update on where inflation stands, how it is affecting the economy, and what steps the Federal Reserve is taking to bring it down. O'Trakoun is a senior policy economist at the Richmond Fed and primary author of the Bank's Macro Minute blog . Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_07_13_inflation

Sonya Ravindranath Waddell shares insights from the latest survey of chief financial officers and other financial decision-makers at companies across the United States. Waddell is a vice president and economist at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_06_29_cfo_survey

Andreas Hornstein and Thomas Lubik discuss their research on changes in the labor market since the pandemic. Hornstein and Lubik are senior advisors at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_06_22_labor_markets

Nicolas Morales reviews his research on the economic role of non-native workers in rural areas. Morales is an economist at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2022_06_15_rural_immigration

Laura Ullrich and Jason Kosakow discuss how community colleges contribute to their local economies, especially rural communities, and how their new survey addresses knowledge gaps about these important contributions. Ullrich is a regional economist based at the Richmond Fed's Charlotte office and Kosakow is the Bank's survey director. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/...