Timely Topics

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Charles Gascon, economist and research officer, discuss economic insights from the latest Beige Book release highlighting the Arkansas region and the Eighth District.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Charles Gascon, economist and research officer, offer economic insights from the latest Beige Book release highlighting the Arkansas region and the Eighth District.

How do households react to economic surprises? While inflation affects all consumers, unexpected inflation spikes can have a more significant impact on some households than others. “For some households that find it hard to move resources around or borrow or adjust their savings, unexpected inflation will have a large effect on them,” says St. Louis Fed economist Yu-Ting Chiang. In this episode, Chiang previews his upcoming research on the effects of unexpected inflation shocks and their impact on households.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Charles Gascon, economist and research officer, offer economic insights from the latest Beige Book release highlighting the Arkansas region and the Eighth District.

What happens if U.S. dollars are spent overseas and stay there? Senior economic policy advisor Christopher Neely analyzes how much U.S. currency is held abroad and if that's a problem or an advantage for the U.S. Neely discusses the level of U.S. banknotes kept overseas and explains why those dollars can act as an interest-free loan.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Charles Gascon, economist and research officer, offer economic insights from the latest Beige Book release with a focus on the Arkansas region and the Eighth District.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Charles Gascon, economist and research officer, discuss economic insights from the latest Beige Book release with a focus on the Arkansas region and the Eighth District.

Even if they have good grades and excellent standardized test scores, are low-income students more or less likely to accept an offer letter from a highly selective college? While the question is simple, the answer is complex and at times surprising. “What we see is that they instead end up enrolling in a less-selective college despite being accepted into a top college,” says St. Louis Fed Economist Ricardo Marto says. In this episode, Marto previews his forthcoming research into how income can affect where students apply and ultimately which offer letters they accept.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Charles Gascon, economist and research officer, discuss economic insights from the latest Beige Book release with a focus on the Arkansas region and the Eighth District.

What is a soft landing, and how do we know if one is possible? In this episode, St. Louis Fed Economic Policy Advisor Paulina Restrepo-Echavarría unpacks that question and explains the importance of the Beveridge curve, an economic indicator that represents the relationship between the unemployment rate and the job openings rate. She'll also discuss how a historic change in job openings prompted her and a colleague from the Dallas Fed to explore how the Beveridge curve could be expanded to analyze whether a soft landing is possible.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Charles Gascon, senior economist, discuss economic insights about the Arkansas region and the Eighth District from the latest Beige Book release.

What patterns emerge when you zoom out and look at more than 80 years of data on income and housing? The answer is both nuanced and surprising. “Many members of these newer generations seem to be starting off their careers in smaller metro areas,” said St. Louis Fed economist Victoria Gregory. “These early in life location patterns are interesting because location choice is usually driven by job opportunities and affordability concerns.” In this podcast, Gregory reveals what did and didn't change regarding income, home ownership rates and, ultimately, where people decided to live across four different generations.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Thomas Walstrum, senior business economist at the Chicago Fed, discuss their insights about economic conditions in Arkansas and the Fed's Seventh District.

How does population decline affect both short- and long-term economic growth? “There is a concern among developed countries that this may have an impact on productivity,” said Juan Sanchez, senior economic policy advisor at the St. Louis Fed. “But there is not a lot of research on that.” In this podcast episode, Sanchez discusses his research about how population decline impacts productivity, a key driver of economic growth.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Chad Wilkerson, senior vice president and Oklahoma City Branch executive for the Kansas City Fed, discuss their insights on the Arkansas and Oklahoma regional economies.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Nathan Jefferson, associate economist, discuss economic insights about the Arkansas region from the latest Beige Book release.

The St. Louis Fed's Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Nathan Jefferson, associate economist, discuss economic insights about the Arkansas region from the latest Beige Book release.

Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, is joined by Senior Economist Charles Gascon, who helps compile the qualitative summary of economic activity for the Beige Book. They discuss the anecdotal information that is collected and the way it informs how economists think about the economy.

St. Louis Fed economist Nathan Jefferson discusses highlights from the national Beige Book summary. An overall summary of the 12 district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis with the St. Louis Fed responsible for this edition. Also, Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, provides highlights and the latest perspectives about the Arkansas economy.

In this Timely Topics podcast episode, Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the St. Louis Fed's Little Rock Branch, and Nathan Jefferson, associate economist, discuss economic insights about the Arkansas region from the latest Beige Book release.

“Although it isn't exactly new, the most alarming recent feature of financial markets may be the inverted yield curve,” says Chris Neely, an economist and vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, explaining that short rates are higher than long rates currently and have been for some time. Neely discusses his research on the yield curve and recession indicators.

In this Timely Topics podcast episode, Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Nathan Jefferson, associate economist, discuss economic insights about the Arkansas region from the July Beige Book.

“Of particular concern is the extent to which wages have kept up with the rising cost of living,” says Victoria Gregory, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in explaining the distinction between real and nominal wage growth. Gregory discusses her research on inflation and real wages in this podcast episode.

“People's tendency to learn more information about the economy during crisis and downturns can actually lead to greater uncertainty,” says Yu-Ting Chiang, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, discussing the effect of macroeconomic uncertainty on information consumption and decision making.

In this Timely Topics podcast episode, Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Nathan Jefferson, associate economist, discuss economic insights about the Arkansas region from the May Beige Book.

“Wealthy households, by investing mostly in their own businesses … compound their wealth at a much higher rate than the rest of the population,” says Serdar Ozkan, a research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, explaining how the wealthiest people became rich.

In this Timely Topics podcast episode, Matuschka Lindo Briggs, senior vice president and regional executive of the Little Rock Branch, and Nathan Jefferson, associate economist, discuss economic insights about the Arkansas region from the April Beige Book.

“The data shows that most of the individuals during the COVID-19 episode—among those who quit—they quit to take another job,” says Serdar Birinci, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Birinci discusses his research on job transitions in this podcast episode.

“I would say that, in the present conditions, a soft landing is possible given that it's likely that poaching vacancies go down by more than unemployment vacancies,” says Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “We're kind of hopeful.”

“Inflation is a sustained rise in the general price level,” says Chris Neely, a vice president in the Research Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He discusses the basics of inflation—how it affects the economy, the causes of inflation and how to control it.

When the fed funds rate increases, it turns out that interest rates for checking, savings or time deposits don't increase by as much, notes Julian Kozlowski, a senior economist at the St. Louis Fed. Consumers may then choose to invest in less-liquid, but higher-return assets. This, in turn, can decrease—or “dry-up”—liquidity in financial markets. Kozlowski discusses all things liquidity in this Timely Topics podcast.

“How can firms and how can governments internalize uncertainty of a future shock and what can they do today to hedge the risks of something happening in the future?” asks Ana Maria Santacreu, research officer at the St. Louis Fed, in her latest discussion about supply chain disruptions.

“FRED is basically a trusted source of economic data,” says Katrina Stierholz, group vice president who oversees FRED at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. She is joined by Carlos Garriga, research director; Keith Taylor, FRED data officer; and Yvetta Fortova, FRED product owner; in a discussion about the history of this economic data, how they focus on the experiences of FRED users and share their favorite FRED data sets.

“We're experiencing relative scarcity of shipping capacity. So, it's no surprise that we've been facing not just higher prices but also increased delays,” says Fernando Leibovici, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He examines international shipping cost increases.

“During the pandemic, a lot of people had reasons to retire and the way that markets evolved allowed them to retire,” says Miguel Faria-E-Castro, a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He is joined by Lowell Ricketts, a data scientist at the Institute for Economic Equity, to discuss the “Great Retirement,” how COVID-19 is connected to increased retirements and the demographics of those retirees.

“Over the past few decades, production has become more global … and as a result, the production process today is more fragmented and is more complex than what it was several decades ago,” says Ana Maria Santacreu, senior economist at the St. Louis Fed, who discusses her research on disrupted supply chains.

“The impact that everyday people can have on policy and procedures,” surprised Alice K. Houston when she first became a member of the board of directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. She shares her experiences as a child of the civil rights movement growing up in segregated Louisville, challenges she faced as a minority business owner and her commitment to community service.

“The initial effects of the pandemic on employment were actually uneven across occupations,” says Serdar Birinci, economist at the St. Louis Fed, adding that service industries saw the largest effects.

“There are a couple of differences between Black and white millennials that may help explain these [wealth] disparities,” says Lowell Ricketts, data scientist at the Institute for Economic Equity at the St. Louis Fed, who cites student loans and home ownership. Ricketts joins Ana Hernández Kent, senior researcher, in a discussion about the wealth accumulation of millennials.

“As countries have become more integrated, not only in terms of trading goods and services but also in terms of trading ideas, protecting intellectual property has become more important,” says Ana Maria Santacreu, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

“We believe rural communities will achieve longer-term, more durable success if they look inside their boundaries for opportunities to invest in and focus on,” says Daniel Paul Davis, vice president and community affairs officer at the St. Louis Fed. Davis joins Andrew Dumont, senior community development analyst at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, as they discuss a new book they co-edited, Investing in Rural Prosperity.

William M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, discusses how the St. Louis Fed works to promote a more inclusive and equitable economy: “We are focused on advancing research that informs equity-based policies and practices leading to an economy that works for everybody.”

Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, discusses how the post-World War II Bretton Woods agreement applies to life in 2021—a time when America and the world are in various stages of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We really needed to help move the needle on educational materials, and so, we're working to provide educators with up-to-date information and quality teaching resources,” says Federal Reserve Economist Jane Ihrig. She joins economic education coordinator Scott Wolla in discussing how educators should update their teaching on Fed monetary policy tools.

Juan Sanchez, assistant vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, talks about trends in credit card debt, mortgage debt and foreclosures during the pandemic and how they compare with those of the financial crisis.

“Access to college types can be used as an effective tool for the purpose of fighting inequality,” says Oksana Leukhina, economist and research officer at the St. Louis Fed. She talks about how changes to the current meritocratic college admissions system in the U.S. could combat inequality.

Meredith Covington, Supervisory Policy and Risk Analysis manager, and Ana Hernández Kent, Institute for Economic Equity senior researcher, discuss how the “she-cession” is disproportionately affecting women of color and sparking conversations about caregiving responsibilities.

Oksana Leukhina, economist and research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, talks about the importance of students understanding the college selection process in the U.S. to tip the scale in their direction.

Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, discusses what firms consider when weighing the decision to post wages for open positions or negotiate with prospective employees instead.

Four senior executives at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis talk about their careers, challenges they have faced as Black Americans and what organizations and allies can do to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

YiLi Chien, economist and research officer at the St. Louis Fed, discusses how investing in the stock market can play a role in wealth inequality. He also explains why some people may choose to not invest in stocks, despite their higher returns historically.