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Timely Topics

Education Podcasts

In the Timely Topics podcast series, economists and other Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis experts talk about their research and current topics in the news. (Views expressed are not necessarily those of the St. Louis Fed or Federal Reserve System.)

Location:

United States

Description:

In the Timely Topics podcast series, economists and other Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis experts talk about their research and current topics in the news. (Views expressed are not necessarily those of the St. Louis Fed or Federal Reserve System.)

Language:

English

Contact:

314-444-8810


Episodes

March 2024 Beige Book Interview – Little Rock

3/7/2024
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.

Duration:00:07:05

January 2024 Beige Book Interview – Little Rock

1/18/2024
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.

Duration:00:05:41

November 2023 Beige Book Interview – Little Rock

11/30/2023
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.

Duration:00:06:56

October 2023 Beige Book Interview – Little Rock

10/19/2023
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.

Duration:00:06:28

August 2023 Beige Book Interview – Little Rock

9/7/2023
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.

Duration:00:07:20

Does Past Success Guarantee Future Results? The Yield Curve

9/5/2023
“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.

Duration:00:13:04

July 2023 Beige Book Interview – Little Rock

7/13/2023
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.

Duration:00:07:46

Real vs. Nominal Wage Growth

7/6/2023
“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.

Duration:00:10:00

The Impact of Macroeconomic Uncertainty

6/23/2023
“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.

Duration:00:06:39

May 2023 Beige Book Interview – Little Rock

6/1/2023
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.

Duration:00:07:10

How the Rich Became Rich

5/4/2023
“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.

Duration:00:09:52

April 2023 Beige Book Interview – Little Rock

4/20/2023
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.

Duration:00:07:19

The Great Reallocation During the COVID-19 Recession

4/5/2023
“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.

Duration:00:09:49

The Beveridge Curve and Implications for a Soft Landing

2/22/2023
“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.”

Duration:00:17:18

The Basics of Inflation

2/7/2023
“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.

Duration:00:16:16

Understanding Liquidity and the Fed Funds Rate

10/5/2022
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.

Duration:00:11:53

The Need for More Resilient Supply Chains

8/17/2022
“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.

Duration:00:11:24

Innovation Drives the FRED Team

8/4/2022
“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.

Duration:00:35:09

International Shipping Costs During and After COVID-19

5/11/2022
“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.

Duration:00:15:32

Retirements increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Who retired and why?

3/30/2022
“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.

Duration:00:10:41