Speaking of the Economy

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_economy/2024/speaking_2024_05_15_land_banks

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/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_05_08_cyber_risks_financial_sector

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/speaking_2024_04_17_outmigration_maryland

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 transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_01_24_workforce_development

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_economy/2024/speaking_2024_01_17_measuring_inflation

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 and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_01_10_natural_rate

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_economy/2023/speaking_2023_11_29_survey_community_colleges

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