Publications

In-Depth: What’s Not Working This Time Around? Third Dialogue Examines Why Unemployment Remains High

(9 Reviews)

Are Small Businesses the Biggest Producers of Jobs?

It's often said that small businesses generate the most jobs in the U.S. This is true if one looks at the gross number of jobs. But because small businesses have a high failure rate, they are not the largest producer of jobs at the net level.

(30 Reviews)

Reader Exchange

(0 Reviews)

Why "Fixing" China's Currency Is No Quick Fix

By Brett W. Fawley and Luciana Juvenal

Even if China does revalue its currency, jobs aren’t likely to come flooding back to the United States. Much of what China exports to the U.S. originates in other Asian countries.

(13 Reviews)

Reader Exchange

(0 Reviews)

Disagreement at the FOMC: The Dissenting Votes Are Just Part of the Story

By Michael W. McCracken

Recently released data on economic forecasts made by voting and nonvoting members of the FOMC suggest that there is more disagreement than the voting record indicates.

(23 Reviews)

District Overview: Eighth District Fares Better than Nation in Job Losses

(0 Reviews)

Inflation May Be the Next Dragon To Slay

By Kevin L. Kliesen

Although some think it’s too soon to worry about high inflation, there are risks for that to happen in the medium term. Besides the obvious risks, a new bubble might be brewing in asset prices as investors search for higher returns, and the gap between actual output and potential output might be smaller than most think. Watch video

(22 Reviews)

The Dismal Science Tackles Happiness Data

By Rubén Hernández-Murillo and Christopher J. Martinek

While many believe that money does buy happiness, research shows that richer people aren’t necessarily happier people, especially in the United States.

(7 Reviews)

The "Man-Cession" of 2008-2009: It's Big, but It's Not Great

By Howard J. Wall

That men are losing jobs at a much faster rate than women during this recession shouldn't be a surprise. The pattern is typical. And it's not just the men in the hard hats who are out of a job—men in almost all categories of work are being affected disproportionately.

(7 Reviews)

District Overview: Annual Revision of Metro Jobs Data Shows Little Change from Earlier Reports

By Thomas A. Garrett and Michael R. Pakko

(0 Reviews)

District Overview: Employment Growth Mixed Across Eighth District

(0 Reviews)

National Overview: Threats to the Economy Don’t Let Up

By Kevin L. Kliesen

(0 Reviews)

The Mortgage Crisis: Let Markets Work, But Compensate the Truly Needy

By William R. Emmons

As painful as it may be, letting the housing and mortgage markets sort out these problems on their own would be best for the economy in the long run. Large-scale government interventions are not necessarily the best policy responses, although those made truly needy by this crisis need to be helped.

(5 Reviews)

Neighborhoods That Don't Work

By Allison K. Rodean and Christopher H. Wheeler

Unemployment is becoming more concentrated. Neighborhoods that had high unemployment in 1980 had even higher unemployment 20 years later. What are the possible reasons—and solutions—for this trend?

(1 Reviews)

Trading Barbs: A Primer on the Globalization Debate

By Kevin L. Kliesen

Support for free trade seems to be waning, even though history has shown that globalization has produced large benefits for most parts of the world. How far—if at all—should policymakers go to appease those who hold a different view?

(3 Reviews)

District Overview: Louisville's Job Growth Lags on Many Fronts

By Kristie M. Engemann and Howard J. Wall

(0 Reviews)

District Overview: Rock Solid in Little Rock?

By Giang Ho and Anthony Pennington-Cross

(0 Reviews)

District Overview: Three Metro Areas Outside St. Louis Outpace State of Missouri as a Whole

By Elizabeth La Jeunesse and Christopher H. Wheeler