Your Fed, Your Voice Profile Series: Research Division

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Economics is really a tool set for how to think about the world and how to think about complex problems.

It is not about just interest rates or monetary policy or financial markets.

Different parts of the economy kind of function together in a giant system.

So fundamentally, economics is about studying a really complex system.

Our institution has essentially two core mandates: maximum employment and stable prices.

This is where the trained economists come in. We've been trained in economic theory, economic models.

I think it's really interesting to study how households and individuals and businesses make decisions, and then how that aggregates up and affects everyone in the broader economy.

I think we take the rigors of economic training and research very seriously here at the St. Louis Fed.

The economists are all experts in their respective subfields. They're all world class researchers.

We want to make sure that we have the most talented people understanding what's going on.

I think if the Fed is doing their job right, people aren't thinking about us on a day to day basis.

So they're free to live their economic lives, to be opening businesses, to be investing, to be, you know, working a good job and having opportunities for themselves and their families.