The St. Louis Fed's ''''Diálogo con La Fed'''' Coming to Little Rock on Oct. 2

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will hold a special Diálogo con la Fed on Thursday, Oct. 2, hosted by Carlos Garriga, St. Louis Fed economist and research officer.

Diálogo con la Fed is part of the St. Louis Fed’s Dialogue with the Fed: Beyond Today’s Financial Headlines free lecture series, designed to provide the public with the opportunity to hear from Fed experts on economic and financial issues of the day. Although the presentation will be given in English, the Q&A will be in English and Spanish.

Garriga will discuss how the dynamics of consumer debt in the U.S. — historically a major driver of economic growth — have been altered not only by the Great Recession, but also by changing cultural and generational demographics. These demographic shifts include the growing influence of Hispanic American households, the importance of young households (25 to 34 years old), and what these and other paradigm shifts could mean for the U.S. economy.

The Oct. 2 program will be held at the Little Rock Branch, located at 111 Stephens St., Little Rock. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., with dinner at 6:20 p.m. The discussion will get underway at 7 p.m., followed by the Q&A session with guests.

While the program is free of charge, registration is required. The deadline to register is Sept. 25. For more information, or to register, see the Diálogo registration site.

Garriga, who has been with the St Louis Fed since 2007, received his bachelor’s and doctorate in economics from the Universitat de Barcelona. Prior to joining the St. Louis Fed, he was an assistant professor of economics at the Department of Economics, Florida State University, and an assistant professor of economics at the Universitat de Barcelona. His current research focuses on macroeconomics, public finance and financial economics.