Our most recent episodes are shown first.
Lucia Foster, chief economist at the U.S. Census Bureau and chief of the Center for Economic Studies, talks about why she was drawn to the field of economics and how a 5K race inspired her. She also shares her experience working at the Census and the Congressional Budget Office.
Podcast | Released Aug. 21, 2019
The Federal Reserve is currently undertaking a review of its monetary policy framework. Why is the Fed doing this review? What does it entail? What will policymakers do with the information gathered? St. Louis Fed President James Bullard addresses these and related questions.
Podcast | Released Aug. 14, 2019
Ray Boshara—senior adviser and the director of the Center for Household Financial Stability at the St. Louis Fed—talks about the Center’s first five years, its purpose and its future. He discusses lessons learned when looking from a balance sheet perspective at the recovery following the Great Recession.
Podcast | Released Aug. 7, 2019
Martha Olney, a Berkeley professor, talks about her success teaching large econ classes, mentoring and the importance of women studying economics. She also discusses changing demographics in the field of economic studies and how former Berkeley undergrad Alice Wu’s thesis took the profession by storm.
Podcast | Released July 31, 2019
B. Ravikumar, senior vice president at the St. Louis Fed, talks about the role international trade plays in cross-country income differences. He discusses the study of economic development, who wins and who loses in trade, barriers to trade and more.
Podcast | Released July 19, 2019
Carmen Reinhart, a Harvard professor, talks about her childhood move to the U.S. from Cuba and her decision to study international economics. She also discusses being a woman in the male-dominated field of finance and how she likes to approach economics as a detective shining a light on puzzles.
Podcast | Released July 17, 2019
Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, talks about growing up in rural Missouri, her work in banking and how she expanded the role of women at the Jackson Hole Symposium.
Podcast | Released June 26, 2019
Jane Ihrig, associate director of the monetary affairs division at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, talks about her economics education, her work in the field and her unique experience on the Council of Economic Advisers during the 2008 financial crisis.
Podcast | Released May 29, 2019
Bloomberg financial journalist Kathleen Hays talks about economics education and the role it plays in her position as the global, economics and policy editor for Bloomberg Television and Radio. She also discusses business and journalism changes over her three decades reporting—and whom she’d like to interview next.
Podcast | Released May 15, 2019
Julie Stackhouse, executive vice president at the St. Louis Fed, talks about the Federal Reserve’s role in bank supervision. She discusses the critical nature of this function during and since the financial crisis, the changing landscape for community banks, the growth of fintech, and more.
Podcast | Released May 8, 2019
Flowers talks about her experience as a nontraditional student and her role as an economic education coordinator at the St. Louis Fed. In her role, she created resources for Girl Scouts to earn economics and personal finance badges. Flowers also talks about why she is passionate about creating economics curriculum for minority students.
Podcast | Released April 24, 2019
What is nominal GDP targeting, and how does it differ from inflation targeting? What would be some of the advantages and disadvantages of using nominal GDP targeting? Have any central banks used it? St. Louis Fed President James Bullard addresses these and related questions.
Podcast | Released April 19, 2019
Keith Taylor, senior coordinator for the St. Louis Fed’s Research Datadesk, demonstrates the functionality that is available with FRED, which is a set of free tools that allows users to find, visualize, download and understand economic data. He also takes questions from webinar participants.
Webinar | Recorded April 16, 2019
The 2017 federal tax overhaul reduced the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. In this podcast, Economist Don Schlagenhauf discusses a paper he wrote with two co-authors, “Corporate Income Tax, Legal Form of Organization, and Employment” and what their models say the optimal rate is.
Podcast | Released April 15, 2019
Amanda Bayer, professor of economics at Swarthmore College, talks about her research on diversity in the field of economics. She explains the importance of drawing from a broader range of the population so that peoples’ different life experiences can inform the questions economists ask and the answers they construct.
Podcast | Released March 27, 2019
Economist Wilcox talks about his research on the unequal distribution of economic education, the need for change in economics classrooms and how it is the responsibility of every member of the economics profession to work toward diversifying the field.
Editor's Note: At the time of this recording, Wilcox was the director of the research and statistics division of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors. He retired at the end of 2018.
Podcast | Released March 27, 2019
In this Timely Topics podcast, Senior Vice President Robert Hopkins reflects on the Little Rock Branch’s 100 years of history, from its start in payments to its focus on economic education and community development.
Podcast | Released March 25, 2019
Cook, associate professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University, talks about discovering economics while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. She also discusses how she overcame biases she faced as a woman and as an African-American; her research showing GDP could be higher if more women and African-Americans were involved at the beginning of the innovative process; and why she uses social media as a way to mentor students.
Podcast | Released Feb. 20, 2019
St. Louis Fed economist Don Schlagenhauf discusses his research about household debt levels and delinquency rates since the Great Recession. He talks about the metrics used to monitor debt levels in the Eighth District and said he doesn’t see any problem areas.
Podcast | Released Feb. 11, 2019
Warne, principal and investment strategist at Edward Jones, talks about being raised in a family of economists, how she believes education ties into confidence, and why we need women in finance, policy and economics.
Podcast | Released Jan. 16, 2019
Sheiner, an economist at the Brookings Institution, talks how she stumbled into economics after studying biology, her work in health economics and why she thinks high school debate could spark girls’ interest in econ.
Podcast | Released Dec. 12, 2018
St. Louis Fed economist Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria discusses her research on “search and matching,” particularly as it relates to the marriage market. She notes that studying the marriage market is important because it has implications for income inequality and taxation.
Podcast | Released Nov. 28, 2018
Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors, talks about women in economics at the international level, her time as the U.S. representative to the G20, her focus on financial stability and why encouraging more women and minorities to study economics remains an important challenge.
Podcast | Released Nov. 14, 2018
Osili, associate dean and professor at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, talks about growing up in Nigeria, the state of women in the economics profession internationally and the intersection of economics and philanthropy.
Podcast | Released Oct. 24, 2018
Douglas Scarboro, a St. Louis Fed senior vice president who is also the regional executive of our Memphis Branch, talks about how the Branch has changed over the past 100 years—from cotton receipts to cash services to the King himself: Elvis Presley.
Podcast | Released Oct. 15, 2018
St. Louis Fed economist Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria explains why governments borrow, what happens when a country defaults on its debt and how a country gets out of a debt crisis.
Podcast | Released Oct. 4, 2018
Hafer, an economics professor at St. Louis Community College-Meramec and author of children’s books about economics, talks about how teaching economics has evolved over the past 30 years.
Podcast | Released Sept. 19, 2018
St. Louis Fed economist Miguel Faria-e-Castro talks about rising inequality in both income and wealth in the United States and how we compare to other countries.
Podcast | Released Sept. 13, 2018
Swonk, chief economist and managing director at Grant Thornton, talks about her struggles with dyslexia and growing up in Detroit during the city’s economic “demise” of the 1970s and 1980s.
Podcast | Released Aug. 29, 2018
By now, just about everyone has heard of bitcoin, but what’s beyond that? Listen as St. Louis Fed economist David Andolfatto talks about the details of cryptocurrency, blockchain and regulation and how they differ (or don’t) from banking systems past and present.
Podcast | Released Aug. 27, 2018
Visiting scholar Addo talks about finding her voice as the only black woman in most of her economics courses on her way to her bachelor’s and graduate degrees. But she highlights an evolving culture in the field: “There are a growing number of communities within economics for young women who may feel isolated or questioning whether this is a path that they want to pursue.”
Podcast | Released July 19, 2018
Cleveland Fed President Mester talks about being a leader in the male-dominated field, how she “lucked” into economics, the “publish or perish” mentality, and her adjunct teaching experience at the Wharton School.
Podcast | Released June 19, 2018
St. Louis Fed economist Ana Maria Santacreu talks about the rise in innovation around the globe. She also explains three ways to measure innovation.
Podcast | Released June 7, 2018
St. Louis Fed Economist Restrepo-Echavarria is back in our studios to discuss the need for more women in macroeconomics and how to encourage girls to pursue economics and other fields involving math.
Podcast | Released May 15, 2018
Why should you care about the debt of oil-producing countries in the developing world? Economist Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria addresses this question as she discusses her research on debt default by these countries.
Podcast | Released May 4, 2018
“I firmly believe that there is more ‘we’ and less ‘me’ among women, which leads to productive teamsmanship and the nurturing of each other and the next generation of economists, whether male or female,” says Feigenbaum, a curators’ distinguished teaching professor in the department of economics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Podcast | Released April 25, 2018
Hear voices of past economic policymakers and learn about their sometimes bumpy relationships. The St. Louis Fed’s deputy director of research, David Wheelock, gives context, and our library director, Katrina Stierholz, describes resources in the digital library FRASER (Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research).
Podcast | Released April 18, 2018
On April 1, 2018, Bullard marked his 10th anniversary as president and CEO of the St. Louis Fed. In a series of conversations with his chief of staff, Cletus Coughlin, President Bullard reflected on his role as a policymaker, an academic and a CEO.
Podcast | Released April 13, 2018
“Maybe we can do better than we have,” on diversity in economics, says Sahm, the section chief for consumer and community development at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Despite groups and newsletters dedicated to women, minorities and the LGBT community, Sahm said there is room for improvement in the field.
Podcast | Released March 28, 2018
“I realized that keeping your head down and working hard was not going to get you that far, because you need to get recognized for that,” says Zentner, chief economist at Morgan Stanley. This “aha” moment led Zentner to actively manage her career, and the result was advancement and success.
Podcast | Released March 28, 2018
“There’s no way that I would have been able to find my way without some help,” says Daly. She shares her story of how she went from high school dropout to research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Daly credits a counselor, a professor, and even former Fed chair Janet Yellen for aiding in her success.
Podcast | Released March 28, 2018
Who is FRED, or Federal Reserve Economic Data? Who uses FRED? And why should you learn more about the widely-used database of financial and economic data? Keith Taylor and Yvetta Fortova of the data desk at the St. Louis Fed address these questions and more.
Podcast | Released Jan. 24, 2018
What do economists track during the holiday season to determine if it will be good for the economy? St. Louis Fed economist Kevin Kliesen discusses retail sales (online and in-store), personal consumption, consumer sentiment, payment methods, debt and more.
Podcast | Released Dec. 20, 2017
When the Fed decides to begin shrinking its $4.5 trillion balance sheet, what will that mean? Why is reducing the size important? St. Louis Fed economist David Wheelock addresses these questions.
Podcast | Released Sept. 1, 2017
Nikki Jackson, the head of the St. Louis Fed’s Louisville, Ky., Branch, talks about her role, that of her staff and that of her board of directors. Listen to her describe the “aha moment” when people realize the variety of work that the Branch does.
Podcast | Released Aug. 17, 2017
In this three-part podcast, St. Louis Fed economist David Wheelock covers: 1) What monetary policy is and how it affects us all; 2) Key monetary policy variables (employment and inflation); and 3) How low interest rates affect borrowers and savers.
Podcast | Released June 2, 2017
Our economic education officer, Mary Suiter, talks about our mission to get people of all ages to learn about basic economics and how to handle personal finances.
Podcast | Released May 5, 2017
Economist Max Dvorkin talks about his research into the impact of Chinese imports on U.S. jobs during the period 2000-07, a time when those imports were surging.
Podcast | Released Jan. 18, 2017
Before introducing a regular podcast, the St. Louis Fed offered educational videos under the Timely Topics name.
Economist David Wiczer discusses a study he and a colleague undertook that shows the ideal disability insurance program would be not much more generous than what we already have.
Video | Released Nov. 24, 2015
Economist B. Ravikumar explains how he and other economists are looking at cross-country income differences and the economic effects of trade barriers.
Video | Released Nov. 24, 2015
Unlike central banks in most other countries, the Federal Reserve System has a regional structure. St. Louis Fed economist and economic historian David Wheelock explains the history and benefits of the unusual structure of our central bank.
Video | Released Oct. 20, 2014
At one time or another, many of the major countries around the world had monetary systems based on a gold standard—currency that could be redeemed, at least in part, for gold. Economist David Andolfatto explains the gold standard and discusses its pros and cons.
Video | Released Oct. 20, 2014
Economists and other experts from the St. Louis Fed talk about their research, economics-related topics in the news and issues specifically related to the Fed. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or of the Federal Reserve System.
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