The Economic Value of Farming in Rural Communities
Joseph Mengedoth provides an overview of the economic contributions of agriculture in the rural parts of the Fifth District. Mengedoth is a regional economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2025/speaking_2025_05_21_farming
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10:01
How the Fed Mines Data for New Insights
Nicolas Morales, Horacio Sapriza, and Chen Yeh take listeners behind the scenes on how they work with detailed, confidential datasets about businesses and individuals. They also discuss how they gain insights on topics like immigration, credit markets, and labor productivity while safeguarding privacy rights. Morales is an economist, Sapriza is a senior economist and policy advisor, and Yeh is a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2025/speaking_2025_05_14_fed_data
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13:47
Community Colleges Bring Education Behind Bars
Stephanie Norris and Matthew Wells discuss their recent research on workforce development programs at community colleges that are aimed at helping the incarcerated re-enter the workforce after they are released. Norris is a senior research analyst and Wells is a senior economics writer, both at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2025/speaking_2025_05_07_community_colleges_incarcerated
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13:06
CFO Optimism Falls as Tariff Concerns Rise
Zach Edwards and Daniel Weitz discuss the concerns that chief financial officers across the country reported about their own companies and the national economy in the latest CFO Survey. Edwards is a research analyst on the Regional and Community Analysis team at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Weitz is a csurvey director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2025/speaking_2025_04_23_cfo_survey_tariffs
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10:27
A New Way of Detecting Recessions
John O'Trakoun and Adam Scavette discuss their new approach to gauging the health of the economy and the likelihood that a recession is taking place before other indicators would detect it. O'Trakoun is a senior policy economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Scavette is a community development economic advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2025/speaking_2025_04_16_sos_recession_indicator
Speaking of the Economy is the podcast of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. In each episode, we'll hear from the Richmond Fed's economists and other experts at the Bank and in the communities we serve about the economic issues they are exploring.