Speaking of the Economy

Daniel Davis talks about the barriers that rural communities face in fully realizing their economic potential and how economic development professionals have addressed those barriers. He also shares insights on this topic from the speakers at an Investing in Rural America webinar in June 2026. Davis is group vice president for regional economics at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_07_15_rural_econ_dev

John Bailey Jones and Jason Kosakow discuss their research on how family members and friends give their time and money to help each other and how these transfers benefit households. Jones is vice president of microeconomic analysis and Kosakow is survey director, both at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_07_08_helping_hands

John O'Trakoun discusses the supply shocks resulting from the recent conflicts in the Middle East and how businesses and consumers have responded to these shocks. O'Trakoun is a senior policy economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_07_01_supply_shocks

Urvi Neelakantan describes how employment, income growth and consumption can differ between groups of households and reviews recent trends in this divergence of economic outcomes. Neelakantan is a senior policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_06_17_k-shaped_economy

Surekha Carpenter and Borys Grochulski discuss how community development financial institutions work to help underserved communities that lack adequate access to credit and what factors determine their success in filling market gaps. Carpenter is a senior research analyst and Grochulski is a senior economist, both at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_06_10_cdfi_market_failures