Timely Topics

“There are a growing number of communities within economics for young women who may feel isolated or questioning whether or not this is a path that they want to pursue,” says Fenaba Addo, assistant professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a visiting scholar at the St. Louis Fed’s Center for Household Financial Stability. She 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. She also discusses her work on economically vulnerable populations, including black families, women and children, low-income households and young adults.

“We are identified as women in the field, and yet, we really want to be known as good in the field regardless of whether we’re a woman or a man,” says Loretta Mester, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, senior media relations specialist at the St. Louis Fed, about being a leader in the male-dominated field of economics. They also discuss Mester’s love of math, how she “lucked” into economics, the “publish or perish” mentality in the field, and her adjunct teaching experience at the Wharton School. “You can have a pretty good life and an interesting career by doing economics.”

St. Louis Fed economist Ana Maria Santacreu talks about the rise in innovation around the globe. She also explains three ways to measure innovation.

“We need to fix the issue of girls thinking that they cannot study something with math,” says Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria. She is a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. She talks with Mary Suiter, assistant vice president and economic education officer at the St. Louis Fed, about the economic theory of matching and how it applies to finding a spouse or partner. They also discussed why we need more women in macroeconomics and how we should encourage girls to pursue economics and other fields involving math. “We need to teach them, since they are very little, that they're good at math, that they can learn it, that if they want to, they can do it,” she says, adding that building self-esteem and empowerment is a starting point. “They need to know that they can do it.”

Why should you care about the debt oil-producing countries hold? St. Louis Fed economist Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria explains her research on oil-producing countries in the developing world—in particular, their likelihood of defaulting on their public debt. Spoiler alert: Having more oil doesn't guarantee that a country won't default.

“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 Susan Feigenbaum. Feigenbaum is a curators’ distinguished teaching professor in the department of economics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Hear voices of past economic policymakers and learn about their sometimes bumpy relationships. David Wheelock, St. Louis Fed deputy director of research, gives context, and library director Katrina Stierholz describes resources in online digital library FRASER (Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research).

On April 1, 2018, James 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. What's most fascinating about his journey is that his appointment coincided with the worst financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression.

“Maybe we can do better than we have,” on diversity in economics, says Claudia 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.

“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 Ellen Zentner, chief economist at Morgan Stanley. This “aha” moment led Zentner to actively manage her career, and the result was advancement and success. Zentner went from the University of Colorado to the state of Texas and finally to Wall Street.