Skip to Main Content

Econ Focus feature articles explore topics of regional and national importance, ranging from the housing market, to digital currency, to the future of work.


Econ Focus, First/Second Quarter 2024

Borrowers didn't have to make payments for three and a half years. How will they — and the economy — weather a rapidly changing student loan landscape?

Econ Focus, First/Second Quarter 2024

Some rural and small-town communities see potential for outdoor recreation to reinvigorate their economies.

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2023

While price-setting is challenging even in normal times, shocks during the past few years, such as the pandemic and inflation, have made it harder.

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2023

Rental housing has become less affordable across the country, but rural markets face additional difficulties.

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2023

Will the recently enacted CHIPS Act bring major growth to the region's semiconductor industry?

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2023

Leveraging some of its natural advantages, Virginia has encouraged the industry's growth through tax incentives and other initiatives. It is now home to hundreds of data centers, many in Northern Virginia's "Data Center Alley."

John Mullin

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2023

The persistence of hybrid work has left many wondering about the future of offices. With workers coming in less often, some companies have decided that they need less space. What does that mean for the banks that finance commercial real estate?

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced transit ridership across the country. Operators across the Fifth District are still figuring out how to adapt.

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2023

The Treasury bond market suffered a liquidity crisis at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. What reforms are needed to make sure it doesn't happen again?

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2022

In the past few years, job changing in the United States — workers leaving their current employers for new ones — seems to have been on the rise. This development, often called the "Great Resignation," has attracted much attention, but the reasons behind it are far from clear.

Abhimanyu Banerjee

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2022

The maps included here are from a data-mapping exercise completed by analysts at the Richmond Fed to highlight the impact of flooding on communities within North Carolina through the lens of social vulnerability.

Jessica Olayvar and Caroline Norris

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2022

Today's inflationary snarls reflect both supply shocks and policy stimulus.

John Mullin

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2022

States and communities are looking for remote workers as sources of economic growth. Is offering them cash and other perks a promising model of economic development?

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2022

Fewer veterans are using their education benefits. Is this trend a problem — or a sign of a more welcoming job market?

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2022

The dollar has been the global currency of choice for nearly a century, but in light of recent U.S.-led financial sanctions, some wonder whether that status will endure.

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2022

The pandemic has worsened a long-standing national shortage of nurses. Rural communities face the greatest challenges.

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2022

Entrepreneurship creates many local benefits, but starting a new business in rural places can be challenging

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2021

Will four-year degrees become less of a gateway for high-paying jobs? Should they?

Neeraja Deshpande

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2021

A surge of interest in starting new businesses could reverse a long-running drought.

Econ Focus, Second/Third Quarter 2021

New technology is changing where and how some crops are grown.

Econ Focus, Second/Third Quarter 2021

Governments across the globe recently reached agreement in principle on measures to counter the tax avoidance strategies of multinational corporations.

John Mullin

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2021

COVID-19 transformed how we work and socialize, which could put the future of cities on a new path

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2021

Green infrastructure can help reduce polluting runoff during severe storms, but questions about costs give some localities pause

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2020

Changes in the meat supply chain have brought benefits, but are vulnerabilities a cause for concern?

Emily Green

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2020

Decisions about investment at the firm level are important to the path of economic growth

Econ Focus, Second/Third Quarter 2020

Digital connections have become more important in a time of social distancing, but rural broadband access still lags behind cities.

Econ Focus, Second/Third Quarter 2020

Loan forbearance and other debt relief measures have been part of the effort to help struggling households and businesses.

John Mullin

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2020

Some schools are offering to buy a share of students' future income in exchange for funding their education.

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2020

This gallery offers a record of some of the unprecedented economic changes that Americans experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jacob Crouse, David A. Price, Rachel Rodgers, Jessie Romero and Luna Shen

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2019

Cultural heritage tourists' tastes and methods of communication may be shifting, but destinations are changing to meet them.

Molly Harnish

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2019

There is enough research to suggest that sentiment does play a role in shaping the business cycle. The question facing policymakers is what to do about it.

Econ Focus, Second/Third Quarter 2019

John Mullin

Econ Focus, Second/Third Quarter 2019

John Mullin

Econ Focus, Second/Third Quarter 2019

Molly Harnish

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2019

A new financing model for distressed communities offers both promise and pitfalls.

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2019

The technology behind cryptocurrencies shows promise for raising capital but has also drawn scrutiny from regulators.

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2018

The fracking boom might have led workers to forego educational opportunities.

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2018

In 2018, the unemployment rate was at historic lows. Were employers having trouble hiring because there weren't enough workers, or because they had the wrong skills?

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2018

What happens when countries can't or won't repay

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2018

Despite new technologies for electronic payments, cash has never been more popular. What's driving the demand?

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2018

What role do producers’ costs play in determining inflation?

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2017

When children enter a parent's profession, they probably aren't doing it blindly — they may have smart economic reasons. What's behind this footstep-following phenomenon?

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2017

Since 2011, BMW's South Carolina plant has been expanding its apprenticeship program to help grow a tech-savvy workforce.

Helen Fessenden

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2017

Concerns about the effects of automation have brought an old policy proposal back into the limelight

Kody Carmody

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2017

Are fears of a "bubble" in auto lending overstated?

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2017

Is there still an economic case for government-supported broadcasting?

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2017

A tax exemption has helped credit unions since the 1930s, but some argue they should be treated more like banks

Liz Marshall and Sabrina R. Pellerin

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2017

There are 1.8 million heavy truck and tractor-trailer drivers in the United States. Will self-driving trucks soon mean the end of many of those jobs?

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2017
The hard facts of education economics are putting some small colleges at risk

Helen Fessenden

Econ Focus, Third/Fourth Quarter 2016

Many worry that the Great Recession and mounting student debt have stunted millennials' financial development

Econ Focus, Third/Fourth Quarter 2016

Life expectancy varies considerably across demographic groups.

Econ Focus, Third/Fourth Quarter 2016
Econ Focus, Third/Fourth Quarter 2016

The share of American women in the labor force is slipping even as it rises in the rest of the developed world

Helen Fessenden

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2016

States hope to attract businesses by cutting their taxes, but it’s not clear how well it works

Eric LaRose

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2016

The story of our biggest government program is not just about politics. It’s also about the influence of a diverse group of economists

Helen Fessenden

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2016

Eric LaRose

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2016

Virtually no new banks have opened since the Great Recession began. What's behind this drought, and should we be worried?

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2016

Karl Rhodes

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2016

Lessons learned from projects in Georgia and South Carolina might determine the course of U.S. nuclear development for decades to come

Karl Rhodes

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2015

Why trade growth has slowed down — and what it might mean for the global economy

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2015

Washington, D.C., is notorious for congestion. Can smarter pricing provide a way out of clogged highways, packed parking, and overburdened mass transit?

Helen Fessenden

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2015

A Territory in Crisis

Franco Ponce de Leon

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2015

When tech companies need to understand marketplaces, and tens of millions of dollars are at stake, some of them are turning to a new kind of researcher

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2015

Trading with Cuba

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2015

What's a Life Worth?

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2015

Building a Smarter Grid

Eamon O'Keefe

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2015

A long-standing U.S. farm support program now covers almost every almost crop -- but it attracts more and more critics as well

Helen Fessenden

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2015

The institution of marriage is solid -- but only for certain groups. Economics helps explain why

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2014

Legal changes have opened the door to new kinds of political spending. What does the money buy?

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2014

Craft brewers raise the bar in the American beer industry

Jamie Feik and Joseph Mengedoth

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2014

Money Talks sidebar

Econ Focus, Fourth Quarter 2014

Bottoms Up Sidebar

Jamie Feik and Joseph Mengedoth

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2014

Some argue that there's no downside to a higher minimum wage, but others say the poor would be hit hardest

Wendy Morrison

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2014

Why job accessibility is limited for some groups and what it means for anti-poverty policies

Frank Muraca

Econ Focus, Third Quarter 2014

Why do kids drop out of high school, and what can be done to help them finish?

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2014

Longer unemployment benefits often mean longer unemployment spells, but economists say that's not always a bad thing

Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2014

The most recent study published by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies estimates that Islam was the fastest-growing religion in the United States between 2000 and 2010. Yet there are relatively few financial products available here for those followers who require their financial contracts to comply with Islamic laws and moral codes, called Sharia law.

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2014

The widening income gap is a serious problem in the United States — or is it?

Econ Focus, First Quarter 2014

Preservation programs pay farmers to forgo development


Index displays content through 2014. Earlier articles dating back to 2003 are available on our website in PDF form only.