The Fed Explained: What Every Business Owner Should Know With Shari Bower

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Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Sherry Bauer, the regional executive at the Miami branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
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She's a member of the core group of Atlanta Fed leaders advising on monetary policy and her work with business executives in the branch's 13 county area, helps bring local insights to national policy deliberations.
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Thank you, Sherry, for being here today.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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I'm excited to share with everybody all about the Fed and what we do.
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Right, because, you know, for small business owners, the Fed is kind of like this mysterious, we don't know what they do, but we know they're important.
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And I thought, you know, who to get this information from better than you?
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Because you you live and breed this world.
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So I want to dive right in.
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What is the Federal Reserve?
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And why was it really created to begin with?
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So pretty simply, the Federal Reserve, or the Fed as we call it, and I will refer to it for short because the Federal Reserve is a mouthful, is really just the central banking system of the United States.
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So it was established way back in 1913 through something called the Federal Reserve Act.
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And it was really meant to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system.
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And it was actually created in response to a series of financial panics, most notably the panic of 1907, which really highlighted that there was a need for a central authority to oversee the nation's monetary system.
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So I will age myself with this, although I don't think I was like alive when the movie was produced.
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But I think Bailey Brothers building in loan.
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So, you know, for those that watch It's a Wonderful Life, I mean, that was basically a bank panic.
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Everyone was worried running to the bank and tried to pull their money out of the bank.
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And George Bailey intervened to convince everyone, like, just take what you need and like used his honeymoon fund to give them funds.
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So essentially, you know, that's what I think of sort of when I think of bank panics.
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And the Fed was initially created to address those, but now we're charged with several sort of more broader responsibilities than that.
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So is this civil, and and I'm going off the topic here, but when we see FDIC, is that the same thing or no?
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That's different.
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It's not the same thing.
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They have very specific responsibilities, but yes, the FDIC is in place to provide an insurance if you vote for your deposit.
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So a similar similar idea where have um uh different responsibilities than the FDIC, but yes.
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Got it.
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So it was kind of like the answer to we needed an organization around to stop this craziness or people being panicked kind of thing.
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Um that was providing you know safety and soundness, regulation, uh, all sorts of things.
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But yeah, essentially to give the public confidence in their banks.
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And if something did happen, that there was an authority that was overseeing the banks and that would step in and protect them.
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So, what are the modern day activities of what the I'll call it the Fed, what the Fed does today.
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Yes.
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I have to be careful.
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Sometimes I people ask where I work, and I'm like, I work at the Fed, and I don't want them to think like I'm a Fed, like the Feds.
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Right, exactly.
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Because that's that's what we're thinking, but I guess the Federal Reserve.
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Yes, I do wear a dark suit often, but not that good, not that kind of Fed.
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So yeah, so we perform really five key functions.
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So the one I'm gonna talk most about today is conducting our nation's monetary policy.
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We also promote financial system stability.
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So a lot of that is just around monitoring and analysis.
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We supervise and regulate financial institutions, so those are the banks.
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Um and we work closely with some.
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There are a few agencies that do that.
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So you like you mentioned the FDIC, we work closely with them, with our state banking regulators, and also with the OCC, who's the Office of the Controller of the Currency, that also does um supervision for financial institutions.
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Then we also foster payment and settlement system safety and efficiency.
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And this one I feel like not as many people know about, and it's kind of interesting.
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So we circulate currency and coin for our banking institutions.
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We actually process and clear checks.
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Um, and that's something that the Atlanta Fed does for the whole system now.
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And yes, people are still writing checks.
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I mean, it has the volume of check processing has declined significantly, but there are still people that use checks, and so we process those.
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So they go through all one place?
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They do.
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There are other private sector um like offerings that clear checks as well, but the Fed also provides that service.
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Wow.
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Uh, we also run something called the ACH or the automated clearinghouse system, and so that processes small value electronic uh credit and debit transactions.
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So, like yourself and other small businesses might use that um for paychecks, uh, social security, right?
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Things like that.
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So it gets cleared through through the Federal Reserve.
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Yes.
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And there is also a private sector uh business that does that as well, but the Fed also provides it.
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Um and then we also process wholesale payments through our system called Fedwire, which is more large value financial transactions among banks, businesses, and individuals.
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Um that it would is that you okay, so that's between banks and other banks as well as bigger businesses.
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Exactly.
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And those are larger volume transactions than what we would typically process through ECH.
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And then we also promote consumer protection and community development, and we do that through research, analysis, and data protection.
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And I actually should add to payments because this is a little bit newer, but we also offer a real-time payment system now called FedY, uh FedNab.
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And what is that?
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Um it's another payment system, but it actually operates um 24-7 so that you can actually process payments real time.
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Oh wow.
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Yeah.
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So this is a lot.
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Yeah.
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That that you guys do that uh, you know, the regular public would not have any idea that the Federal Reserve, because all we see is the day the Federal Reserve German gets on the TV and talks, right?
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That's what we see as consumers.
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Yes.
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Or when a large financial institution runs into trouble, we might do something about that in the news as well.
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Yeah.
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Mm-hmm.
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Exactly.
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So I guess you probably answered how it's structured within that.
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I did not.
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No.
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It's actually a it's an interesting and somewhat more complicated structure than I think people realize.
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So the Fed was actually structured to balance central control with regional representation.
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And I'm not gonna go into like the history of the Fed.
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There's lots of books, and it's actually pretty interesting about the back and forth about how they decided to create the central bank the way that um you know we did and why.
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But essentially, we are a central bank under uh public control, but with many checks and balances.
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And so Congress actually oversees the entire Federal Reserve System.
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Uh, and we have to work within the objectives established by Congress.
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So they also gave the Fed authority to um autonomous autonomously carry out its responsibilities without political pressure, and that independence really allows the Fed to focus on our longer-term economic goals, such as controlling inflation and promoting sustainable growth and full employment, which I'll talk about a little bit more uh later on, but that's really to focus on the overall health of the economy.
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And so the Fed actually has three parts.
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We have the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., we have the regional reserve banks, there's 12 of them, and then we have the Open Federal Open Markets Committee or FOMC.
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And so they kind of operate independently of the federal government to carry out our responsibilities.
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And so we're kind of this interesting blend of public and private and centralized and decentralized.
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And so I will break this down a little bit more for you about each of those sort of pieces of the Fed, what we what they do.
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So, as I said, we've got the Board of Governors in Washington, DC.
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Uh, we've got seven members on the board of governors.
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They're appointed by the president, uh, but they're actually confirmed by the Senate, and they serve staggered 14-year terms.
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And that board of governors actually oversees the entire Federal Reserve System.
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And those are the 12 reserve banks and their 24 branches, and they are really the operating arms of the Fed.
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So each of those reserve banks kind of operates with own within its own particular geographic area or district of the country.
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So I work for the Atlanta Fed, or the sixth district as we call it, and we cover most of the southeast portion of the country, and we actually have branch offices in Miami, Jacksonville, Birmingham, Nashville, and New Orleans, plus our head office in Atlanta.
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And each of those 12 reserve banks that I mentioned is independently operated with its own president and its own board of directors, and they do different things.
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Uh, but what we have in common is that we are conducting research on the economy, we are supervising the banks that are in our district, and we are providing financial services to those banks and to the US government.
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Um, a fun fact, I mentioned that one of the things that the Fed does is circulate currency.
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And so we actually place that currency that you use to make purchases into circulation.
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So if you look at your bills, each bill actually has a number and a letter on it that denote the Federal Reserve Bank that accounts for that.
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So, for example, if you look at you know a $5 bill and you see um six, it'll have the letter F next to it because F is the sixth letter in the alphabet.
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And that means it appears on the balance sheet for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and we are the sixth district.
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That is fascinating.
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I, you know, I think throughout all of this that most people don't know that it's a public-private entity, first and foremost.
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And I find it interesting that it was set up so that you have, I don't remember how many branches you said, but each branch branch has its own board of directors and its own, did you call it president or so each so we've got those called reserve banks, and each of those reserve banks has a president and its own board of directors, and then our branches actually also have boards of directors.
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So, like in Atlanta, the president of the Atlanta Fed is Raphael Bastik.
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Uh Atlanta has a board of directors, and then Miami has a board of directors, Jacksonville has a board of directors, Nashville.
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Interesting.
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Yeah.
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Um it's just a different setup.
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Yeah, and what I um the last arm is also the Federal Open Markets Committee.
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So that's actually a combination.
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So the FOMC is made up of those seven governors that I mentioned that are in DC, and uh the 12 reserve banks, the 12 reserve bank presidents.
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Five of those 12 are voting members on the FOMC, and that rotates.
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And then the New York Fed president has a permanent seat on the FOMC.
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Um, and so they meet regularly about eight times a year to discuss economic conditions and to set monetary policy.
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And I'm assuming the New York president, that was just kind of set from the beginning where they have the permanent.
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So like stock, are we talking stock market?
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Is that what that is?
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But they buy and sell treasuries for the Fed.
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And so they have they have, you know, sort of one additional responsibility that some of the other reserve banks don't have.
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Um and you know, also because of their location on Wall Street.
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And um, yeah, so they run the bank's um securities and open market operations portfolio and have a permanent permanent vote.
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All of the reserve bank presidents are members of the FOMC, but only six of them get to vote.
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And so five of them rotate, and as I said, the New York Fed has that permanent seat.
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And explain for our listeners what FOMC is.
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So the FOMC is the Federal Open Markets Committee.
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Um, and those are the policymakers that will set um interest rates, which I will talk about when we get to monetary policy in a little bit more detail.
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Wonderful.
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This is so intriguing because there's so many things that go into this that, you know, again, most people don't understand.
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How does monetary policy actually work?
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And what goes into the Fed's decision when when they're making um when they're making the process?
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Yeah, so we have this dual mandate, uh, which I'm sure a lot of people hear about in the news and when our chairman is talking um post the FOMC meetings, and it's around um maximum employment and price stability.
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So price stability is really around inflation, and we want to see inflation remain low and stable over time, because when inflation is low and stable, people can hold money without having to worry that high inflation will erode its purchasing power.
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So, for example, people may hear in the news about the Fed's 2% inflation target.
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And so 2% inflation basically means that on average, a dollar buys 2% fewer goods and services than it did the year before, which seems somewhat manageable.
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But if it was over 7%, uh, you know, which is where we were after the pandemic or in the midst of the pandemic, um, you know, that's much higher than our 2% target.
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And so with stable prices, you really don't have to worry about prices going up and down significantly when making plans, um, or when you're a business when borrowing or lending for long periods, right?
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And so that's that sort of stable prices piece of what we do.
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And then the other component of the mandate is around maximum employment, which we really think about as the highest level of employment that the economy can sustain over time.
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So measuring that is a little bit different because we don't have an exact target right now, the way that we do for inflation.
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And things, you know, that business conditions vary over time, right?
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Demographics, you know, labor market regulations, immigration, there are other factors that impact uh the labor market.
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So we really consider a wide, a wide range of employment indicators, whether it's hiring, unemployment, or looking at turnover data data when we're thinking about uh the employment mandate.
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And so the Fed sets their monetary policy to influence short-term interest rates and the overall financial conditions to really help achieve that dual mandate around maximum employment and stable prices.
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And so we do that through something called the federal funds rate.
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And that's the Fed's policy rate, and it's an interest rate specifically for overnight borrowing by banks.
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So the FOMC sets that target rate for the Fed funds rate, and we do it within these upper and lower limits.
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So you will hear, you know, the Fed uh cut or raised by in these 25 basis point increments.
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And so when necessary, we change the stance of monetary policy by raising or lowering that target range for the Fed funds rate, which again is a short-term rate.
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Um now, in theory, other rates kind of normally would follow that, you know, so there are longer-term rates, but that Fed funds rate is really about short-term borrowing.
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And so if we lower that target range, that really represents what we would refer to as an easing of monetary policy, because it's accompanied by lower short-term interest rates in financial markets and sort of loosening of broader financial conditions.
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And so we would typically do that if the economy was a little slow or if inflation was too low.
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And then conversely, we would raise that target range if we would call that tightening of monetary policy.
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And so we would raise rates uh if the economy was kind of overheating or if inflation was too high.
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And like I said, normally that affects changes in other interest rates and in financial conditions more broadly, which in turn should affect spending decisions by households, by businesses, and that sort of has broader implications for activity, employment, and inflation.
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You do you mentioned something that drew my attention that I'm sure people I don't know what this means.
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So I'm sure other people won't either.
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You mentioned something about overnight borrowing from banks.
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Is that so banks will borrow from each other overnight and they charge each other to borrow?
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Oh, interesting.
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To cover whatever they had from the day before kind of thing.
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Exactly.
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Yeah.
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And so they charge they they charge each other a certain rate.
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And so that Fed funds rate that we're targeting is to target that rate for overnight borrowing.
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So either making it more expensive for them to borrow from each other or less expensive, which in turn impacts what they charge consumers and businesses to borrow from them.
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Got it.
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That makes sense.
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Yeah.
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So I'm curious, Sherry, with your position that you have at the at the Federal Reserve, where do you fit in with all of this?
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Where does your position lie?
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So a lot actually goes into that monetary policy process, right?
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So the Fed uses kind of this comprehensive approach to data collection and analysis to make their policy decisions.
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So they monitor a wide range of economic indicators, surveys, financial market data, international conditions.
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They've got teams of economists and analysts sort of gathering and analyzing the data.
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And before each FOMC meeting, um, we have researchers look at sort of key surveys, and they kind of interpret all of this information.
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So we've got the data connection collection, we've got the analysis, we have discussion, and then there's that policy decision.
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And so, and then there's communication, right?
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So after each meeting, now the chairman and the chairperson of the Fed provides a statement and has a press conference and answers questions.
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And then even in between meetings, you will see the Federal Reserve presidents and the various governors making speeches about all kinds of things related to the Fed, monetary policy, regulation, you know, artificial intelligence, all sorts of things.
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So my role at the Fed is I am the regional executive uh based in Miami for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
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So I'm part of our research division.
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And we have a regional executive at each of those other branches that I mentioned across the Southeast.
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And essentially they created our team back during the 2008 financial crisis because our president at the time and our head of uh research identified that there was really a need to complement the economic data that they were getting with sort of more real-time holistic information from businesses.
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And so they created this team whose sole responsibility was to have boots on the ground in the communities that we're serving, talking to business leaders about economic conditions and what they're doing.
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And it really helps us to paint a broader picture than we can with sort of your typical data and statistics alone.
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And it also helps us identify trends.
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So a lot of times we are hearing things from businesses well before you will see it in the data.
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So the data is often very backward looking, monetary policy is forward-looking.
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I've heard you know, some of our economists talk about it as like trying to drive a car by only looking in the rearview mirror.
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Um, that's really difficult.
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And you can imagine in times of crises, getting information from businesses about you know, are you hiring?
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How are um borrowing costs impacting your capex and investment decisions?
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What are you seeing with prices?
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Or are you seeing cost increases and are you planning to pass those through to customers?
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Are you planning layoffs?
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Really important information that really, again, helps us identify trends oftentimes before we see it in the data.
00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:15.340
And what I love about what I do is that this is not just a check the box for us.
00:22:15.340 --> 00:22:18.540
Uh, you know, this we have a direct line to our president.
00:22:18.540 --> 00:22:29.100
He really values the information, our economists value the information, and we brief him together with the economist so he really gets a sense of here's what we're seeing in the data, here's what we're hearing from the businesses.
00:22:29.100 --> 00:22:36.140
The questions that we're asking our business contacts are informed by what our economists are talking about, what they're interested in, what they're seeing.
00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:44.060
And so it's a really nice sort of symbiotic relationship, and it really does provide a really good real-time holistic picture of what's happening in the economy.
00:22:44.060 --> 00:22:46.220
And uh it's really valuable.
00:22:46.620 --> 00:22:56.780
I would say it would be because you're really getting to talk to the people who are affected by it immediately in real time, so you know what to report back.
00:22:56.780 --> 00:23:04.460
And it's not just numbers, it's not just a set of data that you don't have a face to or an emotion to, right?
00:23:04.460 --> 00:23:07.020
It's you're giving them information that's valuable.
00:23:07.020 --> 00:23:08.060
I think that's wonderful.
00:23:08.300 --> 00:23:08.380
Yeah.
00:23:08.620 --> 00:23:10.300
You know, you mentioned Go ahead.
00:23:10.300 --> 00:23:14.780
No, I was gonna say we really try and talk to a range of businesses.
00:23:14.780 --> 00:23:35.980
So we obviously touch all the large employers based in the Southeast, but we also talk to small and mid-sized businesses, and we try to cover a range of industries, whether it's retail, manufacturing, you know, financial, health, nonprofits, uh, you know, you name it, anyone that's sort of willing to sit down and chat with us about what they're seeing and what they're doing is is helpful, and we appreciate the insights and the expertise.
00:23:36.300 --> 00:23:38.140
It's great because you're doing across all sectors.
00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:42.700
It's not just siloed into one particular segment of the economy.
00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:47.420
So you had mentioned something about, you know, in in times of economic crisis.
00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:57.500
I'm curious, how does the Federal Reserve spawn respond during times of economic crises and what resources does it actually offer to small businesses?
00:23:57.500 --> 00:24:05.100
Because I'm sure many of the small businesses that are listening are like, okay, this is great, but you know, how how do they help us?
00:24:05.420 --> 00:24:05.740
Yeah.
00:24:05.900 --> 00:24:13.340
So as I mentioned earlier, the Fed may cut interest rates to make borrowing cheaper and encouraging, encourage spending and investment.
00:24:13.340 --> 00:24:22.860
They also may engage in something called QE or quantitative easing, which really is about increasing the money supply and stimulating economic activity that way.
00:24:22.860 --> 00:24:31.900
It's just another tool we sort of have in our back pockets, if you will, where we buy and sell treasuries and securities in order to inject more liquidity into the financial system.
00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:35.740
And that also helps sort of push down longer-term borrowing rates.
00:24:35.740 --> 00:24:36.060
Okay.
00:24:36.060 --> 00:24:45.980
And then banks, so our member banks, can borrow directly from the Fed when the markets are stressed so that they are able to keep lending to businesses.
00:24:45.980 --> 00:24:54.060
And then in times of crises, we can also establish special lending facilities to ensure that credit continues to flow to businesses and households.
00:24:54.060 --> 00:25:02.140
So, for example, during the COVID 19 pandemic, the Fed created some programs to support small and medium businesses through loans and other financial assistance.
00:25:02.140 --> 00:25:11.740
And then I would say we also use our communications to sort of reassure public the public and businesses, kind of just helping to maintain confidence in the financial system.
00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:13.900
So we communicate policy actions to the public.
00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:22.300
We talked about, you know, the FOMC press releases, statements, and uh the reserve bank presidents and governors making speeches in between those meetings.
00:25:22.300 --> 00:25:28.460
And so essentially our role is really to keep credit flowing, to stabilize the markets, uh, and to restore confidence.
00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:36.380
Now, in terms of resources for small businesses, we typically don't lend directly to small businesses, but we do have a lot of great resources for them.
00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:42.220
So I was I was looking at this data before we started chatting.
00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:50.860
And so in Florida alone, there were three and a half million small businesses last year that represent 99.8% of all Florida businesses.
00:25:50.860 --> 00:25:53.900
So that's businesses with 500 employees and less.
00:25:53.900 --> 00:25:54.300
Yeah.
00:25:54.300 --> 00:25:56.300
Talk about backbone.
00:25:56.300 --> 00:25:57.020
Yeah.
00:25:57.020 --> 00:26:01.420
And they employ about 3.8 million people or 40% of Florida's workforce.
00:26:01.420 --> 00:26:02.300
Wow.
00:26:02.300 --> 00:26:02.780
Yeah.
00:26:02.780 --> 00:26:04.540
So not small peanuts, right?
00:26:04.540 --> 00:26:10.700
Uh a vital part of the American economy, um, and really providing a driving force for job creation, which is really important.
00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:17.660
So the Atlanta Fed actually has a strategic priority on economic mobil mobility and resilience.
00:26:17.660 --> 00:26:26.300
Really, so really understanding small business conditions, you know, and performance remain a really important part of our community and economic development team's work.
00:26:26.300 --> 00:26:29.420
And you can find some of their research on our website.
00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:33.900
Like they did a partner update during COVID about how small businesses were faring.
00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:39.340
And we also, the Federal Reserve also runs the Small Business Credit Survey or SBCS.
00:26:39.340 --> 00:26:43.900
That's a national sample of small businesses for firms with fewer than 500 employees.
00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:49.260
And the aim is to just provide insights into firms' needs and experiences with financing and debt.
00:26:49.260 --> 00:26:52.060
And the results of that get published every year.
00:26:52.060 --> 00:26:53.900
So you can anyone take that?
00:26:54.140 --> 00:26:55.340
Can anyone do that?
00:26:55.740 --> 00:27:00.220
Anyone can participate in the survey, yeah, if you have 500 employees or less.
00:27:00.220 --> 00:27:06.860
And the Atlanta Fed will actually take the results of that survey and publishes information specific to the Southeast.
00:27:06.860 --> 00:27:10.620
So they'll do profiles on certain states and certain counties.
00:27:10.620 --> 00:27:14.220
So we share and summarize summarize the results uh on the website.
00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:23.900
And so you can go on our uh the Atlanta Fed website and find past years reports that sort of offer a view into small business conditions in many southeastern areas.
00:27:24.780 --> 00:27:25.020
Nice.
00:27:25.660 --> 00:27:26.300
Yep.
00:27:27.180 --> 00:27:35.820
So we'll probably be able to publish that link in the show notes so that people can actually go in and take that.
00:27:35.820 --> 00:27:39.820
So with all of this information, it's it's a lot.
00:27:39.820 --> 00:27:45.020
And small business owners are probably like, well, how do I know what's actually happening there?
00:27:45.020 --> 00:27:51.340
How as small business owners can we keep ourselves informed as to what's happening at the Federal Reserve?
00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:51.980
Yeah.
00:27:51.980 --> 00:27:55.340
So I'm just gonna I'll try and it it was a lot.
00:27:55.340 --> 00:27:59.740
My head's spinning and I and I do know this stuff.
00:27:59.740 --> 00:28:01.500
Yeah, it no, it's a lot.
00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:04.300
Uh so it's our Federal Reserve 101.
00:28:04.460 --> 00:28:05.100
That's what it is.
00:28:05.340 --> 00:28:14.780
And we have we have a team, so we have a team that does um in our public affairs, we have folks that do economic education, and they are out there, you know, specifically talking uh primarily with educators.
00:28:14.780 --> 00:28:18.300
So it's kind of educate the educators just about the Fed and what we do.
00:28:18.300 --> 00:28:24.060
So lots of resources wherever you are in any Federal Reserve Bank or the Board of Governors website.
00:28:24.060 --> 00:28:31.020
So if you want to read more and it's easier to read than just listen to me ramble on, and there's lots of information out there about what we do.
00:28:31.020 --> 00:28:41.100
But essentially, you know, what I really want to get across is just that our monetary policy decisions are really important for small businesses and they do have direct and indirect impacts, right?
00:28:41.100 --> 00:28:51.740
So, like I talked about lowering interest rates, it makes interest rates, it makes it cheaper for businesses to borrow money, which encourages investment, you know, in new equipment, expansion hiring.
00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:54.220
And so, you know, those are things that are really important.
00:28:54.220 --> 00:28:58.460
And so I think staying informed about what we do is also important.
00:28:58.460 --> 00:29:01.020
So lots of things that a small business can do.
00:29:01.020 --> 00:29:03.100
You can follow Fed announcements.
00:29:03.100 --> 00:29:09.260
Uh, so again, we regularly regularly release statements following the Federal Open Markets Committee meetings.
00:29:09.260 --> 00:29:15.100
Those meetings are the dates of those meetings are publicly available on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors website.
00:29:15.100 --> 00:29:23.420
And you can watch the FOMC press conferences, you can hear Powell give a speech, and then you can hear QA with the reporters, which I actually find even more interesting.
00:29:23.420 --> 00:29:31.180
Uh once a quarter, the Board of Governors also produces something called the DOT plot or the summary of economic projections.
00:29:31.180 --> 00:29:35.420
And that is also publicly available on the Board of Governors website.
00:29:35.420 --> 00:29:45.420
And those are sort of, those are not decisions, those are kind of point-in-time projections, and it's called the dot plot because the FOMC members do it across a range of economic indicators.
00:29:45.420 --> 00:29:53.100
So they do it for economic growth through GDP, they do it for inflation, um, for unemployment, for the Fed funds rate.
00:29:53.100 --> 00:29:57.900
And each dot actually represents an FOMC member, which is why it's called the dot plot.
00:29:57.900 --> 00:30:07.420
Um, it doesn't tell you who voted where, sure, but you can see across, again, a range of indicators what their sort of forward-looking thinking is, at least at that point in time.
00:30:07.420 --> 00:30:10.940
So that's once a quarter and that's publicly available on their website.
00:30:10.940 --> 00:30:15.500
Before every FOMC meeting, we published something called the Beige Book.
00:30:15.500 --> 00:30:22.380
And that is actually more of a higher level anecdotal summary of economic conditions across the entire country.
00:30:22.380 --> 00:30:31.420
So that is probably a little bit more easily digestible for a non-economist or you know, your sort of every everyday person.
00:30:31.420 --> 00:30:31.740
Right.
00:30:31.740 --> 00:30:36.060
And that's like I said, that comes out before every FOMC meeting, so eight times a year.
00:30:36.060 --> 00:30:42.140
And then uh the Atlanta Fed actually has a lot of information up on our website.
00:30:42.140 --> 00:30:44.220
And we have something called Economy Now.
00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:48.540
It's an app that you can download on your phone and it tracks all the economic indicators that we look at.
00:30:48.540 --> 00:30:53.980
So uh again, economic growth through um gross domestic product, inflation, unemployment.
00:30:53.980 --> 00:30:57.980
Um, we have a wage growth tracker, so you can download that app and look at our pillows.
00:30:57.980 --> 00:31:03.340
Uh, and all of the Federal Reserve Banks, again, have a wealth of information on their websites that people can look at.
00:31:03.340 --> 00:31:07.100
And I would say just economic reports and podcasts, like following financial news.
00:31:07.100 --> 00:31:15.260
There's lots of great podcasts out there about what's going on in the economy that are, you know, also share sort of timely information.
00:31:15.260 --> 00:31:17.420
And so all of those are great resources.
00:31:17.980 --> 00:31:27.180
So that is actually leading your podcast uh conversation here, is leading me into the final area of our podcast called the Final Four.
00:31:27.180 --> 00:31:31.820
And I know we were talking earlier, and I'm like, well, what podcast do you listen to?
00:31:31.820 --> 00:31:34.380
Um, so are you ready for the final four?
00:31:34.460 --> 00:31:36.060
It's I'm ready for the final four.
00:31:36.060 --> 00:31:43.420
And this is a great point for what I should have done at the beginning of this, which is the disclaimer that I was supposed to give.
00:31:43.420 --> 00:31:46.380
That all and any views expressed today are my own.
00:31:46.380 --> 00:31:50.700
They are not those of anyone else in the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
00:31:50.700 --> 00:31:54.460
Um, the only person that can speak on behalf of the Fed is the chairman.
00:31:54.460 --> 00:31:57.980
And so these are Sherry's views and only Sherry's views.
00:31:57.980 --> 00:31:59.820
All right, Sherry, it's your views.
00:31:59.980 --> 00:32:00.300
We got it.
00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:07.260
Woohoo! And also not getting endorsed for any of my favorite books or podcasts or people or anything else.
00:32:08.780 --> 00:32:09.980
You covered your tracks.
00:32:09.980 --> 00:32:11.100
That's that's awesome.
00:32:11.340 --> 00:32:11.660
Thank you.
00:32:11.900 --> 00:32:16.300
So I these are four questions that I ask every guest that's on my podcast.
00:32:16.300 --> 00:32:19.900
And I've never had the same answer from anyone.
00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:23.260
So, what's your favorite book or podcast?
00:32:23.260 --> 00:32:25.900
And what made it stick with you?
00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:45.500
Okay, so I I struggled with favorite book because here's what I do is I have like nonfiction that I feel like are important to read, either about like, you know, childcare or like economics that I have every intention of reading and I keep on my bed and I start reading.
00:32:45.500 --> 00:32:49.820
But then sometimes when I go to sleep, I just want to unwind and not have to think.
00:32:49.820 --> 00:32:57.100
So I end up reading a lot of um fiction that you know is more to just escape.
00:32:57.100 --> 00:33:03.820
And so, you know, not necessarily books that I would say that you would like or that I would recommend.
00:33:03.820 --> 00:33:05.260
So I'm not gonna go there.
00:33:05.260 --> 00:33:09.420
And instead, I'll go some of the podcasts that I listen to that I just like to stay informed.
00:33:09.420 --> 00:33:11.420
And so there's a few that I find really interesting.
00:33:11.420 --> 00:33:27.660
So Planet Money and the Indicator are great podcasts on NPR that sort of give you kind of like bite-sized information about what's happening in the economy that I think again are really sort of easy listening that you can do uh, you know, on a car ride.
00:33:28.060 --> 00:33:29.100
Well, that's perfect.
00:33:29.100 --> 00:33:30.220
Those are two good ones.
00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:31.340
I wrote those down.
00:33:31.340 --> 00:33:36.860
Do you have a favorite quote or piece of advice that you find yourself coming back to time and time again?
00:33:37.500 --> 00:33:46.140
So yeah, I would say my favorite piece of advice is just to one, do the things that scare you, which I really try to do.
00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:53.260
I have a lot of anxiety, but I wouldn't be where I was if I sort of didn't push myself outside of my comfort zone.
00:33:53.260 --> 00:33:57.820
Uh and even for this job, I was like, oh, I'm never gonna get it.
00:33:57.820 --> 00:34:00.300
But I said to myself, you know what, just throw your name in the hat.
00:34:00.300 --> 00:34:02.860
Like, you know, express your interest, do the best you can.
00:34:02.860 --> 00:34:03.580
And if you get it, great.
00:34:03.580 --> 00:34:07.340
And if not, and if I had never pushed myself to try that, I wouldn't be where I am.
00:34:07.340 --> 00:34:15.579
And you know, the other piece I would just say is I hear a lot of women talking about like, you know, being supporters and you know, speaking, you know, helping support other women.
00:34:15.579 --> 00:34:17.579
And I would say, go beyond that.
00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:20.460
Don't just be a supporter, sort of be a brag buddy.
00:34:20.460 --> 00:34:27.179
So talk for those women, you know, when they can't be in the room themselves, be there bragging about them and talking about them.
00:34:27.179 --> 00:34:28.780
For me, I think that's really important.
00:34:28.780 --> 00:34:36.619
And again, I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't have the support of a lot of great women in my life who sort of stood up for me when I wasn't in the room and spoke on my back.
00:34:37.579 --> 00:34:38.619
That's really great advice.
00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:41.980
And going back to your first one, do it scared, right?
00:34:41.980 --> 00:34:44.139
Just do the thing.
00:34:44.139 --> 00:34:48.460
What is one habit or practice that's changed your life?
00:34:49.980 --> 00:34:51.659
I would probably say doing yoga.
00:34:51.659 --> 00:34:58.139
I try and make sure that I do yoga once a week if I can, on the weekends.
00:34:58.139 --> 00:35:02.539
I squeeze it in in the morning, and I just find it really grounding.
00:35:02.539 --> 00:35:15.659
And when you sort of have a stressful job and have all your family responsibilities, I just find that it's really important to take that time for yourself and to just really try and find some zen wherever you can.
00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:17.019
Self-care.
00:35:17.260 --> 00:35:17.980
Yes, self-care.
00:35:18.219 --> 00:35:18.940
Self-care.
00:35:18.940 --> 00:35:24.059
And then finally, if you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why would you choose them?
00:35:25.019 --> 00:35:30.139
So this was a really hard one, and there's probably a hundred different people that I could pick.
00:35:30.139 --> 00:35:34.059
Uh, but the first person that popped into my mind was Stevie Nix.
00:35:34.059 --> 00:35:35.019
Oh.
00:35:35.019 --> 00:35:39.420
Because I'm hoping that she's listening to your podcast and will invite me to dinner.
00:35:39.420 --> 00:35:43.500
She's actually coming to the Hard Rock for a concert.
00:35:43.500 --> 00:35:53.420
And so, Stevie, if you're listening, um the tickets were really expensive, so I haven't bought them yet, but I'm happy to I'm happy to have dinner with you while you're here.
00:35:53.420 --> 00:36:07.179
But she's just so cool and like has really just had such an amazing career, and I would just love to sit down with her and hear about it and maybe just have a private concert and have her sing to me while we're dining.
00:36:08.139 --> 00:36:10.380
She's definitely stood the test of time.
00:36:10.539 --> 00:36:10.780
Right.
00:36:11.019 --> 00:36:13.659
And you know, it it's just it's timeless music.
00:36:13.659 --> 00:36:14.860
She's wonderful.
00:36:14.860 --> 00:36:15.340
Yeah.
00:36:15.340 --> 00:36:16.300
Oh my goodness.
00:36:16.300 --> 00:36:19.260
Sherry, I have thoroughly enjoyed our time together today.
00:36:19.260 --> 00:36:27.820
You have given us so information on the so much information on the Federal Reserve that I am sure a lot of our listeners are hearing this for the first time.
00:36:27.820 --> 00:36:29.820
So I appreciate that very much.
00:36:29.820 --> 00:36:33.900
If our listeners would like to get in touch with you, how can they do so?
00:36:34.459 --> 00:36:46.939
Yeah, so I will put a link, an email, and a link to our website in the notes from the podcast so that there is a direct connection.
00:36:46.939 --> 00:36:59.019
And like I said, if you're a business owner and you wanna, you're in South Florida or in in across the Southeast and you want to sit down and chat with me or my colleagues and share some of your business insights, we would welcome that.
00:36:59.019 --> 00:37:02.219
And again, appreciate insight, your insights and expertise.
00:37:02.219 --> 00:37:08.059
And I really appreciate you inviting me to be on your podcast and taking the time to sit down with me.
00:37:08.059 --> 00:37:14.619
Um, I hope this wasn't too boring or overwhelming for anybody, and that it did provide some helpful information.
00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:15.499
So thank you.
00:37:15.979 --> 00:37:18.219
It was my pleasure, and thank you so much for being here.
00:37:18.219 --> 00:37:19.899
It provided invaluable information.
00:37:19.899 --> 00:37:22.299
And thank you to all of my listeners.