Speaking of the Economy

Stephanie Norris and Davy Sell review the latest results of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's Survey of Community College Outcomes, which examined the variety of ways that these colleges served different types of students and communities in the Fifth District as well as in five states outside of this region. Norris is a regional economist and Sell is a regional analyst, both at the Richmond Fed.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_03_18_community_college_survey

Suzanne Holland talks about the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's recent visit to Martinsville to learn about the economic challenges and opportunities in the city and surrounding communities in southern Virginia. Kate Keller describes one issue in the region — the shortage of affordable housing — and the unique approach to the problem taken by her organization, the Harvest Foundation. Holland is a senior outreach specialist at the Richmond Fed and Keller is president of the Harvest Foundation.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_03_11_affordable_housing_rural_virginia

Zhu Wang discusses the emergence of "buy now, pay later" installment loans and shares his research on the potential impacts of this payment option on the credit risks of individuals and the stability of financial markets. Wang is vice president for research in financial and payment systems at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_03_04_buy_now_pay_later

Thomas Lubik reviews how widely used macroeconomic data like GDP is compiled and updated, and how the revision process strikes a balance between decisionmakers' needs for timeliness and accuracy. Lubik is a senior advisor in the Research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_02_18_data_revisions

Pierre-Daniel Sarte and Sonya Waddell discuss the pricing data that the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond gathers from its monthly surveys of regional business activity and how that data can be used to inform inflation forecasts. Sarte is a senior advisor and Waddell is a vice president and economist, both at the Richmond Fed.
Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2026/speaking_2026_02_11_predicting_inflation