Students learn about McCulloch v. Maryland, a case decided in 1819 over (1) whether the state of Maryland had the right to tax the Second Bank of the United States and (2) whether Congress had violated the Constitution in establishing the Bank. Students also review the expressed powers of Congress identified in the Constitution and analyze how Congress implements the necessary and proper (elastic) clause to enact its expressed powers. Finally, students use their knowledge of McCulloch v. Maryland and the necessary and proper clause to consider the constitutionality of the Federal Reserve System.

•  Lesson (pdf)

---

If you have difficulty accessing this content due to a disability, please contact us at 314-444-4662 or economiceducation@stls.frb.org.

Per capita income in many nations in sub-Saharan Africa is much smaller than that of the U.S., according to data from the World Bank. Can industrialization spur economic growth in this region?

In a recent Regional Economist article, economist and Assistant Vice President Yi Wen and Research Associate Iris Arbogast, examined why poorer countries have had difficulties industrializing and also offered some insights into how sub-Saharan Africa can be successful with this type of development.

By Ana Hernández Kent, Senior Researcher, Institute for Economic Equity

During National Hispanic Heritage Month, which spans Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, the country celebrates Hispanic and Latino Americans’ diverse cultures, histories, heritages and accomplishments. How do Hispanic and Latino Americans identify themselves? How does that identification relate to economic outcomes?

Race plays an important role, with Hispanic white families having significantly higher incomes and wealth than other Hispanic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race: for example, Hispanic white or Hispanic Black. (In this post, “Hispanic” is shorthand for Hispanic or Latino when used in combination with a race. Otherwise, Hispanic and Latino are both used as the terms overlap but have different meanings.)

Differentiating between racial groups for those of Hispanic and Latino ethnicity is important: Doing so allows us to better distinguish the distinct economic...

“It's not lost on me that I have gone through a lot of the same struggles as the early women economists,” says Nina Banks, president of the National Economic Association and associate professor at Bucknell University. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed, about her new book: “Democracy, Race and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T.M. Alexander,” as well as her research on community activism by marginalized women.

“I didn’t see #MeToo coming, but it came, and it’s taking a while still to come for economics, but it is,” says Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan’s Ford School. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed, about challenges she has faced as a woman in the field, her research on women’s labor market experiences and how her teaching style has changed in 2020. She also discusses the importance in presenting gender-balanced scenarios in her economics textbooks.

“My advice to anyone is just grab every opportunity you can,” says Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist. She talks with Jennifer Beatty, an assistant vice president at the St. Louis Fed, about serving as the first female editor-in-chief of the international news and business publication.

She also discusses the responsibility she feels to encourage women to aim higher so they can position themselves for leadership roles.

“It's not lost on me that I have gone through a lot of the same struggles as the early women economists,” says Nina Banks, president of the National Economic Association and associate professor at Bucknell University. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed, about her new book: “Democracy, Race and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T.M. Alexander,” as well as her research on community activism by marginalized women.

“On one hand it’s nice to be the first of something … but on the other hand, it's, like, wow, it’s 2019. How has this happened?” says Mackenzie Alston, an assistant professor at Florida State University. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed, about her experience as the first African American to receive a doctorate from the Department of Economics at Texas A&M University.

“We want to get to a point where it’s normal for underrepresented minority women to succeed at a higher level within these kind of careers,” says Anna Opoku-Agyeman, who co-founded the Sadie Collective along with Fanta Traore. They talk with Maria Hasenstab, St. Louis Fed senior media relations specialist, about their experiences as young black women in the field of economics—including why they created the collective and plans for their second conference in February 2020.

“It's not lost on me that I have gone through a lot of the same struggles as the early women economists,” says Nina Banks, president of the National Economic Association and associate professor at Bucknell University. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed, about her new book: “Democracy, Race and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T.M. Alexander,” as well as her research on community activism by marginalized women.

“What I'm trying to do is add value … really try to get to understand what someone's thinking, why they're doing what they're doing, where they're heading next,” says Kathleen Hays, the global, economics and policy editor for Bloomberg Television and Radio. Hays talks with Maria Hasenstab, senior media relations specialist at the St. Louis Fed, about her economics education and its role in her prestigious business reporting career. Hays also discusses business and journalism changes over her three decades in the reporting field—and whom she’d like to interview next.

Diane Swonk, chief economist and managing director at accounting firm Grant Thornton, talks growing up in Detroit during the city’s economic “demise” of the 1970s and 1980s. “The economics I was learning explained it could have been avoided. And the reality that I could make a difference in this work and people’s lives, that this was really about human behavior, policy and interpreting how to make it better for the world—I was hooked that first class.”

In her interview with Mary Suiter, assistant vice president and economic education officer at the St. Louis Fed, Swonk also discusses how a learning disability became a strength. “I may be dyslexic and I can’t read very well,” Swonk says. “I flip numbers, but I can do calculus in my head.”

“People had a hard time taking me seriously, because I'm sure they didn't know any African-Americans who were economists,” says Lisa Cook, associate professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, senior media relations specialist at the St. Louis Fed, about discovering economics while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Cook also discusses how she overcame biases she faced as a woman and as an African-American, and her research showing GDP could be higher if more women and African-Americans were involved at the beginning of the innovative process.

Cook is also prolific on Twitter and uses social media as a way to connect professionally and to mentor students. “The Twitter community for economics is just phenomenal—or Econ Twitter, as we call it,” she says. “I got the idea for the latest textbook for a class that way, and I learn about people's research as it is happening... There are just really rich,...

“It's not lost on me that I have gone through a lot of the same struggles as the early women economists,” says Nina Banks, president of the National Economic Association and associate professor at Bucknell University. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed, about her new book: “Democracy, Race and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T.M. Alexander,” as well as her research on community activism by marginalized women.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' Community Development Outlook Survey monitors the economic factors affecting low- and moderate-income (LMI) people and communities in the Eighth Federal Reserve District. The survey is sent to a variety of community stakeholders; results represent the opinions of those organizations that respond, which may vary from survey to survey. Data received will be useful for strategic planning, community and economic development, and public policy dialogue. The survey was piloted in September 2011 as the Low- and Moderate-Income (LMI) Survey.

Abstract

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, the U.S. economy experienced a sharp, unexpected recession with large employment losses. The information on employment available from traditional data sources arrives with a lag and does not promptly reflect sudden changes in labor market conditions. In this article, we discuss how new high-frequency data from Homebase and Ultimate Kronos Group can offer critical information on the state of labor markets in real time. Using these datasets, we construct coincident employment indices to assess employment at a high frequency. Employment during the pandemic reacted to changes in the number of infections and the restrictions imposed by government officials (see, e.g., the discussion in Dvorkin and Bharadwaj, 2020). Our latest data suggest that employment has recently increased and will continue to increase as the pandemic wanes.

Per capita income in many nations in sub-Saharan Africa is much smaller than that of the U.S., according to data from the World Bank. Can industrialization spur economic growth in this region?

In a recent Regional Economist article, economist and Assistant Vice President Yi Wen and Research Associate Iris Arbogast, examined why poorer countries have had difficulties industrializing and also offered some insights into how sub-Saharan Africa can be successful with this type of development.