Persistence and resilience are words Atlanta Fed officer Mike Chriszt said have come to mind in his talks with people during listening tours in smaller cities and towns across the Atlanta Federal Reserve Sixth District.
"People are committed to making sure their towns can survive and thrive," Chriszt said in a recent phone call from a motel room in Greenville, Alabama. "Nobody's throwing in the towel."
This observation resulted from Chriszt's experience in Greenville, an industrial center in Southwest Alabama with a Census-estimated population of 7,263. Chriszt spent time getting a sense of the place through walks along downtown sidewalks, casual conversations in shops and restaurants, and talks with civic leaders at a lunch meeting of the Rotary Club of Greenville. Chriszt chose these places because each is a touchstone of local culture and economic activity. He also visited Foley, Brewton, and Opp on his swing through southern Alabama.
The visit was among the first of many that Chriszt, the Bank's vice president of regional engagement, plans as he launches the Atlanta Fed's enhanced outreach initiative. The program is part of the Atlanta Fed's effort to bolster connections with people who reside in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas in a District that covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. This outreach is in addition to Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic's visits around the District, such as his recent two-day trip to Tuscaloosa and Hale County, Alabama.
The business plan for the initiative observes: "The main goal of the listening effort is to hear how developments in the economy are affecting people's lives. This initiative will allow us to connect with the citizens we serve directly to explain our decisions and hear firsthand how those decisions are being experienced."
Chriszt plans to implement the plan by spending a few days in each of the places he visits. While there, he intends to talk with individuals who are outside the Fed's traditional sphere of economists and market participants. He'll ask about their experiences in the economy and learn about structural issues that may be affecting economic mobility and resilience. In addition, he intends to raise awareness of the Fed's efforts to promote maximum employment and stable prices, with the goal of increasing understanding of the Atlanta Fed's and the Federal Reserve System's role and highlight the Fed's accountability and transparency. "Familiarity breeds trust and, in this environment, trust is pretty important," Chriszt said.
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Another goal is to gain an anecdotal sense of how people outside big cities are navigating the economy. Chriszt intends to share insights with Fed researchers and policymakers but emphasized that his core mission is not to gather data. "This is outreach to develop relationships with people, listen to their concerns, and answer questions about the Fed and our policy decisions," Chriszt said.
Chriszt brings a trained eye to the observation of local economic conditions. Chriszt's more than 30-year career with the Atlanta Fed includes more than two decades in the Bank's Research Department and a leading role in establishing the Bank's Regional Economic Information Network. For example, on a recent trip Chriszt spotted evidence of the nation's labor shortage in one town at local restaurant. The kitchen had been closed weeks earlier, after the cook quit and the manager could not find a replacement.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook described this sort of boots-on-the-ground observation as crucial when traditional sources are inadequate. Cook's personal example was when she walked city blocks in Moscow in the 1990s to count construction cranes to establish an accurate indication of the Russian economy. "Looking for the best data in a highly uncertain environment is what I've learned to inform my decisions," Cook said in a recent conversation with Bostic at the Atlanta Fed.
In the Alabama towns Chriszt has visited, people describe their city's versions of these and other economic shifts. The labor shortage is real, housing issues are paramount, and lack of access to broadband is seen as making some towns less attractive to remote workers.
The Enhanced Outreach Initiative comports with a concept espoused by former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Bernanke said during the December 2013 Centennial of the Federal Reserve Act:
"Ultimately, the legitimacy of our policies rests on the understanding and support of the broader American public, whose interests we are working to serve. The ability of this institution to support a healthy economy will require our continued efforts to engage in two-way communication—explaining our actions and, importantly, listening to what our fellow citizens have to say."
David Pendered
Staff writer for Economy Matters