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Power Can Corrupt Leaders. Compassion Can Save Them

Harvard Business Review In 2016 John Stumpf, then the CEO of Wells Fargo, was called before Congress to explain a massive scandal. For more than four hours, Stumpf fielded a range of questions about why the bank, which had over $1.8 trillion in assets, had created 2 million false accounts, and, after the fraud was discovered, […] Read more

Housing Headwinds

The FED Said In a recent post, we described the outlook for housing growth in the Atlanta Fed’s district as “slow and steady.” In this post, we look at what other Fed districts are hearing about housing growth and attempt to reconcile those anecdotes with recent signs from the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow. The most recent Beige Book  characterized […] Read more

Dealing with Sexual Harassment When Your Company Is Too Small to Have HR

From Harvard Business Review The subject of sexual misconduct at work is dominating mainstream conversation and board room agendas. This doesn’t just mean men and women who run large global enterprises, Fortune 500 behemoths, film studios, and media platforms. The conversation is happening in small businesses as well. In the U.S. 43% of employees work in organizations with 50 […] Read more

Southeast Beige Report for January

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Summary of Economic Activity Sixth District business contacts remained largely positive with most noting that economic conditions were improving at a modest pace over the reporting period. Most contacts expect continued slow and steady growth in the near-term. Business contacts experienced on-going labor market tightness but limited wage growth. Non-labor […] Read more

How Low Is the Unemployment Rate, Really?

The FED Said In 2017, the unemployment rate averaged 4.4 percent. That’s quite low on a historical basis. In fact, it’s the lowest level since 2000, when unemployment averaged 4.0 percent. But does that mean that the labor market is only 0.4 percentage points away from being as strong as it was in 2000? Probably […] Read more

Facebook, BlackRock, and the Case for Purpose-Driven Companies

Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his platform needs to change. Community feedback has shown that public content has been “crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other,” according to Zuckerberg. As a result, the company says it will be focusing more on promoting posts from friends rather than from […] Read more

Ecommerce Fuels a Warehouse Boom

The FED Said  During six weeks of the holiday season, Geodis Contract Logistics of Brentwood, Tennessee, fulfilled about a million electronic commerce orders a day. From its 130-plus warehouses, the firm aims to ship every ecommerce order as quickly as possible, said Scott McWilliams, Geodis’s executive vice president of strategic development and a former member […] Read more

How Automation Will Change Work, Purpose, and Meaning

Harvard Business Review The vast majority of humans throughout history worked because they had to. Many found comfort, value, and meaning in their efforts, but some defined work as a necessity to be avoided if possible. For centuries, elites in societies from Europe to Asia aspired to absolution from gainful employment. Aristotle defined a “man […] Read more

Economic Prospects, Policy, and Potential

The FED Said Speech by Raphael Bostic President and Chief Executive Officer Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta To the Rotary Club of Atlanta January 8, 2018 Summary Atlanta Fed president and CEO Raphael Bostic offers his economic outlook in a speech to the Rotary Club of Atlanta on January 8, 2018. He also addresses the […] Read more

Where Is the Housing Sector Headed?

The FED Said One element that has distinguished the expansion following the Great Recession from expansions following prior recessions is the slow recovery of the housing sector. Recent data releases relating to home sales activity and new construction point to a housing market that continues to grow at a slow but steady pace. Single-family starts […] Read more

Bringing Community Development and Health Groups Together

The FED Said A sleek housing complex is rising in Chamblee, Georgia. Nothing new there. Nearly 1,000 apartment and condominium buildings have been permitted in the past five years in metropolitan Atlanta, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But the one in Chamblee is unusual. The Senior Residences at Mercy Park is a collaboration between […] Read more

Beige Book – November 29, 2017

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Summary of Economic Activity Reports from Sixth District business contacts described economic conditions as modestly improving since the previous report. Most businesses continue to expect slow and steady growth for the remainder of the year. District firms continued to describe a tight labor market as many faced difficulty finding workers. […] Read more

Opportunity Occupations: Well-Paying Jobs for Middle-Skill Workers

Did you know that only 29.7 percent of Americans over the age of 25 have attained a four-year college degree?1 Given many policymakers’ focus on increasing the share of individuals who attain a degree, that may sound like a surprisingly low number. It leaves a large group of American workers who do not have a four-year […] Read more

Beige Book – October 2017

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Summary of Economic Activity Aside from hurricane effects, Sixth District business contacts described economic conditions as improving at a modest pace from mid-August through September. The outlook among firms remained optimistic with the majority of contacts expecting growth to be slightly above current levels for the remainder of the year. […] Read more

What If Socially Useful Jobs Were Taxed Less Than Other Jobs?

This fall, college seniors across the U.S. are making a choice that will shape the rest of their lives: which career to pursue after graduation. It’s a breathtakingly complex decision, involving trade-offs among prestige, job security, quality of work life, and compensation. Yet these career choices affect not only the students themselves but also the rest […] Read more