Federal bank regulators have issued statements and guidance throughout the Covid-19 pandemic encouraging financial institutions to “meet the financial needs of their customers and members in areas affected by Covid-19.” In the past, regulators have indicated how financial institutions can prudently respond to disasters and national emergencies, and how examiners will view a financial institution'... Read More
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago recently convened leaders of small business intermediaries to discuss how Chicago's small businesses are faring during the COVID-19 pandemic and share insights on how their organizations—chambers of commerce, incubators, community development financial institutions, banks, and policymakers—can help businesses in underserved communities. The meeting began with an... Read More
The Federal Reserve has been tracking the impact of COVID-19 on marginalized communities to help inform recent responses to the crisis. Information gleaned from stakeholders through outreach calls focused on the impacts in economically marginalized communities, which, even when the macroeconomy is doing well, experience higher levels of unemployment, housing and food insecurity, and poor public h... Read More
The Community Development and Policy Studies (CDPS) division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago hosts an internal speaker series to convene scholars of diverse perspectives and academic fields to speak about issues impacting low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities and other vulnerable populations. CDPS hopes that the viewpoints garnered from the various presentations will fortify and enhan... Read More
The Federal Reserve COVID-19 survey is a convenience sample. Since the sample is not selected randomly, the survey may be subject to biases that are not present in randomly-selected samples of firms. The respondents do not reflect the full population of businesses along the dimensions of industry, age, employee size, and geography. A new report from the 12 Federal Reserve banks and the Board o... Read More
Introduction The term ‘food desert' most often evokes images of residents in urban communities without access to a full-service grocery store. It seems incongruous that one would exist in the middle of the nation's ‘bread basket.' However, it is estimated that as much as 20 percent of rural counties are ‘food desert' counties, meaning residents must travel more than 10 miles to t... Read More
The city of Aurora, Illinois, is taking steps to encourage collaboration with the launch of the Thrive Collaborative Center (TCC). Aurora is one of the cities that participated in focus groups about economic inclusion that the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago held throughout the Seventh Federal Reserve District.1 The need for increased collaboration within and across sectors was a prominent theme... Read More
In the next decade, what will be the most important advance or “big story” in community and economic development? In this article, we anticipate seven promising and aspirational contributions from the field of economics that may increase our chances of solving some of our most pressing challenges associated with poverty in low-income neighborhoods. In the past decade, our economy experienced the ... Read More
Lack of access to reliable transportation is often cited as a barrier to employment. In fact it was frequently cited as a significant obstacle by participants in focus groups on economic inclusion hosted by the Federal Reserve of Chicago.1 The challenge is especially significant in smaller, low-density cities with limited public transportation infrastructure. The city of South Bend, Indiana, is a... Read More
Scott Grotewold and Stephanie Wormack, fair lending risk specialists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, discussed a recent fair lending settlement, alternative data and machine learning insights, and a proposed rule that interprets a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on disparate impact at an economic development forum in Milwaukee. Key takeaways included: In response to allegations of ... Read More
