In a forthcoming article in the bank's Economic Perspectives, I profile the economic development efforts underway in the five largest cities in the Seventh District—Des Moines, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Chicago. (For a complete profile of all five cities see, Industrial clusters and economic development in the Seventh District's largest cities.) Each city faces its own unique s... Read More

A summary of economic conditions in the Seventh District from the latest release of the Beige Book and from other indicators of regional business activity: Overall conditions: Growth in economic activity remained moderate in June and contacts maintained their optimistic outlook for the rest of the year. Consumer sp... Read More

The housing sector has made halting progress throughout the five-year recovery from the Great Recession. Beginning in June 2013, progress began to slow as mortgage rates jumped, thereby hampering affordability and lending viability. Even as home mortgage rates and lending standards were beginning to ease, this past winter's unusually cold and stormy weather dealt another setback to sales... Read More

Few would take issue that the U.S. economy is propelled by innovation. To stay ahead of their competitors, virtually all enterprises engage in innovation of one form or another. Such innovations take the form of improvements to products, services, and internal processes of production and delivery. In the case of start-ups or new enterprises, the proportion of activity devoted to innovatio... Read More

Community Development and Policy Studies at the Chicago Fed recently published profiles of a group of 10 cities that experienced significant manufacturing job loss in recent decades. The Industrial Cities Initiative (ICI) includes, Aurora and Joliet in Illinois; Fort Wayne and Gary in Indiana; Cedar Rapids and Waterloo in Iowa; Grand Rapids and Pontiac in Michigan; and, Green Bay and Racine in W... Read More

A summary of economic conditions in the Seventh District from the latest release of the Beige Book and from other indicators of regional business activity: Overall conditions: Growth in economic activity in the Seventh District was moderate in April and May. Although contacts were expecting a stronger pick-up in growth, they maintained their optimistic outlooks for the remainder of the yea... Read More

As the US economic recovery approaches the five-year mark, a look back shows that it has been far from a smooth and upward ride. Since the end of the Great Recession, the economy has grown at a generally disappointing pace with fits and starts due to repeated setbacks. Many parts of the U.S. economy are still working their way through the effects of the financial crisis that accompanied t... Read More

The social safety net in the United States consists of dozens of anti-poverty programs on the local, state, and federal level that provide benefits to low-income households. Although anti-poverty programs are generally funded by the federal government, most are administered by states. State governments have broad discretion over the generosity of programs, so the level of benefits for any... Read More

A summary of economic conditions in the Seventh District from the latest release of the Beige Book and from other indicators of regional business activity: Overall conditions: Growth in economic activity in the Seventh District picked up in March, and contacts generally maintained their optimistic outlook for 2014. Consumer spending: Growth in consumer spending increased slightly in Ma... Read More

The severity of this winter season has had a noticeably negative impact on everything from retail sales to industrial production. Roadway freight operations are no exception. The effects of the extreme cold and heavy snow, which started last December and has continued into March of this year, seem to be showing up in some recent economic data on freight services. Chart 1 below co... Read More