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Economic Research


  • Data Dive

  • GDP

  • Inflation

  • Employment

  • Unemployment
Excludes federal, state, and local debt; Annual nominal GDP (including estimates prior to 1929) used prior to 1952, source BEA and HISTSTAT; Annual net private debt used prior to 1952, see James & Sylla (2006); Quarterly nominal GDP used from 1952-present, source BEA; Quarterly Credit Market Debt used from 1952-present, source Flow of Funds FRB.

Source: BEA, as of 2009 Q4.

Source: BEA, as of December 2009.

Source: BLS, as of January 2010.

Source: BLS, as of January 2010.

FedViews

Looking at the outlook from a year ago, our forecasts for economic growth and inflation proved to be reasonably on target, but the unemployment rate rose far more than we had expected.

— John C. Williams

» Read more in FedViews January 2010

Economic Letter

Hong Kong and China and the Global Recession FRBSF Economic Letter 2010-04

Hong Kong and China are recovering impressively from global recession thanks to effective stimulus programs. But authorities worry that expansionary U.S. monetary policy may fuel asset bubbles in their economies. In the long run, the recession may nudge China toward increased domestic consumption by highlighting the risks of export-driven development. This Letter is adapted from a report by the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on her visit to Hong Kong and China November 15-21, 2009.

Yellen February 8, 2010

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District Trends

Beige Book January 13, 2010

Economic activity appeared to pick up slightly in December. Holiday season retail sales were up from the preceding season but were slow compared with prior years.

» Summary 12th District Full report

12L Economic Trends January 2010

ETC: Economic Trends & Conditions February 2010

BS&R's 12th District Banking Profile Q2 2009

Financial Crisis

Recent FRBSF research on the crisis

For a complete list, please visit:

Elements of
the Crisis

Fed
Response

Economic
Aftermath

New in Research

In the News

Global housing prices: there are always bigger bubbles taken from Ft.com Blog by Simone Baribeau February 9

An economic letter put out by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco today put the US housing run-up in perspective. In a cross-country comparison they found that home prices in the US rose less than those in a whole swath of European countries.

» Read more in Global Household Leverage, House Prices, and Consumption
FRBSF Economic Letter 2010-01 Glick Lansing

Fed's Yellen: Low U.S. rates stimulatory for China taken from Reuters February 8

The U.S. Federal Reserve's ultra-easy monetary policy is fueling concerns in Hong Kong and China over asset bubbles and prospects for dollar weakness, which could hurt their dollar-denominated investments, a top Federal Reserve official said on Monday. China, however, could adjust its exchange rate to allay inflationary worries, San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said in an Economic Letter.

» Read more in Hong Kong and China and the Global Recession
FRBSF Economic Letter 2010-04 Yellen

Fed Policy and Mortgage Choice taken from Economist's View Blog February 2

The Fed has been purchasing mortgage backed securities, but only those containing fixed interest rate mortgages. Mortgages with variable interest rates have not been part of the Fed's mortgage backed security purchase program. Coinciding with this, and probably caused by the Fed's intervention, has been a change in the composition of mortgage purchases by households toward fixed rate loans.

» Read more in Mortgage Choice and the Pricing of Fixed-Rate and
Adjustable-Rate Mortgages

FRBSF Economic Letter 2010-03 Krainer

Working Papers

» More Working Papers

“Macro-Finance Models of Interest Rates and the Economy” Working paper 2010-01

During the past decade, much new research has combined elements of finance, monetary economics, and macroeconomics in order to study the relationship between the term structure of interest rates and the economy. In this survey, I describe three different strands of such interdisciplinary macro-finance term structure research.

Rudebusch January 2010

Upcoming Seminars

Micro Seminar
Justin McCrary UC Berkeley The Deterrence Effect of Prison: Dynamic Theory and Evidence February 10

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Macro Brown Bag
Eric Swanson FRBSF February 18

International Seminar
Ina Simonovska UC Davis February 25

Applied Micro Seminar
Carol Graham Maryland and Brookings February 26

Upcoming Conferences

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TBA

Research Centers