Journal Article
The Coronavirus and the Economy
Rodgers, Rachel; Romero, Jessie; Price, David A.; Crouse, Jacob; Shen, Luna (2020-01)
Econ Focus , Issue 1Q , Pages 3-6

Briefing
Who Values Access to College?
Ionescu, Felicia; Vidangos, Ivan; Neelakantan, Urvi; Athreya, Kartik B.; Romero, Jessie (2020-03)
A quantitative model of college enrollment suggests that the value of college access varies greatly across individuals. Forty percent place no value on the option to attend despite large public subsidies, while 25 percent would enroll even without the subsidies. In the model, redirecting public funds from those who attend college irrespective of subsidies to those who don’t attend even with subsidies both preserves college enrollment and improves overall outcomes. While these two groups are clearly visible only in the model, and not in the data, this analysis suggests that more-targeted ...
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 20 , Issue 03

Journal Article
Employment Barriers in the Rural Fifth District
Latham, Sierra; Waddell, Sonya Ravindranath; Norris, Stephanie; Romero, Jessie (2022-04)
In Virginia, 75 percent of working-age adults are employed, in line with the national average of 74 percent. But there are significant disparities across geographies. In Loudoun County, Va., in the Washington, D.C., metro area, the share is 84.1 percent. On the other side of the state, in Lee County, just 48.2 percent of working-age adults are employed. This is true of many socioeconomic indicators: Aggregation is necessary to understand broad outcomes, but with aggregation, we lose important geographic distinctions and, thus, the opportunity to identify both challenges and solutions. This is ...
Econ Focus , Issue 2Q , Pages 30-34

Briefing
Predicting Recessions
Webb, Roy H.; Murphy, Thomas; Romero, Jessie (2019)
This Economic Brief evaluates the predictive capabilities of the yield curve and several other leading indicators, including the Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI), claims for unemployment insurance, manufacturing activity, consumer lending, and CEO optimism. According to in-sample statistical analysis, several indicators — particularly the three-month/ten-year term spread and the LEI — have demonstrated significant value in predicting recessions during the past sixty years.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 19 , Issue 12 , Pages 6pgs.

Briefing
Should the Fed Issue Digital Currency?
Wang, Zhu; Wong, Russell; Romero, Jessie (2021-03)
The United States might benefit from eventually replacing most physical cash with central bank digital currency (CBCD), but first the Federal Reserve must resolve several key policy and implementation issues, such as establishing comparative advantage over private issuers and ensuring safety and soundness.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 21 , Issue 10