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Journal Article
Developing small businesses and leveraging resources in Detroit: an informed discussion among financial institutions, policymakers and Other stakeholders in Detroit
In October 2012, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Michigan Bankers Association and the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan co-sponsored a symposium in Detroit that brought together business experts, business owners, policymakers, funders and bankers to explore issues around access to small business credit and financing in Detroit. As Alicia Williams, vice president of the Community Development and Policy Studies (CDPS) division, explained in her opening remarks, the symposium was a follow-up to meetings hosted around the country by the Federal Reserve System?s Community ...
Journal Article
Determinants of Housing Values and Variations in Home Prices Across Neighborhoods in Cook County
From 2007 to 2009, the U.S. underwent one of the worst recessions in its history, a recession triggered by an unprecedented, international financial crisis that resulted from institutional portfolio concentration in securities backed by home mortgages, and the collapse of that securities market. The period saw a wave of defaults and foreclosures that spared almost no communities in metropolitan areas throughout the country (Bajaj and Story, 2008). Loan defaults and foreclosures, which had tended to be concentrated in lower-income and minority neighborhoods, spread to new and diverse ...
Journal Article
Reinvesting in the Greater Chatham Neighborhoods in Chicago: New Data and Insights from Practitioners and Policymakers
In the not too distant past, Chicago was known as the center of black capitalism in America, and within the city, the Chatham neighborhood reflected the heart of black middle-class aspirations. In recent years, residents of Chatham and other south side neighborhoods have confronted a barrage of challenges to their once stable communities. In hopes of stanching this tide, Congressman Bobby Rush, whose district includes the Chatham neighborhood, and scores of civic leaders, helped launch the Greater Chatham Initiative (GCI) in June 2016,1 to mobilize resources for a comprehensive set of ...
Working Paper
The importance of check-cashing businesses to the unbanked: racial/ethnic differences
The roughly 9.5 percent of all U.S. families that are without some type of transaction account (unbanked) are disproportionately represented by minorities. The unbanked often must rely on alternative ways to carry out basic financial transactions such as cashing payroll checks and paying bills. This study analyzes unique survey data and finds that a consumer's decision to patronize check-cashing businesses is jointly made with the decision to be unbanked. For the unbanked, these businesses are an important source for financial services. Attributes that contribute to these decisions, however, ...
Discussion Paper
Access to credit and financial services among black households
Journal Article
Strategies for improving economic mobility of workers: a conference report
The issue of economic opportunity for the disadvantaged has grown in importance. We?ve witnessed healthy job creation rates in recent years, and by almost all measures American workers, overall, have gained economic ground. Yet, at the same time, it?s also well known that inequality in economic outcomes has increased. Those at the bottom of the income distribution have not grown as fast as those on the top, and may even be stagnating. These trends imply that segments of the labor force have relatively more limited chances for economic mobility.
Newsletter
Trends in consumer sentiment and spending
In 2008, personal consumption expenditures represented 70% of gross domestic product, or total spending on final goods and services, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data. This article analyzes consumer sentiment and spending data to uncover differences across income and education level groups.
Journal Article
Variations in consumer sentiment across demographic groups
Consumer sentiment is one of the many macroeconomic indicators tracked by policymakers and the public. The aggregate numbers in consumer sentiment indexes, such as the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment, conceal a wealth of demographic-specific information. The authors' findings suggest that index disaggregation by group matters because consumer sentiment varies systematically by demographic group.