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Southwest Economy Podcast

Dallas Fed economists explore new and noteworthy trends and developments affecting Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico in the Southwest Economy podcast series.

Recent Podcasts

January 19, 2024

Brownsville, long a quiet community in the largely agricultural Lower Rio Grande Valley, confronts a burst of activity from SpaceX launches to new port trade. Texas National Bank President Joe Quiroga, a lifelong area resident and Dallas Fed director, discusses the rapid change with Dallas Fed economist Pia Orrenius.

December 29, 2023

Dallas Fed economists Jesse Thompson and Pia Orrenius discuss how the employment profile of Texas increasingly resembles the U.S., while the energy sector ensures that the state remains unique.

November 3, 2023

Economist Jeffrey Fuhrer, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Boston Fed director of research, discusses The Myth that Made Us, his new book about inequalities in the nation’s economic system. He offers proposals to close the nation’s wealth gap in a discussion with Dallas Fed economist Pia Orrenius.

November 3, 2023

University of Chicago Booth School associate professor Michael Weber explains how audiences are most receptive to monetary policy messaging delivered by Fed officials whose ethnic or gender background is similar to theirs. The tendency is also generally observed in other communications contexts, he tells Dallas Fed economist Pia Orrenius.  

September 29, 2023

Ben Munyan, the Dallas Fed’s Banking Supervision Department’s director of supervisory policy, provides insights on lessons learned this year and discusses with Dallas Fed economist Pia Orrenius where Texas banks stand.

July 6, 2023

Beni Lopez, chief executive of the Dallas-based U.S and Canada division of Softtek, outlines the Monterrey, Mexico, company’s strategy in the competitive North American market.

April 19, 2023

Dallas Fed economist David Rapson says there’s more to the energy transition than switching to electric cars in part one of his discussion with host and Dallas Fed economist Pia Orrenius.

Dallas Fed economist David Rapson says electric vehicles often supplement rather than replace existing fossil-fuel powered cars in part two of his discussion with host and Dallas Fed economist Pia Orrenius.

March 1, 2023

Former Banco de México chief economist Daniel Chiquiar discusses Mexico’s postpandemic outlook and its susceptibility to a U.S. downturn in a discussion with Dallas Fed senior business economist Jesus Cañas.

January 20, 2023

Senior economist Anil Kumar explores how greater labor availability in Texas—indicated by comparatively higher unemployment—spurs economic activity in an era of worker shortages across the country.

December 22, 2022

H-E-B President Craig Boyan discusses with Dallas Fed economist Pia Orrenius how the privately held grocer has tried to handle supply, price and labor challenges while continuing to expand in the state.

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November 9, 2022

The era of shortages that began with the pandemic may be winding down, Dallas Fed economist Chris Slijk suggests in this discussion of pervasive supply disruptions with Dallas Fed economist Pia Orrenius.

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November 2, 2022

Pol Antràs, the Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics at Harvard University, explains why despite frayed supply chains and geopolitical tensions, globalization remains a guiding principal for much of how world trade is conducted.

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July 15, 2022

Houston, slow to escape pandemic-era doldrums, has charged ahead with strengthening energy markets. Dallas Fed economists Jesse Thompson and Pia Orrenius discuss what lies ahead for Houston.

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July 5, 2022

Trade may have hit a few bumps during the pandemic, but it retains the ability to help deal with some vexing problems. The Dallas Fed’s Pia Orrenius discusses with Raymond Robertson of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University how a revamped Central America–U.S. free trade agreement could slow the northward flow of migrants.

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April 28, 2022

Enrollment dropped at colleges and universities in the U.S. and Texas as COVID-19 swept across the nation. Dallas Fed economists Wenhua Di and Pia Orrenius discuss the implications and the importance of getting back to normal.

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April 21, 2022

Recent legalization of recreational marijuana in New Mexico opens up retail sales next door to Texas. University of New Mexico economist Sarah S. Stith discusses the economic gains and social and medical costs with the Dallas Fed’s Pia Orrenius and Keighton Hines.

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January 31, 2022

COVID-19 brought to the fore the world’s dependence on semiconductors. Tyson Tuttle, who retired in January as CEO of Austin-based Silicon Labs and remains on its board, discusses the chip shortage and how the 2021 Texas freeze contributed to it. He also reflects on Austin’s ascension as a technology hub.

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January 6, 2022

Big metro areas on the coasts—especially those in California—have led a surge of migration to Texas since COVID-19’s onset. Dallas Fed Senior Research Economist Yichen Su discusses what moves folks to come to Texas and how he used credit report data to document it.

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September 30, 2021

Texas community colleges are among the U.S. leaders in helping keep the workforce skills current, Opportunity America President Tamar Jacoby explains in a discussion with Dallas Fed Senior Economist Pia Orrenius.

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September 30, 2021

Workplace change, once thought to take a decade or more, became reality during the COVID-19 economic dislocation, Tamar Jacoby, president of Opportunity America, tells Dallas Fed Senior Economist Pia Orrenius.

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August 16, 2021

Legal immigrants, eligible to receive COVID-19 assistance, didn’t seek help at a rate most others did. Senior research economist Wenhua Di discusses why that happened.

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August 3, 2021

Petrochemicals, used in a range of goods and even foods, will remain tight into 2022 following last February’s historic freeze, senior economist Jesse Thompson says.

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Find more Southwest Economy podcasts via your preferred podcast provider.

About the Host

Pia M. Orrenius

Orrenius is a vice president and senior economist in the Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.