Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Publications
Announcements about research, economic education, and community development publications from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

• FOMC to Increase Economic Projections
  Financial Update, Fourth Quarter 2007. The Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policymaking arm of the Federal Reserve, recently announced that it will increase the frequency and expand the content of its economic projections.
• Atlanta Fed Chief Sees Markets Calming in '08
  Financial Update, Fourth Quarter 2007. Atlanta Fed President Dennis P. Lockhart believes the nation's economy will slow moderately over the coming quarters, picking up speed by late 2008 as the housing market recovers.
• Fed Governor Kroszner Discusses Mortgage Practices With Congress
  Financial Update, Fourth Quarter 2007. With housing markets still roiling, Federal Reserve Governor Randall S. Kroszner recently testified before lawmakers about ways to improve how subprime mortgages are made.
• Fed Board of Governors Provides Tips for Secure Checking Accounts
  Financial Update, Fourth Quarter 2007. To help educate consumers about how to better protect their bank accounts, the Federal Reserve has published a set of precautions that can help safeguard checking accounts from fraud.
• Extra Credit, Fall 2007
  This online economic and financial education newsletter is designed for classroom teachers in middle and high school. Published twice a year, Extra Credit provides informative articles, lesson plans and activities, teaching tips, and a calendar of teaching workshops and events. Articles in the fall 2007 issue focus on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart discussing education, a new Spanish transcript of the DVD of Katrina's Classroom personal finance curriculum, the Atlanta Fed's second annual Lesson Plan of the Year contest, the benefits and costs to foreign countries of dollarizing their economies, and the advantages to students of opening a bank account.
• Lockhart: Balance of Risk Has Shifted to Slower Growth
  Financial Update, Fourth Quarter 2007. Recent volatility in financial markets shifted the balance of economic risks from higher inflation toward slower growth, Atlanta Fed President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis P. Lockhart said in a recent speech.
• Asymmetric Expectation Effects of Regime Shifts and the Great Moderation
  Working Paper 2007-23 by Zheng Liu, Daniel F. Waggoner, and Tao Zha. Expectation effects of regime changes are quantitatively important and asymmetric when monetary policy switches between a hawkish regime and a dovish one. Thus, these effects need be taken into account in dynamic stochastic general equilibrium modeling.
• A Discrete Choice Model of Dividend Reinvestment Plans: Classification and Prediction
  Working Paper 2007-22 by Thomas P. Boehm and Ramon P. DeGennaro. The authors construct a model to predict whether firms will add or drop dividend reinvestment plans and determine the factors driving this decision. They provide managerial and investment implications of their research.
• EconSouth Third Quarter 2007 now online
  Articles include: 110 Degrees in the Shade: Drought Sears the Southeast examines the impact of this summer's severe drought. The parched region and its agricultural sector are still adding up the toll that Mother Nature exacted. Latin Multinationals Become Global Headliners looks at some of the firms that are part of a global movement of large companies from emerging economies. These companies are pursuing profits and market share in developed nations, often through acquisitions. The Past, Present, and Future of Futures examines the marketplaces in which futures contracts are created and traded. These firms have come a long way from their origins in the 19th century and now play a major role in the global financial system. The Gulf Coast: Still Laboring Toward Recovery surveys the region two years after Hurricane Katrina roared through the Gulf Coast. Rebuilding continues, but despite the considerable progress made much remains to be done to achieve normalcy. EconSouth Now provides podcasts with Atlanta Fed economists and other experts that complement EconSouth. Listen to an interview with Javier Santiso of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development about the growth of multinational corporations.
• New HMDA Data Show Changes in Mortgage Market
  Financial Update, Third Quarter 2007. Recent information released under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act shows the changes taking place in the mortgage market, such as the growth of mortgage companies as lenders of choice.
• Accounting for Changes in the Homeownership Rate
  Working Paper 2007-21 by Matthew Chambers, Carlos Garriga, and Don E. Schlagenhauf. The U.S. homeownership rate increased during the 1994-2005 period after thirty years of relative stability. The authors examine demographic changes and mortgage market innovations to determine reasons for the increase.
• Partners newsletter, Volume 17, Number 2, 2007
  This issue features several articles, including Transitioning Youth from Foster Care to Successful Adulthood; LouisianaSpeaks; Don't Bet the House; Is Bankruptcy Reform Legislation Working?; Predatory Lending and the Military; and Free Tax Sites Generate Refunds for Nashville Families.
• What Determines the Output Drop after an Energy Price Increase: Household or Firm Energy Share?
  Working Paper 2007-20 by Rajeev Dhawan and Karsten Jeske. Firms' reduced average energy share during the past twenty years has increased the economy's resilience to energy price shocks, the authors find.
• Cigarette Smoking and Food Insecurity among Low-Income Families in the United States, 2001
  Working Paper 2007-19 by Brian S. Armour, M. Melinda Pitts, and Chung-won Lee. Low-income families with a household head or spouse who smokes are more prone to food insecurity—having insufficient funds to buy enough food to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• Smoking: Taxing Health and Social Security
  Economic Review article by Brian S. Armour and M. Melinda Pitts. Because they have shorter life expectancies, smokers incur a higher net marginal Social Security tax rate than nonsmokers. This higher tax rate could affect both labor supply behavior and the Social Security System's funding.
• When More Is Better: Assessing the Southeastern Economy with Lots of Data
  Economic Review article by Pedro Silos and Diego Vilan. The authors estimate a model that provides a single indicator for the southeastern economy, making it easier for policymakers and analysts to assess regional economic conditions and compare them to the broader economy.
• Financial Market Frictions
  Economic Review article by Ramon P. DeGennaro and Cesare Robotti. Market frictions, which exist even in efficient markets and change over time, impede trade but also offer profit opportunities. To provide a framework for understanding market frictions, the authors classify frictions into five categories.
• Federal Home Loan Bank Advances and Commercial Bank Portfolio Composition
  Working Paper 2007-17 by W. Scott Frame, Diana Hancock, and Wayne Passmore. Using both a theoretical model and empirical estimates, the authors find little relationship between Federal Home Loan Bank advances and the additional provision of mortgage credit.