What Really Happens at a Fed Research Conference
Odd Lots
Bloomberg
4.5 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 5 January 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Every year, regional Federal Reserve banks host some of the most substantive — and under-the-radar — events in the central banking world: research conferences. Behind the formal papers and dense macro models, this is where much of the Fed’s intellectual groundwork for monetary policy first starts to take shape. On this episode, we take you inside the Boston Fed's 69th annual Economic Conference to hear what the economists are actually debating, how they choose the questions that matter most, and what happens when the evidence — or egos — clash. Along the way, we talk to Fed researchers, outside academics, and Boston Fed President Susan Collins about how this kind of work influences policy in the real world.
Watch all the presentations at the Boston Fed's website
Subscribe to the Odd Lots Newsletter
Join the conversation: discord.gg/oddlots
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Markets move fast. Get the insights you need in 10 minutes with Barclays Brief, a podcast from |
| 0:05.6 | Barclays Investment Bank. Each week, our experts analyze market themes, helping you anticipate |
| 0:10.7 | what's next. Listen to Barclay's Brief wherever you get your podcasts. Donald Trump is |
| 0:17.0 | rewriting the Washington rule book and reshaping the global economy. |
| 0:22.0 | If you're trying to connect the dots behind the headlines, Bloomberg's Trumponomics podcast |
| 0:26.4 | is here to help. I'm Stephanie Flanders, head of government and economics at Bloomberg. |
| 0:31.5 | Every week, I'll bring you a smart, focused conversation with reporters and experts from |
| 0:36.8 | Washington, Wall Street and beyond. |
| 0:39.5 | Listen to new episodes every Wednesday and follow Trumponomics wherever you listen. |
| 0:47.7 | Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. |
| 0:57.6 | Okay. Podcasts, Radio, News. Okay, so thank you all. |
| 1:01.6 | The next paper is presented by Omar Barbiero. |
| 1:06.2 | U.S. firm's exposure to import tariffs, |
| 1:08.5 | a comparison of the 2019 and 2025 episodes. |
| 1:11.6 | Can I ask a personal question? |
| 1:13.6 | When you present a paper like this at a research conference, like this Boston Fed one, |
| 1:19.6 | so you get nervous, and then I guess adjacent to that, like what's the best outcome for you |
| 1:26.6 | when you present the paper and what's the sort of nightmare scenario? |
| 1:31.3 | Would it be someone like finding some fundamental error in the methodology and like standing up in the middle of the conference and being like, there's a serious problem here? |
| 1:40.3 | Yeah, I mean many, many nightmare scenarios. Sorry, I was just clicking randomly and then we went. Okay. |
| 1:48.8 | All right. I would say the worst thing that can happen is that you just say something wrong |
| 1:57.3 | that sounds dishonest almost. Like you're trying to hide something like there's clearly a data |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Bloomberg, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Bloomberg and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.