- Economics
- US Labor Market
- Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
- Understanding the Effects of Technology on Economics and Governance
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member Jeffrey Schmid speaks with Steven Davis about inflation, labor market conditions, and US monetary policy. They discuss the state of the economy, the thinking behind recent monetary policy decisions, the public’s intense dislike of inflation, central bank credibility, how the recent government shutdown challenged policymakers, and the need to rethink economic statistics.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Jeffrey Schmid is President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee. Before joining the Kansas City Fed in August 2023, he led the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking Foundation at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. He began his career in 1981 as a field examiner for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Later, he served as President of the American National Bank in Omaha and as Chairman and CEO of Mutual of Omaha Bank. A native of Nebraska, he earned degrees at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU.
- Check out: Jeffrey Schmid's Website
Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and a consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.
RELATED SOURCES
- Beige Book, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Extraordinary Labor Market Developments and the 2022-23 Disinflation, Steven J Davis. In Getting Global Monetary Policy Back on Track, edited by Michael Bordo, John H. Cochrane and John B. Taylor, Hoover Institution Press, 2025.
- Economic Policy Uncertainty Indexes at www.policyuncertainty.com
- The Trade Policy Rupture, Steven Davis, Freedom Frequency, The Hoover Institution, 6 October 2025.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Each episode of Economics, Applied, a video podcast series, features senior fellow Steven Davis in conversation with leaders and researchers about economic developments and their ramifications. The goal is to bring evidence and economic reasoning to the table, drawing lessons for individuals, organizations, and society. The podcast also aims to showcase the value of individual initiative, markets, the rule of law, and sound policy in fostering prosperity and security.
For more information, visit hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied.
