The Fed is best known for its important monetary policy work, but we’ve got a lot of other things happening, too. At the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, we document as much of it as we can on this site, and as the year ends, we decided to look back at what we considered our best reads of 2019. The list below is in no particular order. Take a look, and please continue to check out our work in 2020.

“Fed leaders join Fed chair Powell in Conn. to shine light on community development effort”

Summary: This fall, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell visited East Hartford, Conn., to learn how the Working Cities Challenge is creating opportunity in a city that’s struggled to move beyond its faded industrial past.

Quote: “Companies are hiring, businesses are being started. But for people who are at the margins, in low- and moderate-income communities, it’s not enough. They need more. They need a chance. They need the social capital that you have come together to provide.” – Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve.

“Boston Fed puts working parents at the center of new initiative on child care” 

Summary: Working parents know it’s not easy to find early child care that’s affordable, available, and high quality. But what are some solutions to this so-called “trilemma of challenges?” This year, the Boston Fed launched a new initiative to find out.
 
Quote: “This is a problem that’s not going away, and in many ways, working parents have been left on their own to solve it.” – Sarah Savage, policy analyst, Boston Fed.

“Boston Fed, state of Vermont team up on effort to strengthen state’s rural towns, smaller cities”

Summary: The Working Cities Challenge’s collaborative leadership model is being adapted under a new name to help rural communities overcome chronic problems, and it’s heading to Vermont.

Quote: “I’m pleased that the Boston Fed’s Working Communities Challenge will give us another tool in the toolbox to help expand economic growth in our rural towns and villages.” – Vermont Gov. Phil Scott.

“Blockchain, the future, and the end of the Wild West”

Summary: The push by the financial sector to experiment with blockchain makes it a good bet that various asset types could be moving on blockchain networks. That’s why it’s time for thoughtful discussion about blockchain “supervisory nodes.”

Quote: “Blockchain is at the heart of many cryptocurrencies, which generally operate without regulators in an industry with a Wild West reputation. But an unmonitored future is not likely for blockchain if and when it becomes a major conduit for global financial assets.” – Jim Cunha, senior vice president, Boston Fed.