Richard W. Fisher

English

Research Papers in Economics

“I have thought a 
great deal about 
globalization—
first as an investor,
then as a U.S. trade
negotiator and now as
Dallas Fed president.”
President’sPerspective
ver the years, I have thought a great deal
about globalization—first as an investor, then as
a U.S. trade negotiator and now as Dallas Fed
president. It is an issue of vital importance, one
that will transform the way Americans work,
consume and run businesses, as well as how we
at the Federal Reserve make decisions on mon-
etary policy.
Globalization is not fully understood. Freer
cross-border movement of goods, services,
labor, money and ideas raises new questions
about how the economy operates. 
Does declining U.S. unemployment still fuel
inflation in a world of abundant production
capacity? Can cheap imports affect U.S. prices,
either directly through retail outlets or indirectly
through cheaper inputs for our producers? How
do new economic actors, taking advantage of
revolutions in technology, communications and
transportation, impact our capacity to expand
employment? What does a world of porous bor-
ders mean for traditional assumptions about the
capacity for non-inflationary growth in the
United States, the world’s biggest and most
important economy? 
I have made exploring such topics the top
priority of the Dallas Fed’s research staff, with
the intent of making important contributions to
the economics profession’s understanding of
globalization. We believe Texas and the
Southwest—places quite familiar with open bor-
ders—can teach the rest of the nation a lot about
how to reap the benefits of globalization.
Placing our research focus on globalization led us to revamp our pub-
lications. We have added two new ones: a monthly Economic Letter, which
will feature a single, in-depth article on global and national economics, and
a series of occasional Staff Papers, which will present scholarly work on a
range of globalization-related topics.
Southwest Economy will continue to be published every other month.
Each issue will contain articles on the regional economy, including Mexico
and the border. We have modernized the publication’s design and added
new features—a Q&A on economic topics, a short Spotlight on key issues
and a Noteworthy page with interesting tidbits of information. 
The goal of our publications is to give our readers a better understand-
ing of the regional economy while we help them navigate the new world of
globalization.
Richard W. Fisher
President and CEO
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
O

President's perspective

http://dallasfed.org/assets/documents/research/swe/2006/swe0601a.pdf

President's perspective

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Research Papers in Economics