The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is one of only five Fed banks that employs zero Black Ph.D. economists, according to a New York Times report this week.
Of the 12 Federal Reserve banks, seven employ only one or two Black Ph.D. economists, which Fed officials blame on lack of Black talent in the economics pipeline, according to the New York Times report.
The Richmond Fed is no exception, according to bank officials.
“There’s a small numbers problem that the economics profession faces in terms of the number of Ph.D.s that are produced,” says Richmond Fed Research Director Kartik Athreya. “At even the best of times, we have a great deal of difficulty hiring economists of any background. From a numbers perspective, it’s unsurprising in some sense that we have been unsuccessful, just as many others have.”
