District 6 Atlanta Case Study

District 6: Atlanta
The beige book is a summary of the current economics conditions around the United States. This report is published eight times a year. Each Federal reserve bank gather important information on economic conditions that have recently occurred in the district. The beige book mainly contains reports from bank and branch directors, interviews with important business contacts, economists, and market experts. The beige book summarizes all of this information mentioned by district and by sector. When preparing for meetings, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members are also given a green book, which predicts how the economy is going to play out in the next few months. The green book comes with another book called the
Blue Book, which presents the board staff’s analysis of momentary policy alternatives. Out of all these books, the beige book is the only one available to the public. The beige book is available to the public approximately two weeks before each FOMC meeting. Its lists consumer spending and tourism, real estate and construction, manufacturing and transportation, banking and finance, employment and finance, employments and prices, natural resources and agriculture. Many of these categories varied in fluctuations and their impact on the economy.
People who were closely related to the sixth business district reported that economic activity continued to advance at an average pace from February to March.
Reports seemed generally positive and had good expectations for the coming months. However, when it came to retail, reports were mixed. Some retailers stated that sales had improved, while others stated that customers seemed to not have as much leeway spending. Car sales also boomed during this time in Atlanta. Atlanta received many tourists despite the economic position, having the tourist helped them maintain their income in business such as car rentals, hotels, and restaurants. Housing markets continued to improve, housing prices went up and many offers were made on existing properties. While new properties are being built making the construction rate better than last years. The highest level of manufacturing since 2012 was reached this year by increases in new orders, production, and employment. Since it has reached a peak it is expected to plateau for the remainder of the year. What decreased was the railroad companies and it is expected to either keep declining or stay the same. The strongest growth showed was shown in chemicals, oils, and gases. Businesses continued piling on debt as consumers continued refinancing mortgagae loans. Hence, there was a race of competition for loan applicants which produced low fix rates to attract the consumers. Since there were a lot of loans needed there had been an increase
in regulations. Commercial real estate loan demand had increased, specially for hotel construction, healthcare, and multi-family projects. Banks also had more willingness to lend to small businesses instead of large businesses. Despite all this the overall demand for loans and credit usage continued to be low. Employment and prices is another category in the beige book that states how the payroll rate increased noticeably since the last beige book report on district six. Even though uncertainty over fiscal policy and healthcare reform were contributing to hesitation in hiring. Atlanta is the District with the largest concentrations of employment, and since the previous report unemployment rates have declined, even if it was just slightly. Input costs remained stable. Natural resources and agriculture contained some factors that remained stable and others that changed vastly. The energy industry became an important factor due to the increase in projects for the Gulf Coast 's liquefied natural gas export capacity. This was done through investment in new export facilities, like pipeline and tanks. This became strong drivers of capital and labor demand. What improved noticeably were the drought conditions, as well as Alabama and Florida. As always the cotton prices remained below levels. Labor and fuel costs were reduced by the investment in new equipment.
In conclusion, the beige book has been a very helpful tool in our society since it is public information on how each district is doing economically. It is updated to keep everything up to date. Since it shows all the districts it is good to compare and contrast the situations in each category such as consumer spending, transportation, manufacturing, tourism, real estate, construction, banking and employment. District six, being Atlanta has had overall improvement since 2012. The spotlight still remains on them for employment rates as well as Florida. Atlanta attracts a lot of tourist, mainly from Florida. This way they keep their business going along with real estate. Home builders experienced increased sales as well as contractors had a strong year. What did decline was inventories. Payrolls increased and manufacturing activity remained positive and steady.

Works Cited

Stone, Gerald W. CoreMacroeconomics. New York: Worth Pub., 2008. Print.

Investopedia. "Beige Book." Beige Book. Investopedia, 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.