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Fed is nearing a point when it is not a matter of raising rates, but how long to keep them high, says Chicago Fed CEO Austan Goolsbee

Sep 7, 2023
There is growing confidence that the Fed can pull off lowering inflation without a recession, said Chicago Fed CEO Austan Goolsbee.
"There's a growing confidence that we can pull off" a soft landing, says Chicago Fed chief Austan Goolsbee. "The only thing I want to caution you is that it's not a guarantee."
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Watch prices and credit ahead of next rate decision, Chicago Fed CEO says

Apr 19, 2023
The intensity of a coming economic slowdown will depend on how much banks tighten credit conditions, says Austan Goolsbee.
Austan Goolsbee jokes that his informal speaking style makes the Fed's media staff sweat. "Every time I stand up, they’re like, 'Oh, no.'”
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Walmart’s store closures in Chicago highlight the challenges of urban big box retail

Apr 13, 2023
Walmart says that, collectively, its Chicago stores aren’t profitable. But academics point out they’ll still leave a hole when they’re gone.
A worker collects shopping carts at a Walmart store in Chicago. The company announced the closure of half of its stores in the city this week.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Is racist housing policy the real villain in "Candyman"?

Oct 21, 2021
Brentin Mock of Bloomberg CityLab says Candyman represents what bad, racist housing policy created and what gentrification tries to erase.
A crew demolishes part of Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing project in 2011. The site, which now hosts luxury apartments and high-end shops, is the setting for the horror film "Candyman."
Scott Olson via Getty Images

In Chicago, affordable housing development has bypassed wealthier neighborhoods

Apr 19, 2021
Most tax credits from a program encouraging developers to build or renovate affordable units went to majority-Black neighborhoods.
A racial equity study in Chicago found that most affordable housing wasn't going in areas that have amenities like public transportation. Above, people rally for affordable housing in Miami.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In Chicago, COVID-19 takes a toll in Black and Latinx neighborhoods

Sep 21, 2020
Family members of one Black 32-year-old woman who died say they are concerned about the lack of communication from the hospital before her death.
Health care workers transfer a patient to a different unit at a hospital. The pandemic is disproportionately affecting Black and Latinx patients.
Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on rebuilding trust between the city and its people

Lightfoot wants to "unwind" Chicago's "addiction to fines and fees" so as to not drive people into bankruptcy and out of the economy.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Chicago developers are making use of opportunity zone investment

Jan 23, 2020
But economic impact is hard to track without oversight at state or federal level. Critics say that's not good enough.
The Chicago Housing Authority is using opportunity zone money from PNC Bank for a commercial building in North Lawndale on the city's West Side.
Development design courtesy of Chicago Housing Authority

How one Chicago call center works to prevent homelessness

Jan 14, 2020
Workers connect qualifying callers with one-time emergency aid.
A Chicago call center worker asks callers how they ended up on the verge of homelessness.
David Wagner/KPCC

Manufacturing needs workers. Chicago has plenty. Where’s the disconnect?

Dec 11, 2019
A high rate of unemployment persists in some parts of Chicago, despite a worker shortage in manufacturing.
Production supervisor David Casarrubias monitors a fabric-cutting machine at Freedman Seating company in Chicago.
Esther Yoon-Ji Kang