RICHMOND, VA — (Marketwired) — 05/24/13 — The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond today released its 2012 Annual Report, which features the essay, “Land of Opportunity? Economic Mobility in the United States.”
The essay suggests that economic mobility has decreased in recent years, particularly for people born at the top and bottom of the income distribution. Many factors contribute to the retention and attainment of economic status. But for nearly everyone, advancement depends on opportunities to obtain cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and those opportunities are not as good for children born to poor families. Initiatives that focus on early childhood education seem to yield high returns on investment, although their feasibility on a large scale is unknown. Nonetheless, these efforts may have the potential to help the United States achieve a more inclusive prosperity.
In addition to the essay and the Bank-s financial statements, the Annual Report includes a summary of the region-s economic performance in 2012 and an overview of how the Bank-s regional information and analysis inform monetary policy.
The Annual Report is available on the Bank-s website at .
Contact:
Karl Rhodes
Research Publications
804-697-8144