Southwest Economy
Can AI navigate qualms about data centers, long-term debt?
Srini Ramaswamy, a senior financial economist on the Dallas Fed’s financial sector and policy analysis team, discusses how the data center bond market operates and the prospects for borrowers and consumers.
October 07, 2026
Dallas Fed Economics
Tariffs increased in 2025; why did U.S. imports grow?
The U.S. average tariff rate increased from 2.9 percent in January 2025 to 14.8 percent in December, a rise of almost 12 percentage points. The surge—the largest such U.S. jump since the Smoot-Hawley tariffs at the onset of the Great Depression in 1930—led to a sharp increase in the tariff-inclusive prices that U.S. importers paid.
October 06, 2026
Working Paper
Human Capital Accumulation Across Space
This paper studies how human capital shapes the economic geography of development. The authors propose a model in which human capital acquisition costs vary across space, and regions with higher human capital invest more in human-capital-augmenting technology.
September 23, 2026
Dallas Fed Economics
AI plays a role in weak labor market for college graduates
Evidence suggests that generative AI (GenAI) has reduced demand for positions in which the new technology can more efficiently complete tasks than humans.
September 22, 2026
Dallas Fed Communities
Can the U.S. power industry keep pace with rapid growth in AI?
As the U.S. tech industry builds multiple giga-scale data centers across the country to support growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), demand for reliable and affordable power has surged to a rate not seen in decades. Tech hyperscalers plan to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in US infrastructure over the next two years.
September 18, 2026
Working Paper
The Effects of U.S. Public R&D on Global Growth
This paper provides the first causal estimates of the global social returns to U.S. public R&D.
August 04, 2026
Dallas Fed Economics
Tokenized deposits use blockchain structure in traditional banking framework
Commercial banks have begun exploring adoption of tokenized deposits, traditional deposits that rely on blockchain technology and allow payments to settle almost instantaneously.
July 14, 2026
Speeches and essays
Discussion of 'An Efficient Liquidity Savings Mechanism' by Darrell Duffie, Srisht Fateh Singh and Chaojun Wang
Remarks delivered by Sam Schulhofer-Wohl at The Future of Market Liquidity and Functioning Workshop.
July 09, 2026
Dallas Fed Economics
International comparisons show AI effect on productivity
Because AI use varies across countries, we can draw on international data to investigate the relationship between AI exposure and productivity growth at the sector level. The positive relationship in the U.S. fits a pattern visible among countries and appears related to high AI use.
July 07, 2026
Economic Surveys
Special Questions
The Dallas Fed asked a series of special questions on artificial intelligence in the May Texas Business Outlook Surveys.
May 26, 2026