N-P-R. Hey, Robert. Looks like you're packing a lunch there. It is September. School is back in session.
And I want to make sure my kid has a healthy and informative lunch. Informative, you say, wait a minute. Did you tuck a copy of the beige book in there? I can see it sticking out of the lunch box. Okay, the beige book is my favorite obscure government document about the regional economies in the United States.
And yes, it makes for great reading in the lunchroom. I suppose your child can always trade it with the other kids for something more delicious. Ooh, like the monthly retail sales report or the Michigan consumer sentiment index. Mwah. I mean, those are all the rage among Genelva, but do they have their own awards show?
Hmm. It's the beige award. Our eight times a year salute to the arts and science of telling stories about the economy. I'm Robert Smith. And I'm Waylon Wong.
There are storms brewing in the economy right now, and we will give awards to the beige book anecdotes with the most accurate forecasts. Will it be workers demanding more money or the rich wanting to pay fewer taxes? Or will it be the economic hurricane bearing down on college towns? The winners are for the break. This week on sources and methods President Trump's diesel deal with Russia, would it help with shipping costs and would it even be legal?
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They publish them in the document known as the Beige Book and we give awards to the very best stories. We always start with the runners up. Our third place award today goes to the Dallas Fed. In the Beige Book, Dallas employers were talking about how some workers were demanding more money. The quote Robert.
One contact noted job candidates asking for San Francisco wages. Ooh la la. I love that as a shorthand for a worker who wants a raise raise a roadie in a San Francisco treat. Put that in your lunchbox Robert. It is delicious.
But you know you have to think what will those workers demand next? Foggy mornings, cable cars. Let them eat sourdough I say. Meanwhile in another rich city with high wages, the New York Fed gets our second place award. Why don't you read this one, Whalen?
A contact noted that many prospective buyers of luxury properties in New York City shifted to the rental market following a proposed new tax on high value second homes. This is the so called Pieditare tax and this is textbook economics. When you put a tax on something people will consume less of it. In this case if you tax owning second homes people will rent those homes instead. Of course that could then drive up rents.
San Francisco rents the joke number ends. I yeah yeah I know that jokes must end Robert because it is time for our big award and this goes to a regional Fed writing about higher education. The envelope please. And the beige goes to the Boston Fed. Coming to the stage is Riley Sullivan Lee policy analyst at the Boston Fed.
We spoke on September 3rd. Congratulations Riley. Have you prepared a speech? No, unfortunately I do not have a speech written but I'm really honored to be back. Boston hasn't won since 2023 so we are thrilled to be receiving this award.
Well, you deserved it. Before we get to your entry in the Beige but I have to ask a critical question. Where did you go to college? I went to Boston College. Ooh a product of Massachusetts famous higher education system which is I understand it is an economic force in the state.
You're absolutely right that Massachusetts as well as a lot of the other New England states are really heavily reliant on higher education for employment relative to the rest of the country. Robert please read Riley's winning beige book entry. Education contacts noted a moderate slowdown in activity as one Massachusetts college closed recently and another reversed expansion plans and trimmed headcounts in response to declining enrollments. And later on the Beige book it says the outlook for higher education appeared increasingly pessimistic. Oof.
Now if you've been listening to the indicator you know about some of the challenges higher ed is facing. Demographic change means there are fewer teenagers coming down the pike and the Trump administration has made it harder for international students to get visas. And then there's something that you've written about Riley more interest out there in jobs that do not require a four-year degree. Yes, yes and there's such high costs of tuition. Maybe people could be earning money doing something else.
Like construction jobs or transportation jobs. Yeah, those jobs as well as ones that just require two-year degrees or certain technical programs, plumbing, electricians, you know, trade schools are really oversubscribed right now. Which again means less demand for traditional for your colleges. I will say the shrinking and closing of colleges has a huge impact on small towns which rely on these schools as the largest employer in some cases. And it's obviously horrible for the students and the teachers involved.
So we wanted to check in on one school in Massachusetts that suddenly closed this year, Anna Maria College. Anna Maria College was just a little gem in rural Massachusetts. Small student body I think no more than around 1500 students. Travis Maruska was a professor and former chair of the humanities department at Anna Maria College before it closed this year. We had a big nursing program, fire science, business and criminal justice.
Travis says that although the school closed suddenly, there had been signs for a while. We were always struggling. We were a small liberal arts college. And you know, when I first showed up in 2008, I got the idea pretty quickly that there's not enough money. And so I first you're like, oh no.
And then after about 10 years, you're like, OK, crisis is normal. Until when day this spring, the college held a meeting and told them that the fiscal situation was worse than they thought and that they wouldn't start up again in the fall. Travis, what do you think do the college? Was it the shrinking demographics? Was it the high cost of tuition?
Yes, the cost has been going up for years. I can tell you from personal experience, it's not going to the professors. All right. There was an ongoing race to outbid each other to get these students. These students don't show up for the cool professors.
They show up for the coffee bar and they show up for the new building and the new this and the new that and that all cost money. And so I think higher education got into this race to outdo each other and then the price kept going up, you know, it's always devastating when a business closes and people lose their jobs. But there's something especially heartbreaking about a college closing because the first thing you worried about are the students. Those are the people you're responsible for and you want to make sure they land on their feet. And so you're scrambling to find them colleges to transfer to maybe your credits can go here and know there.
There's all that going on. And then you also see yourself at some point, wait, what about me and wait, what about all my friends and the community that is a family who you've known and loved all these years and enjoyed going to committee meetings as boring as they are always complained about committee meetings. But doc, I like those people. Travis does not plan on returning to higher education, at least not immediately. At 51 years old, he wants to start a new career as a mental health counselor, which he says may be an easier field to get a job in.
We should know that Annamariah college is not the only one that's closing in Massachusetts this year. Hampshire College and Amherst will also shut its doors this fall. Thanks to the Boston Fed for reminding us of the higher education crisis. And congratulations again, Riley Sullivan. Do not wait three years before winning again.
We will try to be back soon. Thank you so much. This episode is produced by Cori Bridges, an engineer by Travis Hagan, was spacked by Sarah Quad as an editor by Julia Ritchie. Kicking Cannon is our show's editor and the indicator is a production of NPR. This election season led to NPR politics podcasts, Save Your Time and Your Sanity.
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