The Federal Reserve is the steward of the U.S. economy, tasked with fulfilling its dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices.
To achieve these goals, the Fed has twelve regional outposts scattered across the country to assess how different regions of the country are doing — and what policies would better their economic conditions.
[Read: What is the Federal Reserve?]
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is the ninth of those twelve locations. Headquartered at the corner of North 1st Street and North 1st Avenue, the Minneapolis Fed keeps a pulse on much of the American North.
As part of Yahoo Finance’s Meet the Fed series, the Minneapolis Fed shares its approach to public outreach, the unique challenges facing its region, and the role of bank regulation and payments in supporting the economy.
About the ninth district
From the western border of Montana all the way to the eastern edge of Northern Michigan, the Minneapolis Fed’s jurisdiction covers over 400,000 square miles. The ninth district covers some 12% of the nation’s land, but only 3% of the nation’s population lives within these borders, the smallest share of any of the Federal Reserve system's 12 regional banks.
Given this people-to-land ratio, it comes as little surprise the Minneapolis Fed has a diverse agricultural sector. About 31% of the nation’s wheat and roughly 20% of the nation’s corn is produced in the district. The Upper Great Lakes accounts for over 90% of the nation’s iron ore.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari says the manufacturing, energy, health care, and technology sectors also make up the productive fabric of the region.
“In many ways, the ninth district looks like the U.S.,” said Kashkari, who began serving as the reserve bank’s top official in 2016.
Kashkari flagged two unique economic factors that matter to his district: climate change and economic inequality. He noted that while global warming may have costs to other regions of the country, warmer weather could benefit Minnesota — known for its frigid and long winters.
Racial disparities have been a key focus of the Minneapolis Fed following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The reserve bank would later start a national conversation over how racism plays into unequal economic opportunities.
“There's an economy that is systematically leaving out lots of its citizens. That's not a fully functioning economy,” Kashkari said.
Communicating with the district
A critical function for any Federal Reserve Bank is engaging with households, businesses, and bankers to gauge the economic health of the region. The 12 districts then report back to the Board of Governors, both formally (through regular reports like the Beige Book) and informally (in policymaking meetings).