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The Life of the Research Associate

RA Video                              The Life of the RA Video

The Research Division

The primary mission of the St. Louis Fed Research Division is to provide high-quality, timely advice to the Bank’s president about monetary policy and banking issues. Producing and communicating important economic research in areas such as macroeconomics, international economics, and regional economics are also crucial components of the Division’s responsibilities. Working with the Division’s economists, research associates (RAs) at the St. Louis Fed play an integral role in achieving these objectives.


Data and Programming

RAs are adept at collecting and organizing data from a variety of sources. They also use software packages such as Stata, SAS, R, MATLAB, Fortran, EViews, Python, and C++ to perform statistical, econometric, and computational research for economists to use in presentations and academic publications.


Monetary Policy

To gain a deeper understanding of current economic issues, RAs

  • Review academic journals, market sources, and government reports
  • Engage in discussions with economists
  • Assist economists in developing memoranda and presentations on economic policy


Research Publications

RAs’ contributions frequently result in coauthored articles for economic publications and academic journals (see sidebar). Additionally, RAs summarize data and anecdotal information on regional economic conditions for the Beige Book and other regional research projects.



You can find information about our Bank's Intern Program here.