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Scott A. Wolla

Economic Education Officer

Scott Wolla is the economic education officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Scott is a nationally recognized, award-winning economic educator with 14 years of classroom teaching experience. He has published articles in journals such as Journal of Economic Education, The American Economist, and Journal of Economics Teaching, and his work has been cited by major media outlets including The New York Times, National Public Radio, and The Economist. Scott currently serves on the American Economic Association’s Committee on Economic Education and the writing committee for the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics. Scott teaches economics as an adjunct at Washington University in St. Louis.

Selected Publications

"Cognitive science teaching strategies and literacy-targeted economics complementarities," The Journal of Economic Education, 55(2), 2024. (with William Goffe). https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.2023.2295284

"Curriculum Lag Challenges and Strategies for LT Principles: Lessons from Closing the Monetary Policy Curriculum Gap," The Journal of Economic Education, 55(2), 2024. (with Jane Ihrig and Mary Clare Peate). https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.2024.2304896

"How are Banks and the Fed Linked? Teaching Key Concepts Today," Review of Political Economy, 35(2), p. 555-571, 2023. (with Jane Ihrig and Gretchen Weinbach). https://doi.org/10.1080/09538259.2022.2040906

"Let's close the gap: Updating the textbook treatment of monetary policy," Journal of Economic Education, 53(3), p. 232-249, 2022. (with Jane Ihrig). https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.2022.2075509

"Closing the Curriculum Gap by Updating Content Standards and Guidelines for Teaching Monetary Policy," The American Economist, 67(2), p. 183-194, 2022. (with Jane Ihrig). https://doi.org/10.1177/05694345221085678

"The Federal Reserve's Early Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic," Social Education. National Council for the Social Studies, 85(2), p. 78-80, 2021. (with Jane Ihrig).

"Let's close the gap: Revising Teaching Materials to Reflect How the Federal Reserve Implements Monetary Policy." Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2020. (with Jane Ihrig).

"Closing the Monetary Policy Curriculum Gap: A Primer for Educators Making the Transition to Teaching the Fed's Ample-Reserves Framework." FEDS Notes, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2020. (with Jane Ihrig).

"A Survey of Federal Reserve Economic Education Programs and Resources," The Journal of Economic Education 51:1, p. 68-79, 2020. (with Andrew Hill).

"Segmenting Education Content: Long-form vs. Short-form Online Learning Modules," The American Journal of Distance Education, 33(2) p. 108-119, 2019. (with Diego Méndez-Carbajo).

"The Textbook Treatment of Net Exports: Will the Uninformed Reader Understand?," Journal of Economics Teaching, 3(2), p. 233-253, 2018.

"One Small Spoonful at a Time: Long-form vs. Short-form Financial Education Learning Modules," Empirische Pädagogik [Empirical Pedagogy], 32(3/4), p. 401-415, 2018. (with Diego Méndez-Carbajo)

"Yours, Mine, and the Truth: Using a Structured Minimum Wage Debate to Teach Core Economic Principles," The American Economist, 63(2), p. 245-259, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1177/0569434517736241.

"Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Online Module for Increasing Economic Literacy," Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 12 Issue: 2, p.154-167, 2017; https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-04-2017-0014.

Selected St. Louis Fed Publications

"How Does the Fed Use Its Monetary Policy Tools to Influence the Economy?" Page One Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, May 2022. (with Jane Ihrig)

"Teaching the Linkage Between Banks and the Fed: R.I.P. Money Multiplier." Page One Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, September 2021. (with Jane Ihrig and Gretchen Weinbach)

"Making Technical Adjustments: The Difference Between 'Conducting' and 'Implementing' Monetary Policy." Economic Synopses, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, No. 21, 2021. (with Jane Ihrig).

"Inflation Expectations, the Phillips Curve, and the Fed's Dual Mandate." Page One Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, July 2021. (with Jane Ihrig and Ekaterina Peneva)

"COVID-19's Effects on the Economy and the Fed's Response." Page One Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, August 2020. (with Jane Ihrig and Gretchen Weinbach).

"The Fed's New Monetary Policy Tools." Page One Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, August 2020, revised August 2021. (with Jane Ihrig).

"Independence, Accountability, and the Federal Reserve System" Page One Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, May 2020.

Honors and Awards

National Association of Economic Educators (NAEE) Bessie B. Moore Service Award, 2020.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President's Award for Innovation: Women in Economics Symposium and Podcast Series, 2018

Emerald Literati Award, Social Studies Research and Practice, Best Paper, 2017

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President's Award for System Leadership: OMWI Leadership: Bringing Economics to Everyone, 2017

3M Economic Educator Excellence Award, Minnesota Council on Economic Education, 2006

High School Social Studies Teacher of the Year, Minnesota Council for the Social Studies, 2006

Innovative Economic Educator Award, Minnesota Council on Economic Education, 2003