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Artificial intelligence is dominating the news cycle and conversations everywhere. This technology has already had huge social, economic, and environmental effects. Meanwhile, other emerging technologies are enabling services that could also have major impacts, such as fintech lending and the use of digital footprints to assess credit worthiness. In this episode of Six Hundred Atlantic, we’ll take a close look at how evolving technologies might affect our economic future. And we’ll examine what we need to watch out for and how we can make sure these changes bring broad benefits. Visit bostonfed.org to learn more about the 2026 Technology-Enabled Disruption Conference, “Shaping the Future of Finance and Payments,” and check out video from the event. For more interviews and analysis of the economy in New England and nationwide, visit bostonfed.org/sixhundredatlantic.aspx. Subscribe to our email list to stay updated on new episodes.

Have you ever received a message claiming your unpaid highway tolls will head to collections unless you pay right away? Or maybe you tried to buy something secondhand online, but the seller went silent after you sent money through a payment app? These are examples of payment fraud, and its rise is the flip side of technology that helps us send money easier and faster than ever. That speed has unlocked new levels of convenience, but it can also create challenges when something goes wrong. Staci Shatsoff, a secure payments expert at the Boston Fed, explains how consumers can spot fraud risk and better protect themselves from payment fraud on an ever-evolving payments landscape.

Researchers know a lot about household income because the topic is well-studied and has huge implications for financial health. But what about wealth, a family's assets minus their liabilities? Much less is known about wealth, even though it's also critically important. A new Federal Reserve Bank of Boston survey of more than 5,000 families – called Mass ECHOS –gives a detailed look at household wealth in Massachusetts. A report on the survey examines median family net wealth in a variety of demographic breakdowns, including age, race, geography, and education. It also measures which families have sufficient wealth to handle routine but difficult expenses, such as a car repair or a move. We discuss the report with the Boston Fed’s Prabal Chakrabarti and Beth Mattingly, two of the people most responsible for making Mass ECHOS happen. The paper on the survey, titled “Family wealth in Massachusetts,” was co-authored by Mattingly, Sara Chaganti, Michael Evangelist, Marija Bingulac, and Gracie L. Griffin. Read an article about Mass ECHOS and its results: Headline of article and link. For more interviews and analysis of the economy in New England and nationwide, visit BostonFed.org/SixHundredAtlantic.aspx. Subscribe to our email list to stay updated on new episodes.

Not too long ago, people had just a handful of options for making payments: Think cash, checks, and wire transfers. But the number of payment options available to the average person has exploded since the rise of smartphones – and so have AI scams, deepfake scams, and overall fraud risk. Fed payments fraud expert Mike Timoney discusses why these crimes are becoming more popular, the impacts of rapidly evolving technology in payments, and how people can better protect themselves from fraud and scams. Timoney is a vice president of secure payments at the Boston Fed. Visit BostonFed.org to learn more about how the Federal Reserve is tracking an increase in synthetic identity fraud. You can also listen to a discussion with Timoney on why check fraud is rising, even as check usage declines.

The U.S. enacted new tariffs during both of President Donald Trump's terms in office, but the execution and impact of the 2018 and 2025 tariff policies were very different. Research shows many more companies were impacted by the 2025 tariffs. The average tariff rate was also higher, tariffs were applied much more broadly, and productivity increased in ways that didn’t happen in 2018. The Supreme Court invalidated many of the most recent tariffs in a 2026 ruling. That made the future of Trump’s tariff policy murkier, but there’s plenty to learn from what’s already happened.  Download the paper authored by Boston Fed economists Omar Barbiero, Viacheslav Sheremirov, Alvaro Silva, and Hillary Stein at the Boston Fed’s 69th Economic Conference, “The U.S. Economy in a Changing Global Landscape.”

When countries practice geoeconomics, they use their economic might to win concessions from other nations. Geoeconomics can include tools like industrial policy, tariffs, and embargoes.  But some say these economic coercion tactics could reduce trust and cooperation among nations – and have critical impacts on global trade. Watch the panel discussion with economists Douglas Irwin, Karen Dynan, and Caroline Freund and download the paper given by professor Jeffry Frieden at the Boston Fed’s 69th Economic Conference, “The U.S. Economy in a Changing Global Landscape.”

Global trade is the world economy’s “hidden wiring:” Instead of trading finished goods, countries exchange product components and services, linking nations across the world through spread-out supply chain models. But this also means far-away economic shocks can now have a much greater impact on U.S. prices, jobs, and investment decisions. Risks like extreme weather events, geopolitical flare-ups, and cybersecurity threats are shaking up the international economic landscape – and could lead to greater isolation. What might that mean for the future of global trade? Download the papers authored and presentations given by economists Pol Antras, Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan, and Tommaso Monacelli at the Boston Fed’s 69th Economic Conference, “The U.S. Economy in a Changing Global Landscape.”

Money moves through the U.S. payments system every second of the day. One key part of that system is the FedNow® Service, the Federal Reserve’s instant payment rail. Launched in 2023, it enables financial institutions to move funds instantly – 24/7, 365 days a year. While FedNow is focused on domestic payments, the Fed is also exploring how it could eventually help make cross-border payments faster and simpler.    In this Six Hundred Atlantic episode, Executive Vice President and Chief FedNow Executive Nick Stanescu discusses why FedNow was created, how it works, and what it could mean for businesses, consumers, and the future of financial access.

“Is college worth it?” Boston Fed research indicates the answer is yes. It shows a correlation between higher salaries and higher educational attainment in New England over the last 40 years. Also, people with more education have higher starting wages and steeper salary raises throughout their careers. But there’s nuance. Pinghui Wu is a senior economist who co-wrote the recent research. She discusses why New England has higher educational attainment than most regions, and how that affects incomes. She also talks about the “college premium” – the fact that workers with college degrees earn more than those with high school degrees. And she explains how that premium grows or shrinks based on factors like gender, what people study, and the availability of work in a skilled trade. The paper Pinghui Wu co-authored is “Educational Attainment and Wage Growth in New England: Evidence From Four Decades of Administrative Wage Records.” A related working paper is “Educational Attainment and the Evolution of Cumulative Earnings across 45 US Birth Cohorts.” For more interviews and analysis of the economy in New England and nationwide, visit BostonFed.org/SixHundredAtlantic.aspx. Subscribe to our email list to stay updated on new episodes.

Instant payments often aren’t “instant” at all, due to lags between when money is sent and received. These lags can be costly for people who need the money immediately to pay bills on time. Some end up paying late or overdraft fees. Others are forced to turn to expensive alternative financial services, like payday loans. Brian Clarke is a payments analyst and deputy director in the Regional & Community Outreach department at the Boston Fed. He spoke with us about the emergence of truly “real-time” instant payments, when money is sent and received in seconds. He says this speedy payment processing can really help small businesses and lower-income households avoid fees and costly services. The FedNow Service is the Federal Reserve’s real-time instant payments infrastructure. Learn more about it at https://explore.fednow.org/about. For more interviews and analysis of the economy in New England and nationwide, visit BostonFed.org/SixHundredAtlantic.aspx. Subscribe to our email list to stay updated on new episodes.

How is tariff uncertainty affecting the outlooks of small and medium-sized businesses, and how will this impact consumers? Boston Fed Research Director Egon Zakrajšek is part of a team at the Bank investigating this critical, ongoing question. He discusses how the team partnered with a survey research firm to reach out to hundreds of businesses for insights. And he shares key takeaways from the team’s findings, including the potential impacts of tariffs on inflation and consumer prices. Egon Zakrajšek is an executive vice president and the director of research at the Boston Fed. Visit bostonfed.org to find his team’s three Current Policy Perspectives reports on tariffs: “Who Will Pay for Tariffs? Businesses’ Expectations about Costs and Prices,” “Effects of Tariff Uncertainty on the Outlook of Small and Medium-sized Businesses,” and “Small and Medium-sized Businesses’ Expectations Concerning Tariffs, Costs, and Prices.”  For more interviews and analysis of the economy in New England and nationwide, visit BostonFed.org/SixHundredAtlantic.aspx. Subscribe to our email list to stay updated on new episodes.

At one time, the housing affordability crisis was associated with certain addresses. Often, they were in high-demand coastal cities and nearby communities. Today, though, people from all corners of the country are dealing with crushing housing costs. In the latest episode of the Boston Fed’s Six Hundred Atlantic podcast, we examine the 2025 “The State of the Nation’s Housing” report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Housing experts, including Boston Fed economist Paul Willen and Reserve Bank President and CEO Susan M. Collins, weigh in on what the crisis looks like for homeowners and renters and what can be done to ease the cost pressures. Visit BostonFed.org to learn more about The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 and check out material and videos from the event. For more interviews and analysis of the economy in New England and nationwide, visit BostonFed.org/SixHundredAtlantic.aspx. Subscribe to our email list to stay updated on new episodes.

Private credit, or loans by non-bank lenders, has grown rapidly in recent years. This lending is even approaching the volume of some traditional sources of business credit, like bank loans. As the rise of private credit funds changes the way companies borrow money, it’s also creating potential implications for financial stability. John Levin is a senior markets specialist in the Supervision, Regulation & Credit Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He is the co-author of two studies examining the rise of private credit: “Could the Growth of Private Credit Pose a Risk to Financial System Stability?" and "Bank Lending to Private Equity and Private Credit Funds: Insights from Regulatory Data." For more interviews and discussions on private credit and financial stability, visit BostonFed.org/SixHundredAtlantic.aspx, and subscribe to our email list to stay updated on new episodes.

People in the credit business are starting to see just how much AI can do for them. It can improve profits and lower defaults. It can predict demand for new services. It can see past credit scores and comprehensively assess lending risks. That’s why AI’s role in credit is only going to get bigger going forward. Some people are very excited about that. And some are very worried. AI will lie unless you tell it not to. It will collude on pricing with other AI. Experts say those are a couple reasons why we need to proceed with caution and better understand potential hazards.   Read an outline of the keynote speech at the 68th Economic Conference by UC-Berkeley professor Adair Morse, “AI Innovation for Credit: Frontiers of Benefits & Red Flags.” Watch a recording of the speech.

Decentralized finance feels like the future. This category of financial services is built on blockchain technology and transacted solely in crypto. It’s executed by automated programs called “smart contracts,” which helps reduce costs. And advocates say DeFi is more democratic: Everyone involved is just an anonymous node on the blockchain, making favoritism impossible. But how will it really play out? Some tell the Boston Fed’s podcast, Six Hundred Atlantic, that it requires too much tech savvy to be truly inclusive. Others worry about the safety of a “trustless system,” where the lack of an intermediary could make DeFi vulnerable to people with bad intent. And skeptics doubt decentralized finance can remain decentralized at all.   View the presentations New York University professor Hanna Halaburda and UC-Berkeley professor Christine Parlour submitted for the Boston Fed’s 68th Economic Conference. Watch the panel they participated in, titled “Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Blockchain/Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and Smart Contracts: Hope or Hype?”