About
Anna Paulson is executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. She leads the Bank’s research and policy analysis work, overseeing the department that provides analytic support for monetary policymaking and conducts research on banking and financial markets, macroeconomics, microeconomics, and regional economics. Paulson also has responsibility for the Bank’s Public Affairs and Community Development and Policy Studies departments. She attends meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group responsible for formulating the nation’s monetary policy, and serves on the Bank’s Executive Committee.
Paulson is an expert on financial markets and institutions, with particular expertise on the insurance industry. Her research investigates how households and firms adapt to incomplete financial markets and how household financial decision-making is influenced by exposure to institutions and economic events, including financial crises. Paulson’s research has been published in leading scholarly journals, including the Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economics and Statistics, and Review of Financial Studies. She is a past board member of the Western Economic Association International and a current board member of the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession. Paulson received a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton College and a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.
Paulson joined the Chicago Fed as an economist in 2001 after serving as an assistant professor of finance at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In 2009 she was promoted to vice president in the Financial Markets Group and established the Insurance Initiative, which analyzes financial stability and regulatory issues in the insurance industry on behalf of the Federal Reserve System. She became associate director of research in 2017 and was promoted to director of research in 2019.
Bank Publications
Chicago Fed Letter
Understanding the Demand for Currency at Home and Abroad
Thomas Haasl, Sam Schulhofer-Wohl, Anna Paulson | 2018 | No. 396 Download
The Structure of Federal Reserve Liabilities
Thomas Haasl, Sam Schulhofer-Wohl, Anna Paulson | 2018 | No. 395 Download
Understanding the Relationship Between Life Insurers and the Federal Home Loan Banks
Kyal Berends, Robert McMenamin, Anna Paulson, Richard J. Rosen | 2014 | No. 318 | January Download
What Do U.S. Life Insurers Invest in?
Robert McMenamin, Anna Paulson, Thanases Plestis, Richard J. Rosen | 2013 | No. 309 | April Download
How Liquid Are U.S. Life Insurance Liabilities?
Robert McMenamin, Zain Mohey-Deen, Anna Paulson, Richard J. Rosen | 2012 | No. 302 | September Download
Tempestuous Municipal Debt Markets: Oxymoron or New Reality?
Gene Amromin, Anna Paulson | 2011 | No. 291 | October Download
Enhancing Financial Stability: The Case of Financial Market Utilities
Anna Paulson, Kirstin Wells | 2010 | No. 279 | October Download
Strategies for Success in Financial Education (Special Issue)
Robin Newberger, Anna Paulson | 2009 | No. 267a | October Download
Raising Capital: The Role of Sovereign Wealth Funds
Anna Paulson | 2009 | No. 258 | January Download
Community Development Spending, 1981–2004
David B. Cashin , Julie Gerenrot , Anna Paulson | 2006 | No. 232 | November Download
Islamic Finance in the United States: A Small but Growing Industry
Shirley Chiu, Robin Newberger, Anna Paulson | 2005 | No. 214 | May Download
Financial Access for Immigrants: Highlights from the National Conference
Shirley Chiu, Robin Newberger, Anna Paulson | 2004 | No. 204 | July Download
Economic Perspectives
What Explains the Decline in Life Insurance Ownership?
Daniel Hartley, Anna Paulson, Katerina Powers | 2017 | Vol. 41 | No. 8 | November Download
Homebuilders, Affiliated Financing Arms and the Mortgage Crisis
Sumit Agarwal, Gene Amromin, Claudine Gartenberg, Anna Paulson, Sriram Villupuram | 2014 | Vol. 38 | 2nd Quarter Download
How Do Benefit Adjustments for Government Transfer Programs Compare with Their Participants' Inflation Experiences?
Leslie McGranahan, Anna Paulson | 2011 | Vol. 35 | No. 4 | 4th Quarter Download
How Do Benefit Adjustments for Government Transfer Programs Compare with Their Participants' Inflation Experiences?
Leslie McGranahan, Anna Paulson | 2011 | Vol. 35 | No. 4 | 4th Quarter Download
Comparing Patterns of Default among Prime and Subprime Mortgages
Gene Amromin, Anna Paulson | 2009 | Vol. 33 | 2nd Quarter Download
Financial Constraints and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from the Thai Financial Crisis
Anna Paulson, Robert Townsend | 2005 | Vol. 29 | 3rd Quarter Download
ProfitWise News and Views
Default Rates on Prime and Subprime Mortgages: Differences and Similarities
Gene Amromin, Anna Paulson | 2010 | September Download
Working papers
Policy Discussion Papers
Banking Crises and Investor Confidence: An Empirical Investigation
Una Okonkwo Osili, Anna Paulson | 2009 | No. PDP 2009-9 | December Download
Strategies for Success in Financial Education
Robin Newberger, Anna Paulson | 2009 | No. 3 | October Download
Working Papers
Central Clearing and Systemic Liquidity Risk
Thomas King, Travis D. Nesmith, Anna Paulson, Todd Prono | 2019 | No. 2019-12 Download
The Life Insurance Industry and Systemic Risk: A Bond Market Perspective
Anna Paulson, Richard J. Rosen | 2016 | No. 2016-04 Download
Measuring Interest Rate Risk in the Life Insurance Sector: The U.S. and the U.K.
Daniel Hartley, Anna Paulson, Richard J. Rosen | 2016 | No. 2016-02 Download
AIG in Hindsight
Robert McDonald, Anna Paulson | 2014 | No. 2014-07 | October Download
Bank Crises and Investor Confidence
Una Okonkwo Osili, Anna Paulson | 2008 | No. 2008-17 | August Download
Risk Taking and the Quality of Informal Insurance: Gambling and Remittances in Thailand
Douglas L. Miller, Anna Paulson | 2007 | No. 2007-01 | January Download
What Can We Learn about Financial Access from U.S. Immigrants?
Una Okonkwo Osili, Anna Paulson | 2006 | No. 2006-25 Download
Constructing the Chicago Fed Income Based Economic Index – Consumer Price Index: Inflation Experiences by Demographic Group: 1983-2005
Leslie McGranahan, Anna Paulson | 2005 | No. 2005-20 Download
Individuals and Institutions: Evidence from International Migrants in the U.S.
Una Okonkwo Osili, Anna Paulson | 2004 | No. 2004-19 Download
Immigrant-Native Differences in Financial Market Participation
Una Okonkwo Osili, Anna Paulson | 2004 | No. 2004-18 Download
Distinguishing Limited Liability from Moral Hazard in a Model of Entrepreneurship
Alexander Karaivanov, Anna Paulson, Robert Townsend | 2003 | No. 2003-06 Download
Regulatory Incentives and Consolidation: The Case of Commercial Bank Mergers and the Community Reinvestment Act
Raphael Bostic, Hamid Mehran, Anna Paulson, Marc Saidenberg | 2002 | No. 2002-06 Download
Selected External Publications
Books and Chapters in Books
With Thanases Plesti, Richard Rosen, Robert McMenamin, and Zain Mohey‐Deen,2014, "Assessing the Vulnerability of the U.S. Life Insurance Industry," inModernizing Insurance Regulation, Vol. 1, John H. Biggsand Matthew P. Richardson (eds.), Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 61-84.
Journal Article
With Anna Paulson, 2016, “The Life Insurance Industry and Systemic Risk: A Bond Market Perspective,” Annual Review of Financial Economics, Vol. 8, pp. 155-174.
Presentations and Other Resources
The Economy and Monetary Policy: Back to The Future?
Keynote luncheon presentation during the 2023 Midwest Agriculture Conference.
Recent Events and Questions for the Future
Presentation of recent banking events and the outlook for the economy delivered to the Chicago Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois on April 13, 2023.
Inflation and Monetary Policy
Presentation and discussion of inflation and monetary policy at event hosted by the Economic Club of Michiana in South Bend, Indiana on October 11, 2022.
Ames Chamber of Commerce Outlook Breakfast
Presentation and discussion of the 2022 economic outlook at event hosted by the Ames, Iowa Chamber of Commerce on January 11, 2022.
Interview with MNI
Participated in an interview with Pedro da Costa, a reporter with Market News International, on October 6, 2021.
Exploring Career Pathways in Economics and Related Fields
Discussion and closing remarks, with Fanta Traore, at event co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Sadie Collective on September 10, 2021.
Global Interdependence Center Virtual Event on Monetary Policy
Discussed monetary policy, the U.S. economy and the impact of Covid-19 with Dennis P. Lockhart, former President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta at a virtual event on March 23, 2021.
Economic Outlook
Speech presented before 26 Chicago area Chambers of Commerce on March 3, 2021.
Market Resiliency: Evidence from Money Market Mutual Fund Reform
Speech presented before the People’s Bank of China and Chicago Fed’s Symposium on Over-the-Counter Derivatives on June 26, 2018,in Shanghai, China.
Interview
With Bloomberg TV on March 18, 2013, to discuss findings on "High School Curriculum and Financial Outcomes: The Impact of Mandated Personal Finance and Mathematics Courses," Harvard Business School, working paper, No. 13-064.
Podcasts
Lasalle Street
The Women Shaping Global Derivatives Markets
March 29, 2021
Speeches
2018
Market Resiliency: Evidence from Money Market Mutual Fund Reform
A speech delivered by Anna Paulson onJune 26, 2018, before thePeople’s Bank of China and Chicago Fed’sSymposium on Over-the-Counter Derivativesin Shanghai, China.
