In this episode of the real estate podcast, host Elizabeth Rowe interviews expert guest Mervin Jebaraj, Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas. They discuss the Federal Reserve's role in setting interest rates to balance maximum employment and price stability in the economy. Mervin explains common misconceptions about the Fed as well as how they operate independently of political influence. He then outlines the best sources for objective economic data, like the automatic updates on key indicators featured on his center's website. For real estate agents, understanding the regional figures on unemployment, wage growth, population changes, and more can help them better advise clients. Shifting to politics, Mervin notes that housing policy is largely set at the local level. He provides a metric on housing shortages that demonstrates how years of underbuilding compound affordability issues over time. This shows the importance of agents getting informed on their city council's zoning reforms and permit streamlining that accelerate production. On broader economic impacts, Mervin explains why major Northwest Arkansas employers often withstand cycles better than other industries. However, with cost of living rises threatening the area's quality of life advantage, he warns against the consequences other booming cities have faced when housing supply chronically lags behind population and job expansion. Overall, Mervin lends an academic expert perspective to equip agents as authorities on economic realities influencing local real estate.