GCEE Conference day 2 July 14th
- Jul 19
- 7 min read
Rise and Shine GCEE members! We have a jam packed day of economics to get through. One of the things that we absolutely could not forget today was our ID because we're going to the federal reserve. One of the questions that I asked while I was there was, if people who are from certain nations are not allowed to visit because of national security risks. But it's not like the national laboratories everybody's welcome.
There are twelve federal reserves units around the United States. Unfortunately only some of them are as good with outrage as the one in Georgia is. Don't worry, Philadelphia. We come in a very close second, I've been told. Plus we have a mint, which makes us extra cool 😎 One of the great things about this conference is that it's not just economics, because how can it be??? It's also about history and science. So here's a little bit of history for today. Once upon a time long long ago, there were two men. One was named Hamilton, yes the singing one, and the other one was named Jefferson. Both of these men had a very different vision for how the united states would end up. Jefferson believed that the United States would stay largely agrarian. This would mean that barter and trade would be just as important as monetary currency. Hamilton, on the other hand thought that the united states would become industrial even more so than Europe, which meant that the united states would need a very strong banking system. I challenge you to look around and tell me whose worldview won.... this is, of course, why Hamilton is much better known in relationship to banking than Jefferson is. I know they both ended up on the currency, but one of them fought very hard for a strong centralized banking system. This is where the Fed comes in. They are the bank for other banks as well as the federal government, which makes them the first bank of the United States.
Now the Fed is not the Treasury, but they do need to work together. For example, the president of the United States right now, asked that the treasury to stopped minting the penny. This does not mean that the penny can never come back, nor does it mean that pennies are not legal tender. It just means that we're not making them. In fact, as another trivia piece for you, all money that was minted after the close of the Civil War is still legal tender. Now of course, you'd be a fool to spend it, because more often than not, it would be worth more to a collector but the bottom line is you could walk into Walmart and buy a candy bar with it. One of the things that sets the Atlanta Fed apart is that you can actually see and sit in the room where the chairman meet. This is usually sequestered away on higher floors but I feel that the Atlanta Fed is more like an art museum meets public space which is lovely for the visitors.
One of the other things that came up many times is that the federal reserve is independent. If you try to email a member of the treasury, you're going to use a .gov address. If you email a member of the federal reserve, you're going to use .com. They are not federal employees. Those of you who have your head out from underneath the rock, know that the independence of the fed has been in the news a lot lately. The gentleman who was presenting was credibly professional and non-partisan but he did talk a lot about this historic truth. After extensively discussing things like, why is a two percent inflation rate ideal, we went on a tour of the rest of the building. I'm so sorry that there's no photographs here, but we weren't allowed to take them. In the first room, there was a horseshoe shaped exhibit that took us from hunter gatherer forms of currency all the way up to the modern day. Let's play 2 rounds of Fast Money!!! Where did the word bank come from? It actually started with the Italian word banca. This word translates to counter or bench. It was first introduced during the fifteenth century in Florence with the Medici bank. Okay ready for round two? Where did the term "two bits" come from? It starts with a little bit of historic knowledge of American coinage. A "piece of eight" is the nickname for the Spanish 8-reale silver coin. It was minted in the Americas during the 16th to 19th centuries, and served as the world's first global currency for common folk, as well as pirates, as relations! Arrrrrr! Because there was so much silver in each coin, they were often cut to make change. What were they cut into? Four pieces, of course, known as two bit pieces. Go forth and share useless knowledge with 😀
Then, we went to see where money is moved to the vault. Remember this comes from banking institutions, who do not wanna keep the cash on hand. You may wonder why banks want to hand over their "hard earned" cash, but it does make a lot of sense. The fed will pay them a set interest rate. Now, of course, this rate is going to be a lot less than they could get from loaning the money, but it also does not come with the risk. It's amazing how much you can learn when you put yourself into another academic discipline.
After this we took MARTA train to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. We were all surprised that it was not insanely crowded because the FIFA world cup and the public celebrations before the world cup were at the same stop as the museum. The mission of the museum is to connect the American Civil Rights Movement to global human rights struggles. They currently feature traveling exhibits on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s papers, and how soccer has influenced human rights around the world. The exhibits here were set up to move ones soul and to turn the mind to advocacy.
The exhibit that I first explored was called Broken Promises. This difficult exhibit that centers on the time of reconstruction in the south, 1865 to 1877, and shows what happens as the north removes troops and the south descends into the Jim Crow era. It asks the viewer to ponder a question: What happens when a nation breaks its promises? In this era the hope of true freedom after the Civil War gave way to violence, voter suppression, and systemic injustice that still reverberates in the US today. The exhibit uses primary documentation, powerful storytelling and compelling infographics to reveal the recurring cycle of progress and backlash that has shaped the country we live in today. On my way to the next gallery I can't help but share this video with you...
Soccer builds people, and people change the world.
This exhibit is called: The People’s Game: Soccer and Human Rights, it is a temporary exhibition to mark the World Cup in Atlanta. I'm always looking for exhibits that challenge people to think critically about how individuals and communities shape the world around them. The immersive displays, authentic artifacts, and compelling personal/club stories, demonstrate that soccer is much more than "just a game". It can be a powerful social force capable of confronting injustice, inequality, racism, exclusion, and human rights abuses across the globe.
What struck me most was how the exhibit highlights the resilience and adaptability of people under extraordinary circumstances. Stories of the Afghanistan Women's National Team, Didier Drogba's efforts to promote peace in the Ivory Coast during its civil war, organizing soccer leagues on Robben Island during apartheid, and the U.S. Women's National Team's fight for equal pay all illustrate how cooperation, perseverance, and leadership can drive meaningful change. As a person living in America today, I couldn't help but see parallels to aspects of my own community that I would like to rectify. The People's Game is a reminder that, much like science, sports has the power to unite people, inspire innovation, and create positive change. It left me with the impression that the greatest impact isn't made by the game itself, but by the people who choose to use it as a force for dignity, resilience, and hope.
Protecting human right don't stop at any border. In the exhibit Everyone. Everywhere you walk along the wall finding the stories of others and knowing how they relate to stories in your own heart. History will never be finished, even if there are no humans left, but this shines a light on how we are all part of an ongoing process and that we are called to contribute to the journey.
As you look at the photos above, from the exhibit Rolls Down Like Water, you can listen to audio that would have been similar to what freedom riders heard as they did sit-ins in cities such as Greensboro and Nashville. This is not my audio but is downloadable from the National Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum Web page. Click on the mural picture to hear the audio.
I am rarely left speechless, but even I have to leave this one to speak for itself.
The rest of the museum was also spectacular but this blog is running long so I'll try to wrap it up. The first photo is a tribute to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing on September 15, 1963. If you are unfamiliar it was KKK terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young girls: Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Denise McNair. There pictures are on the stain glass in the background. The middle photo is a recreation of Dr. Martin Luther King's office where I heard calls between King and people like Malcom X and Rosa Parks. The last photo was a bit of a whirlwind trip through a gallery designed for elementary school children. You can see that I made a badge. It is my Agent of Change badge, where I state my desire to make the world a better place by protecting animals and the earth for the future to enjoy.
In just over two hours we did our best to see the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and then scampered back to MARTA for a few more hours of Economics lessons at GSU's college of law before falling into bed. Spoiler alert: If you come back tomorrow we'll go to Waffle House together :)
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