Adam Scavette

Adam Scavette is a community development economic advisor in our Community Development and Regional Outreach Department. Adam is interested in policies that could improve the economic welfare of economically distressed households, which supports the Federal Reserve’s mission to promote a healthy economy and financial system.

Adam studies how wage earners experience economic opportunity based on where they live and the degree to which policymakers have used place-based policies to alleviate local economic distress. He has evaluated the effectiveness of various strategies at the federal, state, and local levels, such as industrial recruitment, special economic zones, and workforce development programs.

Adam’s interests are informed by his upbringing in Atlantic County, NJ, where he witnessed the attempt to revive Atlantic City’s economy through casino gambling. A highlight of Adam’s career was developing the Scavette-O'Trakoun-Sahm-style (SOS) recession indicator with a colleague at the Richmond Fed.

Before joining the Bank, Adam was a regional economist at the Richmond Fed. Adam previously held positions in our Research Department, including senior economic analyst, economic analyst, and research associate.

Adam has a Ph.D. in public policy from Rutgers University–New Brunswick, a master of science in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a master of science in economics from the University of Edinburgh, and a bachelor of science in economics from Villanova University.