The Beigies

By Stacey Vanek Smith,

Cardiff Garcia

Published January 18, 2018 at 4:09 PM EST

Eight times a year, the Federal Reserve publishes the Beige Book. It's a report that is, oddly, a collection of little, random anecdotes.

An example from the latest Beige Book, which dropped yesterday: "Crop yields in Central California slipped slightly at year-end, driven by the weak performance of certain nuts."

Some of these stories deliver really interesting little insights into the economy. Insights so illuminating, someone should give out prizes for the best anecdotes in the Beige Book.

So: Welcome to the first Beigie awards, brought to you by the Indicator.

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Stacey Vanek Smith

Stacey Vanek Smith is the co-host of NPR's The Indicator from Planet Money. She's also a correspondent for Planet Money, where she covers business and economics. In this role, Smith has followed economic stories down the muddy back roads of Oklahoma to buy 100 barrels of oil; she's traveled to Pune, India, to track down the man who pitched the country's dramatic currency devaluation to the prime minister; and she's spoken with a North Korean woman who made a small fortune smuggling artificial sweetener in from China.

See stories by Stacey Vanek Smith