JACKSON — Patrick K. Barron isn’t an odds maker or a betting man, but as first vice president and COO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, he’ll wager that the American economy will recover from its prolonged slump.

In an exclusive interview with the Mississippi Business Journal, Barron expressed optimism regarding the performance of the economy, though he cautioned that a return to more prosperous times would not happen overnight.

“I have a positive feeling about the outlook for our economy,” said Barron, who was in Jackson recently to speak at a forum sponsored by the Mississippi Council on Economic Education. “We’re seeing economic growth and spending but consumers will still be challenged because of unemployment rates.

“Consumers are looking for job growth.”

As the second highest-ranking individual at the Atlanta Fed, Barron works closely with the President in developing financial policies. He also oversees the day-to-day operations of the Federal Reserve, including all operating and support functions for financial service activities in the Sixth District.

Barron described the Federal Reserve as a “three-legged stool,” with the most important duties related to the maintenance of monetary and credit conditions favorable to sound business activity in all fields — agriculture, industrial and commercial.

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What responsibility does business have to society?

Nobel prize recipient Milton Friedman and others have argued that a corporation’s purpose is to maximize returns to its shareholders, and that since only people can have social responsibilities, corporations are only responsible to their shareholders and not to society as a whole. Others have gone so far as to say that the role of business is to abolish poverty.

These ideas are colliding as we witness and debate the role of government in solving economic conditions and the role of business in influencing government policy. It seems that, if nothing else, both big business and government are losing the trust of the people as the roles of business and government are considered.

Many businesses embrace the idea of social responsibility and even have formalized corporate social responsibility statements.

State Farm Insurance, for example, states on the “Corporate Responsibility” section of its website that its mission is “… to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams. We achieve our mission through the products and services we offer, as well as through our involvement in and commitment to the community. We make it our business to be like a good neighbor, helping to improve the quality of life in the communities where our associates live and work.”

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According to a recent report by NBC’s Dateline, a number of lucky Mississippians were recently reunited with their lost funds and it was actually a pleasant shock for most of them. A Biloxi, MS resident found out he had $30,000 from an investment his deceased father didn’t tell him about. A couple who had lost everything to the recent hurricane received $250,000 from Mississippi unclaimed property. Another woman who was struggling to rebuild homes for her mother and herself received $100,000. Gordon White, was in the middle of building his dream home when Katrina hit and was forced to live in a trailer had $200,000 from bank stock shares his father had kept secret. One of the biggest claims given-out yet was to a Vietnam veteran who was forced to retire from his job as a company supervisor due to post-traumatic stress. Turns-out he was owed almost a million dollars from old company stocks he had forgotten about after retiring from said company.

All the big four country labels have offices in Nashville. The other large business in the city, aside from government offices is the hospital industry, where the Hospital Corporation of America has national offices for its chain of hospitals all across the nation. Parts of the automobile industry have moved to Nashville, with Nissan, the Japanese manufacturer moving its US headquarters there, and also a major plant to Smyrna, a Nashville suburb. Bridgestone America, the Japanese tire manufacturer has offices in Nashville. Bridgestone has 4,900 workers at a production plant in Nashville, and is opening up a storage facility in nearby Lebanon, Tennessee.

Memphis is located on the Mississippi River, in Tennessee, with a population of a little less than 700,000. Memphis also has a long tradition in the music business, being the original stomping grounds of blues performance, such as B.B. King. The Beale St. neighbor hood features the Gibson Guitar Co. plant and also its Beale St. Showcase and restaurant. Memphis is also known for its Mardi Gras festivities, probably the biggest one in the United States after New Orleans.

FedEx maintains a central facility in Memphis, which has helped make the Memphis Airport a large cargo handling airports. This includes the central FedEx mail sorting facility. Corporations such as FedEx Corporation, AutoZone Incorporated and International Paper have made Memphis their home. International Paper Royal Blue is a small chip mill in Pioneer, Tennessee, while International Paper has a plant in Memphis that employs 3,000 people. Among other products that the company produces are the plastic and paper packaging for various fast food chains. AutoZone is also the sponsor of the Liberty Bowl Stadium in Memphis. Schools in Memphis include the Christian Brothers University, which is a Catholic school on a 75-acre campus in the middle of town and the Memphis College of Art, located next to the Art Museum.

Knoxville, in Eastern Tennessee is a research and educational center. It has the main campus of the University of Tennessee. In nearby Oakridge, are the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other Department of Energy facilities. Oak Ridge was part of the Manhattan Project to create a nuclear bomb during World War II. Today, the laboratory has the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator Pulsed Neutron Source, and other facilities for nuclear and neutron research. The laboratory is also a center for biological research including genomics, the study of an organism’s entire gene map and coding. Also headquartered in Knoxville, is the government agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The $266.8 million St. Louis Bridge was built by companies from California and Georgia. Crews began demolishing remnants of the old bridge in March 2006, and the first piling was installed in June. This was all paid with Federal Disaster relief money, and there will be a great deal of celebration when the bridge is rebuilt and can be used again.

Katrina also destroyed the Biloxi Bay Bridge. It connected the cities of Biloxi and Ocean Springs, and two lanes are scheduled to open in November. Construction of the $336 million structure was postponed because several local companies wanted a taller bridge for larger vessels, where local officials settled on 95 feet.

Despite extensive damage to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi by the hurricanes Rita and Katrina in August and September 2005, there has been significant recovery of the Gulf Coast region. In Biloxi, Mississippi, the casino is humming away again. The Beau Rivage casino in Biloxi is housed in the largest building in town, and is the largest employer there. It is also the home of the Casino’s exclusive golf course, Fallen Oaks. Now, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is opening is Biloxi, and it has 1,500 slot machines and 52 gaming tables. There is also gambling in the Mississippi River towns of Tunica, Natchez, Vicksburg and Greenville. Mississippi has become the second biggest gambling casino state after Nevada.

Other interesting sites in the Jackson area are the Mississippi Petrified Forest, which exposes huge petrified trees that were by a prehistoric river. There is a nature trail and a place to picnic, as well as a museum explaining the site. Jackson is also next to the Ross Barnett Reservoir, which covers over 60 square miles and creates lots of opportunities for water recreation in the area.