Keynote Address: Where Are Rural Capital Markets Headed?

The question of where rural capital markets are headed is a timely one for several reasons. First, rural capital markets are in the process of integrating into a broad-based national capital market. Second, these rural markets seem likely to continue harboring unfilled gaps, compared to national capital markets. Third, structural changes in the markets can have both positive and negative impacts on availability of financial services in nonmetropolitan America. Finally, rural capital markets are expected to carry the burden of financial lubricant to support expanded rural economic development efforts. For purposes of this paper, rural is assumed to be synonymous with nonmetropolitan, since data are typically organized on the basis of a metropolitan/nonmetropolitan framework.