84 - Nick Bloom on Economic Uncertainty and the Productivity Slowdown

Ulirch Bindseil is currently the director general of the Directorate General Market Operations at the European Central Bank (ECB), and in November he will become the director general of Market Infrastructure and Payments at the ECB. Ulrich has written widely on central banking operative frameworks, including a textbook, and is considered one of the world's leading authorities on operating systems. He joins the show today to talk about these frameworks and much more. David and Ulrich also discuss the debate between floor and corridor systems, the principles for evaluating operating frameworks, and the big lessons central bankers have learned from the past decade. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/07292019/ulrich-bindseil-central-bank-operating-systems Ulrich's ECB paper archive: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/research/authors/profiles/ulrich-bindseil.en.html Ulrich's ResearchGate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ulrich_Bindseil Related Links: *Evaluating Monetary Policy Frameworks* by Ulrich Bindseil https://www.kansascityfed.org/~/media/files/publicat/sympos/2016/econsymposium-bindseil-paper2.pdf?la=en *Central Banking Before 1800: A Rehabilitation* by Ulrich Bindseil https://global.oup.com/academic/product/central-banking-before-1800-9780198849995?prevNumResPerPage=60&lang=en&cc=gb David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

29 Heinä 201959min

Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University and is the co-author of the popular economics blog, Marginal Revolution. Tyler has published widely in economics and is the author of numerous books including his 2017 book, *The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream.* As a returning guest to the show, however, he joins today to talk about his newest book, *Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero.* David and Tyler also discuss many aspects of big business, including its common critiques, the fallacy of the monopoly in America, and how income inequality has become tied to the firm. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/07222019/tyler-cowen-culture-big-business-united-states Tyler's Twitter: @tylercowen Tyler's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/tyler-cowen Tyler and Alex's blog: https://marginalrevolution.com/ Related Links: *Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero* by Tyler Cowen https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250110541 *The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream* by Tyler Cowen https://read.macmillan.com/lp/the-complacent-class/ David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

22 Heinä 201958min

Joe Gagnon is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics where he has been since September 2009. Previously, Joe worked for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as a senior economist and the associate director of both the Division of International Finance and the Division of Monetary Affairs, and he has also served at the US Treasury Department. Joe is a returning guest to Macro Musings and joins the show today to talk about the growing interest among U.S. politicians in managing the currency to help facilitate trade imbalances. David and Joe also discuss the policy implications of trade imbalances, the new Libra currency, and how to us countervailing currency intervention to combat currency manipulation. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/07152019/currency-manipulation-trade-imbalances-and-libra Joe's Twitter: @GagnonMacro Joe's PIIE profile: https://www.piie.com/experts/senior-research-staff/joseph-e-gagnon?author_id=653 Related Links: *Currency Conflict and Trade Policy: A New Strategy for the United States* by Joe Gagnon and Fred Bergsten https://www.piie.com/bookstore/currency-conflict-and-trade-policy-new-strategy-united-states *The Financial Market Effects of the Federal Reserve's Large-Scale Asset Purchases* by Joe Gagnon, Matthew Raskin, Julie Remache, and Brian Sack https://www.ijcb.org/journal/ijcb11q1a1.htm *A Plan for Economic Patriotism* proposal by Elizabeth Warren https://medium.com/@teamwarren/a-plan-for-economic-patriotism-13b879f4cfc7 *Exchange Arrangements Entering the 21st Century: Which Anchor Will Hold?* by Ethan Ilzetzki, Carmen Reinhart, and Kenneth Rogoff* https://www.nber.org/papers/w23134 *Did France Cause the Great Depression* by Douglas Irwin https://www.nber.org/papers/w16350 David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

15 Heinä 201953min

Heather Boushey is the executive director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a think tank founded to accelerate cutting edge analysis into whether and how structural changes in the US economy affect economic growth. Heather recently co-edited a book titled, *Recession Ready: Fiscal Policies to Stabilize the American Economy,* and she joins the show today to discuss it. David and Heather also discuss income inequality, automatic stabilizers for fiscal policy, and how monetary policy intersects with these issues. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/07082019/income-inequality-and-automatic-stabilizers Heather's Twitter: @HBoushey Heather's Equitable Growth profile: https://equitablegrowth.org/people/heather-boushey/ Related Links: Equitable Growth's funded research page: https://equitablegrowth.org/elevating-research/funded-research/ *Recession Ready: Fiscal Policies to Stabilize the American Economy* by Heather Boushey, Ryan Nunn, and Jay Shambaugh https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ES_THP_AutomaticStabilizers_FullBook_web_20190513.pdf *Public Infrastructure Investments, Productivity and Welfare in Fixed Geographic Areas* by Andrew Haughwout https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr104.html David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

8 Heinä 201956min

Jeffry Frieden is a professor of government at Harvard University where he specializes in the politics of international monetary and financial relations. Jeff is the author of many articles and books including *Currency Politics: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Policy* and *Lost Decades: The Making of America's Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery*. He joins the show today to talk about some of his work. David and Jeff also explore what has led to the recent rise in populism across the nation, the difficulty of interregional labor mobility and its economic effects, and current issues within the Eurozone. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/07012019/rise-populism-labor-mobility-and-eurozone Jeff's Twitter: @jafrieden Jeff's Harvard profile: https://scholar.harvard.edu/jfrieden Related Links: *Currency Politics: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Policy* by Jeffry Frieden https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10364.html *Lost Decades: The Making of America's Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery* by Jeffry Frieden https://scholar.harvard.edu/jfrieden/publications/lost-decades-making-americas-debt-crisis-and-long-recovery *Populism in Place: The Economic Geography of the Globalization Backlash* by J. Lawrence Broz, Jeffry Frieden, and Stephen Weymouth https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jfrieden/files/populism_in_place_v1.3_0.pdf *Wall Street is Desperate for Wonks Who Can Explain the Rise of Populism* by Craig Torres https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-04/wall-street-is-desperate-for-wonks-who-can-explain-the-rise-of-populism *Why Has Regional Income Convergence in the U.S. Declined?* by Peter Ganong and Daniel Shoag https://www.nber.org/papers/w23609 *Going to Extremes: Politics After Financial Crises, 1870-2014* by Manuel Funke, Moritz Schularick, and Christoph Trebesch https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2688897 David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

1 Heinä 201952min

Salim Furth is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center where he studies regional, urban, and macroeconomic trends and policies. Salim joins the show today to talk about some of his work on housing supply in the United States and its implications for policy. David and Salim also discuss the problems that arise from rigid zoning laws, the rise of NIMBYism, and possible ways to conduct regulatory zoning reform. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/06242019/land-use-regulations-rise-nimbyism-and-options-reform Salim's Twitter: @salimfurth Salim's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/people/salim-furth Related Links: *Housing Supply in the 2010s* by Salim Furth https://www.mercatus.org/publications/state-and-local-regulations/housing-supply-2010s *Do Minimum-Lot-Size Regulations Limit Housing Supply in Texas?* by Nolan Gray and Salim Furth https://www.mercatus.org/publications/urban-economics/do-minimum-lot-size-regulations-limit-housing-supply-texas *The Link Between Local Zoning Policy and Housing Affordability in America's Cities* by Kevin Erdmann, Salim Furth, and Emily Hamilton https://www.mercatus.org/publications/urban-economics/link-between-local-zoning-policy-and-housing-affordability-america%E2%80%99s David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

24 Kesä 201959min

Sam Bell and Skanda Amarnath are a part of a new organization called Employ America, a new research and advocacy organization that aims to get better labor market outcomes. Sam is also known on "FOMC Twitter" as an influencer when it comes to nominations for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and Skanda is a former hedge fund economist and New York Federal Reserve research economist. Sam and Skanda join the show today to talk about gross labor income targeting and the future path of Federal Reserve policy. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/06172019/sam-bell-and-skanda-amarnath-gross-labor-income-targeting Sam's Twitter: @sam_a_bell Skanda's Twitter: @IrvingSwisher About Employ America: https://employamerica.org/about/ Related Links: *Floor It! Fixing the Fed's Framework with Paychecks, Not Prices* by Skanda Amarnath https://medium.com/@skanda_97974/floor-it-fixing-the-feds-framework-with-paychecks-not-prices-78171423e9c1 *The Quick and Dirty Case for Cutting 50bps at the June 2019 FOMC Meeting* by Skanda Amarnath https://medium.com/@skanda_97974/the-quick-and-dirty-case-for-cutting-50bps-at-the-june-2019-fomc-meeting-c0e06616f0ad *Fed Inches Toward Rate Cut as Trade War Frays Patience* by Christopher Condon and Steve Matthews https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-05/fed-inches-toward-rate-cut-as-trump-s-trade-war-frays-patience David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

17 Kesä 201958min

Daniel Griswold is a research fellow and co-director of the Trade and Immigration Project at the Mercatus Center. Dan is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy and is a returning guest to Macro Musings. He joins the show today to help get us up to speed on the latest developments in issues on the ever-expanding US trade war with the rest of the world. David and Dan also discuss the USMCA, the negative aspects and seriousness of the trade war, and US intellectual property disputes with China. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/06112019/usmca-tariffs-and-us-trade-war Dan's Twitter: @DanielGriswold Dan's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/daniel-griswold Dan's blog: https://madabouttrade.com/ Related Links: *Trump's China Trade War Meets the Retailpocalypse* by Felix Salmon https://www.axios.com/us-china-trade-war-retail-apocalypse-50f85f2a-e287-4f22-936c-ef1c39c8897c.html *The Impact of the 2018 Trade War on U.S. Prices and Welfare* by Mary Amiti, Stephen J. Redding, David Weinstein https://www.nber.org/papers/w25672 David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

10 Kesä 201958min