Macro Musings with David Beckworth

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 Jul 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 Jul 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 Jul 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 Jun 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 Jun 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 Jun 201958min

Mike Bird is a Hong Kong based reporter for the Wall Street Journal covering financial markets across Asia, and he previously worked in the Journal’s London bureau. Mike is also a returning guest to Macro Musings, and he joins the show today to talk about some recent developments in the Asian economies. More specifically, David and Mike discuss Japan’s activist monetary policy, yield curve control, and recent events within the Chinese economy.   Transcript for the episode: (coming soon)   Mike’s Twitter: @birdyword Mike’s Wall Street Journal profile: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/mike-bird   Related Links:   *Japan Is Giving Up on Activist Monetary Policy* by Mike Bird https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-is-giving-up-on-activist-monetary-policy-11556271835   *The Fed Would Struggle to Match Japan’s Bond Market Control* by Mike Bird https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fed-would-struggle-to-match-japans-bond-market-control-11557480894   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

3 Jun 20191h 1min

Robert Samuelson is an economics columnist for the Washington Post and spent several decades working at Newsweek, where he wrote on various economic topics. Robert is the author of several books, including *The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement* and *The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence*. He joins the show today to talk about the latter and its implications for today. David and Robert go in-depth about the Great Inflation, as they discuss the disagreement within macroeconomics during the 60s and 70s, the history and significance of the period, and how Ronald Reagan and Paul Volcker sought to end the inflation.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/05282019/great-inflation-its-history-and-its-legacy   Robert’s Washington Post profile & bio: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/robert-j-samuelson/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6e300b47761d   Related Links:   *The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence* by Robert J. Samuelson https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/160295/the-great-inflation-and-its-aftermath-by-robert-j-samuelson/9780812980042/   *The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement* by Robert J. Samuelson https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/160294/the-good-life-and-its-discontents-by-robert-samuelson/9780679781523/   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

27 Mai 201957min