Ben Harris on the Fiscal Health of the US Government
Ben Harris served in numerous high-ranking roles as a public sector economist and is now the vice president and director of economic studies at the Brooking Institution. In Ben’s first appearance on the show, he discusses the fiscal health of the US government, including the rising primary deficient, the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill, the proposition of stablecoins and AI as a solution to our debt, his love of basketball and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on June 18th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Ben on X: @econ_harris Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:01 - Ben’s Career 00:05:18 - Fiscal Health of the United States 00:07:57 - Big Beautiful Bill 00:12:15 - Debts and Deficits 00:14:47 - Costs and Risks of the Rising US Debt 00:37:05 - Stablecoins as a Potential Solution to US Debt 00:41:49 - Debt Ceiling 00:50:02 - AI and the Economy 00:54:58 - Outro
14 Juli 55min
Luis Garicano on the Future of Digital Money and Lessons Learned from the History of the Euro
Luis Garicano is a former member of the European Parliament and a professor at the London School of Economics. In Luis’s first appearance on the show he discusses his new book, Crisis Cycle: Challenges, Evolution, and the future of the Euro, the ever-changing landscape of digital money, his suggested reforms to the Euro, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on June 18th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Luis on X: @lugaricano Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:55 - Future of Money 00:08:46 - Bank Regulation 00:12:51 - Stablecoins 00:23:35 - Crisis Cycle 00:56:05 - Outro
7 Juli 56min
Mark Blyth on the Winners and Losers from Inflation
Mark Blyth is a professor of international economics at Brown University. In Mark’s first appearance on the show, he discusses his new book Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers, the concept of angrynomics, a new way to look at price controls, demographic decline, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on June 4th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Mark on X: @MkBlyth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:50 - Angrynomics 00:03:56 - Motivation for ‘Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers’ 00:08:27 - Five Things They Don’t Tell You About Inflation 00:14:32 - Good, Bad, and Ugly Inflation 00:18:14 - Interest Rates and Inflation 00:21:33 - Price Controls 00:26:13 - Stories About Inflation 00:35:03 - Hyperinflation 00:42:24 - Pandemic Inflation 00:58:00 - Disinflation, China, and Demographic Decline 01:00:30 - Recommendations for Policymakers 01:02:00 - Outro
30 Juni 1h 2min
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl on Reforms in the Treasury Market and Developments with Central Bank Operating Systems
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl is a senior vice president and the senior advisor to President Lorie Logan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Sam returns to the show to discuss recent macroeconomic conferences in the context of changes in the Treasury market and with central bank operating systems around the globe. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on May 27th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Bumper 00:00:20 - Intro 00:01:19 - Monetary Policy Conferences 00:03:15 - Role of Nonbank Institutions in the Treasury and Money Markets 00:07:48 - Central Clearing 00:33:19 - Operating Systems in Central Banks 00:49:52 - Outro
23 Juni 50min
Andy Levin on the Importance of an Independent Inspector General at the Federal Reserve - BONUS
Andy Levin is an advisor to many central banks around the world and professor of economics at Dartmouth College. Andy returns to the show for a special bonus episode to discuss his pervious appearance and accompanying policy brief where he calls for an independent inspector general at the Federal Reserve. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on June 10th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:48) – Federal Reserve and an Independent Inspector General (00:06:50) – Palace of Versailles on the Mall (00:16:20) – Accountability of the Fed (00:19:21) – Outro
19 Juni 20min
Matthew Pines on the Future of Money, AI, and Monetary Policy
Sign up for the Bitcoin Policy Summit with our special Macro Musings Discount Code! Matthew Pines is the executive director of the Bitcoin Policy institute. Matthew returns to the show to discuss the future of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve, US stablecoin regulation, geopolitics under Trump, monetary policy at the Fed, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on May 16th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Matthew Pines on X: @Matthew_Pines Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:54 - Matthew’s Career Path and BPI 00:03:28 - Bitcoin and National Security 00:06:41 - Bitcoin Policy Summit 00:09:24 - State of Crypto Legislation 00:13:13 - Geoeconomics 00:24:17 - The Dollar’s Future 00:31:56 - Stablecoin Use Cases 00:39:29 - Future of Money 00:45:50 - Future of Monetary Policy 00:52:27 - Outro
16 Juni 53min
Peter Conti-Brown and Sean Vanatta on the History of Bank Supervision in America
Peter Conti-Brown is a historian and legal scholar of the Federal Reserve System, and an associate professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Sean Vanatta is a senior lecturer in financial history and policy at the University of Glasgow. Peter and Sean join the show to discuss their new book titled: Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America, as well as how powerlifting can be analogized in macroeconomics, and the implications of Trump v. Wilcox. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on May 27th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:02 - Powerlifting 00:06:17 - Trump v. Wilcox 00:12:27 - Private Finance, Public Power 00:15:18 - Supervision vs. Regulation 00:22:52 - Banking in the Early Republic 00:36:10 - Consolidation of Regulators 00:41:06 - Focus of the Fed 00:45:00 - The Great Depression 00:56:10 - When to Let a Bank Fail 01:02:47 - Outro
9 Juni 1h 3min
George Selgin on Contextualizing the Great Depression and its Implications on Monetary Policy Today
George Selgin is a senior fellow and director emeritus at the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute, as well as the author of the new book titled False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933-1947. George returns to the show to discuss the complicated economic history of the Great Depression, how that history has led us to the macro-events of 2008, 2010, and 2020, how we can apply lessons from the Great Depression to macroeconomic policy to the current moment, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on May 13th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Follow George on X: @GeorgeSelgin Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:25 - Welcoming George Selgin and False Dawn 00:03:25 - Why Another Book on the Great Depression? 00:06:37 - The New Deal’s Role in Recovery from the Great Depression 00:08:50 - Myths About the New Deal Overview of the Great Depression 00:12:30 - Measuring Unemployment 00:16:42 - The Gold Standard and the Great Depression 00:27:05 - Helpful: Suspension of the Gold Standard and the Bank Holiday 00:35:47 - Unhelpful: Reconstruction Finance Corporation 00:38:02 - Helpful: Creation of the Home Owners Loan Corporation 00:42:31 - Unhelpful: The National Recovery Administration 00:48:42 - Unhelpful: Fiscal and Monetary Policy and Ignoring Keynes 00:57:17 - Lessons for Today: Uncertainty 01:00:56 - The Lesson of Level Targeting 01:06:42 - Breaching Contracts 01:11:40 - Outro
2 Juni 1h 12min
