84 - Nick Bloom on Economic Uncertainty and the Productivity Slowdown

Scott Skyrm is the Executive Vice President in Fixed Income and Repo at Curvature Securities. Scott joins David on Macro Musings to discuss REPO markets, where they have been and where they are going. Specifically, Scott and David discuss the role of broker-dealers like Curvature Securities in the repo market, how repo markets are tied to treasury markets and government deficit financing, why repo rates have recently entered negative territory, potential reforms to the repo market, and much more. Support Macro Musings and get a free mug: https://donate.mercatus.org/mug/?utm_source=shownotes&utm_medium=hyperlink&utm_campaign=mug Transcript for the episode can be found here. Scott's Twitter: @ScottSkyrm Scott's Bio: http://curvaturesecurities.com/our-team/#1540493883550-e8ec7543-62d3 David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

5 Apr 202147min

Ed Nelson is a Senior Advisor in the Monetary Affairs Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Ed has also previously been a professor and has worked at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, as well as the Bank of England. Returning to the podcast, Ed re-joins Macro Musings to talk about his new book, *Milton Friedman and the Economic Debate in the United States: 1932-1972*. Ed and David specifically discuss the life and work of Milton Friedman, as they explore his journey into monetarism, his contributions to the quantity theory of money, how he envisioned a money supply growth rule, and more. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Ed's website: https://sites.google.com/site/edwardnelsonresearch/ Ed's Fed profile: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/edward-nelson.htm Related Links: *Milton Friedman and the Economic Debate in the United States, 1932-1972: Volume 1* by Edward Nelson https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo47674126.html *Milton Friedman and the Economic Debate in the United States, 1932-1972: Volume 2* by Edward Nelson https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo47674466.html *A Monetary and Fiscal Framework for Economic Stability* by Milton Friedman https://www.jstor.org/stable/1810624?seq=1 *Some Unpleasant Monetarist Arithmetic* by Neil Wallace and Thomas Sargent https://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/quarterly-review/some-unpleasant-monetarist-arithmetic *Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History* by Milton Friedman https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/261872 David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

29 Mars 202157min

Dan Awrey is a professor of law at Cornell Law School, a financial markets regulation scholar, and the editor of the Journal of Financial Regulation. Dan joins David on Macro Musings to discuss how to promote greater financial innovation, financial inclusion, and alleviate the "too big to fail" problem by safely unbundling banking, money, and payments in our financial system. Dan and David also go on to discuss tensions in the global shadow banking system, the history of how banks evolved to play such a central role in our financial system, how the law has reinforced this bundling of the banks' roles, and much more. Transcript of the episode can be found here. Dan's Twitter: @DanAwrey Dan's Cornell Law Profile: https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/daniel-awrey Related Links: *Unbundling Banking, Payments and Money* by Dan Awrey https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3776739 *Brother, Can You Spare a Dollar? Designing an Effective Framework for Foreign Currency Liquidity Assistance* by Dan Awrey https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2955763 *The Money Problem* by Morgan Ricks https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo22438821.html David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

22 Mars 202157min

Chris Russo is a Monetary Policy Program Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and has previously worked at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. He joins Macro Musings to talk about the work he is doing on tensions between the Fed and the Treasury's management of their respective balance sheets. Specifically, David and Chris discuss what these tensions are and what fixes can be implemented to ameliorate the existing plumbing issues. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Chris's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/christopher-russo Chris's Github site: https://christopher-russo.github.io/about/ David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

15 Mars 202156min

Saule Omarova is a professor of law and the director of the Jack Clarke Program on the Law and Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets at Cornell University. Saule joins Macro Musings to talk about the prospects of an emergency fiscal facility, as well as a broader vision for a National Investment Authority. Specifically, Saule and David discuss the need for a third public finance agency, what the mandate of such an authority would be, and how the agency would be structured and held accountable. Saule also answers common objections to her vision such as the potential institutional redundancies, as well as how to prevent cronyism and excessive politicization. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Saule's Twitter: @STOmarova Saule's Cornell profile: https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/faculty/bio_saule_omarova.cfm Related Links: *Data For Progress: A National Investment Authority* https://www.dataforprogress.org/a-national-investment-authority *Why We Need a National Investment Authority* by Saule Omarova https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3566462 *The People's Ledger: How to Democratize Money and Finance the Economy* by Saule Omarova https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3715735 *What Kind of Finance Should There Be?* by Saule Omarova https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3544103 *White Paper: A National Investment Authority* by Saule Omarova and Robert C. Hockett https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3125533 *The Money Problem* by Morgan Ricks https://www.amazon.com/Money-Problem-Rethinking-Financial-Regulation/dp/022633032X David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

8 Mars 202158min

Pat Parkinson is a senior fellow at the Bank Policy Institute and a 30-year veteran of the Federal Reserve system, where he served as director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation. During that time, he was also a member of the Basel Committee on Banking and advised Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and Tim Geithner on financial market issues. Pat joins Macro Musings to discuss the treasury market meltdown in March 2020, as well as what we can do moving forward to avoid this issue from happening again. Specifically, David and Pat outline the implementation of a standing repo facility, changes to the supplemental leverage ratio, expanded central clearing, and increased data collection as possible solutions to this problem. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Pat's BPI profile: https://bpi.com/people/pat-parkinson/ Related Links: *Enhancing Liquidity of the U.S. Treasury Market Under Stress* by Nellie Liang and Pat Parkinson https://www.brookings.edu/research/enhancing-liquidity-of-the-u-s-treasury-market-under-stress/ *US Treasuries: The Lessons from March's Market Meltdown* by Colby Smith and Robin Wigglesworth https://www.ft.com/content/ea6f3104-eeec-466a-a082-76ae78d430fd David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

1 Mars 202156min

Kathy Bostjancic is the chief US financial economist at Oxford Economics and joins Macro Musings to discuss the outlook for monetary and fiscal policy in 2021 as well as in financial markets. Specifically, David and Kathy discuss the prospects for Fed policy and personnel under the Biden Administration, immediate concerns facing the Fed as the COVID pandemic continues into 2021, what steps the Fed can take to make their new AIT framework credible, how large scale asset purchases have impacted asset prices and the real economy, and much more. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Kathy's Twitter: @BostjancicKathy Kathy's Oxford Economics profile: https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/about-us/staff/267824/kathy-bostjancic David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

22 Feb 202148min

Ricardo Reis is a professor of economics at the London School of Economics and a returning guest to the podcast. Ricardo rejoins Macro Musings to talk about central bank swap lines, the importance of fiscal sustainability, and the outlook for inflation in advanced economies. David and Ricardo also discuss safe asset alternatives, and how to think about inflation, debt, and deficits in a more nuanced way.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Ricardo's Twitter: @R2Rsquared Ricardo's LSE profile: https://personal.lse.ac.uk/reisr/   Related Links:   *Central Bank Swap Lines* by Saleem Bahaj and Ricardo Reis https://voxeu.org/article/central-bank-swap-lines   *Central Bank Swap Lines During the Covid-19 Pandemic* by Saleem Bahaj and Ricardo Reis https://personal.lse.ac.uk/reisr/papers/20-covicbswaps.pdf   *The Constraint on Public Debt When r https://iepecdg.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/mpkrg-201112.pdf   *Inflating Away the Public Debt? An Empirical Assessment* by Jens Hilscher, Alon Raviv, and Ricardo Reis https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w20339/w20339.pdf   *The New Global Financial Safety Net: Struggling for Coherent Governance in a Multipolar System* by Beatrice Weder di Mauro and Jeromin Zettelmeyer https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2946452   David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

15 Feb 20211h 1min