Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Robert Orr is a policy analyst at the Niskanen Center where he focuses on welfare, healthcare, and labor market policy. Robert joins Macro Musings to talk about one of the more important sectors of the US economy, healthcare, and some of the biggest supply side bottlenecks the industry faces. Specifically, David and Robert discuss the uniqueness of the US healthcare system, the reason for massive spending within the healthcare industry, and how to fix the supply bottlenecks that have emerged.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Robert’s Twitter: @Robert_t_Orr Robert’s Niskanen profile: https://www.niskanencenter.org/author/robert-orr/   Related Links:   *The Planning of U.S. Physician Shortages* by Robert Orr https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-planning-of-u-s-physician-shortages/   *The U.S. Has Much to Gain from More Doctors* by Robert Orr https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-u-s-has-much-to-gain-from-more-doctors/   *Unmatched: Repairing the U.S. Medical Residency Pipeline* by Robert Orr https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-u-s-has-much-to-gain-from-more-doctors/   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

1 Nov 202138min

George Selgin is the director emeritus of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and is a returning guest to Macro Musings. George rejoins David on the podcast to discuss cryptocurrency, stable coins, CBDCs, and a push for a higher inflation target. Specifically, George and David discuss the category of ‘synthetic commodity money’ and how bitcoin is a potential example, the current state of Bitcoin amidst El Salvador’s transition to Bitcoin as its legal tender, the role of fintechs in the potential future of a Fed central bank digital currency, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato Institute profile: https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin   Related Links:   *Synthetic Commodity Money* by George Selgin https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2000118   *The Denationalization of Money* by F.A. Hayek https://www.amazon.com/Denationalization-Money-Analysis-Concurrent-Currencies/dp/0255360878   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

25 Okt 202147min

Peter Conti-Brown is a legal scholar and financial historian at the University of Pennsylvania and is a nonresident fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. Peter’s scholarship focuses on the legal and historical issues of the Federal Reserve system, and he rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the many facets of Fed governance. David and Peter specifically discuss the Federal Reserve’s recent trading scandal, the Fed Chair nomination process, the central bank’s role in fighting climate change, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Peter’s Twitter: @PeterContiBrown Peter’s Brookings profile: https://www.brookings.edu/author/peter-conti-brown/ Peter’s Wharton profile: https://lgst.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/petercb/   Related Links:   *Technocratic Pragmatism, Bureaucratic Expertise, and the Federal Reserve* by Peter Conti-Brown and David Wishnick https://www.yalelawjournal.org/feature/technocratic-pragmatism-bureaucratic-expertise-and-the-federal-reserve   *Restoring the Promise of Federal Reserve Governance* by Peter Conti-Brown https://www.mercatus.org/publications/monetary-policy/restoring-promise-fed-governance#:~:text=In%20%E2%80%9CRestoring%20the%20Promise%20of,it%20was%20designed%20to%20be.   Peter Conti-Brown on *Restoring the Promise of Federal Reserve Governance*: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/01062020/peter-conti-brown-restoring-promise-federal-reserve-governance   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

18 Okt 202153min

Scott Sumner is David’s colleague and the Ralph G. Hawtrey Chair of Monetary Policy at the Mercatus Center. Scott is also a returning guest to the podcast and joins David on Macro Musings to discuss his new book, The Money Illusion: Market Monetarism, the Great Recession, and the Future of Monetary Policy. Specifically, David and Scott discuss common misconceptions about the 2008-09 Recession, why bubble narratives too often miss the mark when explaining rising asset prices, whether the Fed’s adoption of average inflation targeting signals that it is moving toward a level target, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Scott’s Twitter: @ScottSumnerTMI Scott’s blog: https://www.themoneyillusion.com/ Scott’s Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/scott-sumner   Related Links:   *The Money Illusion: Market Monetarism, the Great Recession, and the Future of Monetary Policy* By Scott Sumner https://www.mercatus.org/publications/monetary-policy/money-illusion-market-monetarism-great-recession-and-future-monetary   *Eight Centuries of Global Real Interest Rates, R-G, and the ‘Suprasecular’ Decline, 1311–2018* by Paul Schmelzing https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3485734   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

11 Okt 202150min

Chris Russo is a post-graduate research fellow in the Monetary Policy Program of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and is a former economist at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. He re-joins Macro Musings to talk about the growing concerns over the US debt ceiling, what it could mean for the economy, and how to fix the issue.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Chris’s Twitter: @RussoEcon Chris’s Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/christopher-russo Chris’s Github site: https://christopher-russo.github.io/about/   Related Links:   *Permanently Suspend the Debt Limit* by Christopher Russo https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/553827-permanently-suspend-the-debt-limit   *What the Fed Will Do if Congress Doesn’t Fix the Debt Ceiling* by Christopher Russo https://www.barrons.com/articles/inside-the-feds-playbook-for-a-dollar-default-51622055588   *America’s Need to Pay Its Bills Has Spawned a Political Game* by Jim Tankersley https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/26/business/economy/america-debt-limit-political-game.html   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

4 Okt 202153min

Hanno Lustig is a professor of finance at Stanford University, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Hanno joins David on Macro Musings to discuss his work on dollar safety, safe assets, convenience yields, and more. More specifically, Hanno and David discuss the dollar dominance in global financial markets, how the US’s status as the world’s safe asset provider reinforces its exorbitant privilege in money markets, whether the countercyclical demand for safe assets can help explain why US inflation has been so low this past decade, how years of low interest rate policy might have contributed to the growing wealth gap, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Hanno’s Twitter: @HannoLustig Hanno’s Stanford profile: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/hanno-lustig   Related Links:   *Dollar Safety and the Global Financial Cycle* by Zhengyang Jiang, Arvind Krishnamurthy, and Hanno Lustig https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/dollar-safety-global-financial-cycle   *Mind the Gap in Sovereign Debt Markets: The U.S. Treasury basis and the Dollar Risk Factor* by Arvind Krishnamurthy and Hanno Lustig https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3443231   *Manufacturing Risk-Free Government Debt* by Zhengyang Jiang, Hanno Lustig, Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, and Mindy Z. Xiaolan https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3646430   *US Government Debt Valuation Puzzle* by Zhengyang Jiang, Hanno Lustig, Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, and Mindy Z. Xiaolan https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3333517   *The Fiscal Theory of Price Level with a Bubble* by Markus K. Brunnermeier, Sebastian A. Merkel and Yuliy Sannikov https://www.nber.org/papers/w27116   *Debt As Safe Asset: Mining the Bubble* by Markus K. Brunnermeier, Sebastian Merkel, and Yuliy Sannikov https://scholar.princeton.edu/markus/publications/debt-safe-asset-mining-bubble   *The Safety Trap* by Ricardo J. Caballero and Emmanuel Farhi https://www.nber.org/papers/w19927   *Financial and Total Wealth Inequality with Declining Interest Rates* by Daniel Greenwald, Matteo Leombroni, Hanno Lustig, and Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3789220   *The Saving Glut of the Rich* by Atif Mian, Ludwig Straub, and Amir Sufi https://scholar.harvard.edu/straub/publications/saving-glut-rich-and-rise-household-debt   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

27 Sep 202151min

Megan Greene is a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and was formerly the global chief economist at Manulife John Hancock Asset Management. Megan is also a returning guest to the podcast and rejoins David to talk about the prospects of central bank digital currency as well as how to conduct climate change policy from a central banking angle.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Megan’s Twitter: @economistmeg Megan’s website: https://economistmeg.com/about/ Megan’s Financial Times archive: https://www.ft.com/megan-greene   Related Links:   *Central Banks Need to Go Slow on Digital Currencies* by Megan Greene https://www.ft.com/content/21e3affe-8c57-4bac-b9c5-21b645e93d7c   *Adapting Central Bank Operations to a Hotter World: Reviewing Some Options* by the Network for Greening the Financial System https://www.ngfs.net/sites/default/files/media/2021/06/17/ngfs_monetary_policy_operations_final.pdf   *Megan Greene and Eric Lonergan on Dual Interest Rates and the Prospects of Average Inflation Targeting* https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/10052020/megan-greene-and-eric-lonergan-dual-interest-rates-and-prospects-average   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

20 Sep 202153min

Joseph Wang is a former senior trader on the open market desk at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York and the author of the book Central Banking 101. He also blogs at fedguy.com and is active on Twitter. Joseph joins Macro Musings to discuss what has happened at the Fed from the operational side, and we consider its implications for money markets. Specifically, Joseph and David discuss recent events from the perspective of the Federal Reserve trading desk, Joseph’s conception of a two-tiered monetary system, continued dollar dominance in global money markets, whether the Fed’s overnight repo facility is truly a temporary facility or trending towards a permanent one, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Joseph’s Twitter: @FedGuy12 Joseph’s website: http://fedguy.com/   Related Links:   *QE Zombifies Money Markets* by Joseph Wang https://fedguy.com/qe-zombifies-money-markets/   *The Gravitational Pull of Zero* by Joseph Wang https://fedguy.com/the-gravitational-pull-of-zero/   *RRP At The ZLB* by Joseph Wang https://fedguy.com/rrp-at-the-zlb/   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

13 Sep 202157min