Libsyn Directory

Skanda Amarnath, Yakov Feygin, and Elizabeth Pancotti on Municipal Bond Market Intervention and the CARES Act as Responses to COVID-19

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Release Date: 04/01/2020

Matthew Klein on Recent Inflationary Trends and What to Expect in the Future

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Matthew Klein is the author of The Overshoot, a newsletter that helps readers make sense of the global economy. Matt is also a returning guest to the podcast, and rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the hot topic of inflation and its outlook. Specifically, David and Matt discuss what is driving trend inflation, Matt’s decomposition of the CPI, whether or not we should be worried about inflationary trends, and more. Transcript for the episode can be found here: Matthew’s Twitter: @M_C_Klein Matthew’s Substack: Related Links: *The Case for Patience on...

Markus Brunnermeier on *The Resilient Society*

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Markus Brunnermeier is a professor of economics and the director of the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University. Markus is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Markus joins Macro Musings to discuss his new book, titled “The Resilient Society,” as well as his work on safe assets and their implications for inflation. Specifically, David and Markus discuss the implications of the fiscal theory of the price level for inflation, the role of the Fed in stabilizing money markets, what is meant by “resilience” compared to...

Ajmal Ahmady on the Afghan Economy and the Challenges Facing the Nation’s Future

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Ajmal Ahmady is the former acting governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan and is now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Ajmal joins Macro Musings to talk about his experience as a central bank governor in Afghanistan and the challenges now facing the nation’s economy. Specifically, David and Ajmal discuss his unique role as the country’s central bank chief, the structure of the Afghan monetary system, the state of the nation’s economy moving forward, and more. Transcript for the episode can be found here: Ajmal’s Twitter: @aahmady Ajmal’s...

Peter Stella on the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Peter Stella is the former Head of the IMF Central Banking division and has researched and written extensively on safe assets, collateral and central bank operations. Peter now hosts a website Central Banking Archeology. Peter joins David on Macro Musings to discuss the role of money and its relationship to inflation as well as its relationship to the payment system. Specifically, David and Peter discuss the fiscal theory of the price level, how rising indebtedness can signal higher inflation in the future, the implications of the fiscal theory for contemporary fiscal and monetary policy going...

Robert Orr on Supply Side Bottlenecks in the US Healthcare System and Solutions for Reform

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...

George Selgin on Bitcoin and the Future of CBDCs

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

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...

Peter Conti-Brown on the Fed Trading Scandal, the Fed Chair Nomination Process, and Central Bank Governance

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

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: ...

Scott Sumner on The Money Illusion

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

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...

Chris Russo on the 2021 Debt Limit Fight, Its Potential Impacts, and Solutions for Reform

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

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: Chris’s Github site: Related Links: *Permanently Suspend the Debt Limit* by Christopher Russo *What the Fed Will...

Hanno Lustig on Dollar Dominance, Dollar Safety, and the Global Financial Cycle

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

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...

More Episodes

Skanda Amarnath is the Director of Research and Analysis at Employ America, Yakov Feygin is the Associate Director of the Future of Capitalism program at the Berggruen Institute, and Elizabeth Pancotti is a research assistant at the National Bureau of Economic Research and at Tufts University. Together, they have put together proposals on how to better address the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis at the state and local level. They join Macro Musings today to discuss these proposals, a municipal bond market and expanded unemployment insurance, as well as what it all means for making the US economy more of an optimal currency area.

Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings

Skanda’s Twitter: @IrvingSwisher

Skanda’s Medium profile: https://medium.com/@skanda_97974

Yakov’s Twitter: @BuddyYakov

Yakov’s Berggruen Institute profile: https://www.berggruen.org/people/yakov-feygin/

Elizabeth’s Twitter: @ENPancotti

Elizabeth’s website: https://sites.google.com/view/elizabethpancotti/home

TOPICS