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...
Nov 08, 2021•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Tr...
Nov 01, 2021•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 r...
Oct 25, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 cl...
Oct 18, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 a...
Oct 11, 2021•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Oct 04, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Sep 27, 2021•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Sep 20, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 mo...
Sep 13, 2021•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Philippa Sigl-Glöckner is the director of the German think tank Dezernat Zukunft, or the Institute for Macrofinance, and was formerly a part of the German Federal Ministry of Finance. Philippa joins Macro Musings to talk about fiscal policy in Germany, as well as her new paper, *A New Fiscal Policy for Germany*. Specifically, David and Philippa discuss the historical context for German fiscal policy, the three big economic challenges for Germany, and how the country can achieve full capacity uti...
Sep 06, 2021•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jennifer Murtazashvili is an associate professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh and directs the Center for Governance and Markets. Jennifer is also an expert on all things Afghanistan, given her experience working there and advising governments and international organizations on issues related to Afghanistan. She also has a new book titled, *Land, the State, and War: Property Institutions and Political Order in Afghanistan*, and joins the show to talk about it. Jennifer and...
Aug 30, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Bill Nelson is a chief economist and an executive vice president at the Bank Policy Institute. Bill previously was a deputy director of the Division of Monetary Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board where his responsibilities included monetary policy analysis, discount window policy analysis, and financial institution supervision. Bill also worked closely with the BIS working groups and the design of liquidity regulations. Bill rejoins David on Macro Musings to discuss his article titled, “I Don'...
Aug 23, 2021•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Arthur Turrell is the deputy director at the data science campus for the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS). Arthur is also a former researcher at the Bank of England and a nuclear fusion scientist. He joins Macro Musings to talk about his work at the Bank of England, the future of economic data, and his new book on nuclear fusion titled, *The Star Builders: Nuclear Fusion and the Race to Power the Planet*. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Arthur’s Twitter: @arthurturrell Arthur...
Aug 16, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kathryn Judge is a professor of law at Columbia Law School and editor of the journal of Financial Regulation. Anil Kashyap is a professor of economics and finance at the University of Chicago and is a member of the Bank of England's financial policy committee. Kate and Anil join David on Macro Musings to discuss their work on the Task Force on Financial Stability that recently released a report on how to improve financial stability in the US. Specifically, they discuss the origins of the Task Fo...
Aug 09, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Larry White is a professor of economics at George Mason University and is a returning guest to the show. He rejoins Macro Musings to talk about stablecoins, the history of free banking, and money market funds reform. Specifically, David and Larry also discuss the critiques levied against stablecoins, their impact on the banking system, and why stablecoins could be considered the new version of money market mutual funds. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Larry’s Twitter: @lawrencewhit...
Aug 02, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jerusalem Demsas is a policy reporter for Vox and joins David on Macro Musings to discuss the state of housing in America and its implications for policy. Specifically, Jerusalem and David discuss the current state of the housing market, whether there is a housing bubble, how the housing shortage creates avenues for discrimination, the dynamics of racism in the US housing market, the impact of zoning laws, and much more. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Jerusalem’s Twitter: @Jerusal...
Jul 26, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Scott Sumner is the Ralph G. Hawtrey Chair of Monetary Policy at the Mercatus Center. Scott joins David on Macro Musings to discuss Milton Friedman's views and what he might say about some of the recent developments in monetary policy. Specifically, Scott and David talk about nominal interest rates as indicators of the stance of monetary policy, fiscal austerity as means of reducing excessive aggregate demand, Friedman’s critique of the Phillips curve and wage and price controls, what Friedman m...
Jul 19, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Skanda Amarnath is the executive director of Employ America and a former hedge fund economist. He rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the fate of the Phillips Curve, the inflation outlook, the Fed’s new framework, and his vision for a better monetary policy future. David and Skanda also discuss the Fed’s flawed assessment of maximum employment, how to modify the central bank’s Summary of Economic Projections, and the significance of capacity constraints vs labor utilization. Transcript for the e...
Jul 12, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Agustin Carstens leads the Bank for International Settlements or the BIS in his role as general manager and previously served as the governor of the Bank of Mexico. He also served as the deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Agustin joins David on Macro Musings to discuss the new BIS 2021 annual report. Specifically, David and Agustin discuss the macroeconomic developments of the past year, the distributional footprint of monetary policy, the evolving role of central banki...
Jul 05, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jason Furman is a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and is currently a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Jason is also a professor at Harvard University and he rejoins Macro Musings to talk about overheating, the inflation outlook, and the right way to think about fiscal policy in an era of low interest rates. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Jason’s Twitter: @jasonfurman Jason’s Harvard profile: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/j...
Jun 28, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Steffen Murau is a political economist at the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University and specializes in international money and finance. He joins Macro Musings to talk about the Eurozone, its role within international monetary architecture, and the future of the dollar zone. They also discuss balance sheet hierarchies, the roles of European banks compared to their American counterparts, and the fiscal ecosystem present within the Eurozone. Transcript for the episode can be found h...
Jun 21, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dan Smith is an associate professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University and directs the Political Economy Research Institute at MTSU. Alex Salter is an associate professor of economics at Texas Tech University. Dan and Alex join David on a special live episode of Macro Musings to discuss their new book, Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions . Specifically, they discuss knowledge and incentive problems in setting monetary policy, what is m...
Jun 14, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast David Andolfatto is a vice president for the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank and has published widely in the field of monetary economics. David also blogs at MacroMania and is a returning guest to the podcast. He rejoins Macro Musings to talk about his thoughts on macro theory, plumbing issues, central bank digital currency, and more. Transcript for the episode can be found here. David’s Twitter: @dandolfa David’s St. Louis Fed profile: https://www.stlouisfed.org/about-us/leadership-governance/ba...
Jun 07, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Carney served as the governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 until 2013, and as the governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. Mark also was the chairman of the Financial Stability Board from 2011 to 2018. Mark is currently the Vice Chairman and Head of Impact Investing at Brookfield Asset Management, as well as a UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. Mark joins David on Macro Musings to discuss his new book * Value(s): Building a Better World for All * , as well as his ...
May 31, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast George Selgin is the director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and is a returning guest to the podcast. He rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the Fed’s recent calls for comments on opening up Fed accounts to fintechs and other non-bank financial firms. George and David also discuss monetary plumbing issues, the state of fiscal QE, and more. Transcript for the episode can be found here. George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato Institute profile: https:/...
May 24, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Adam Posen is the President of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Previously, Adam was on the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England. He has also worked at the New York Fed and has advised many central banks and governments. Adam is also a returning guest to the podcast and re-joins Macro Musings to discuss his new article, “The Price of Nostalgia: America's Self-Defeating Economic Retreat.” Specifically, David and Adam discuss the Fed’s new framework, secular stagnati...
May 17, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Judge Glock is an economic historian, a scholar at the Cicero Institute, and a returning guest to the podcast. Judge rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the origins of the US mortgage market as detailed in his new book, *The Dead Pledge: The Origins of the Mortgage Market and Federal Bailouts, 1913-1939*. David and Judge also discuss the emergence and evolution of the national US mortgage market, the price parity movement, the history of federal land banks, and more. Transcript for the episode c...
May 10, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Christina Parajon Skinner is a legal scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and formerly was a legal counsel to the Bank of England. Christina joins David on Macro Musings to discuss her work on central bank activism. Specifically, David and Christina discuss comparisons between the Fed and the Bank of England, tensions between central bank independence and executive override, contemporary examples of central bank activism, and much more. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Christi...
May 03, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Robert McCauley is a Senior Fellow at the Global Policy Center at Boston University and a Senior Research Associate of the Global History of Capitalism project at the Oxford Center for Global History. Robert also worked at the Bank for International Settlements for 25 years and the New York Federal Reserve Bank for 14 years, and he joins Macro Musings to discuss questions surrounding the global domain of the dollar. Specifically, Robert and David talk about how the US currency rose to prominence...
Apr 26, 2021•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Antonio Fatás is a professor of economics at INSEAD, an international business school with campuses in Singapore, France, and Abu Dhabi. Antonio joins David on Macro Musings to talk about hysteresis and the business cycle. Specifically, David and Antonio discuss the history of the academic literature on business cycle and trend, the impact of the Kydland and Prescott model, and how endogenous growth models play into hysteresis. Support Macro Musings and get a free NGDP targeting mug: https://don...
Apr 19, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
