Soumaya Keynes is the US economics editor for The Economist magazine, and she is also the co-host of *Trade Talks*, a podcast on all things trade, including trade policy, trade wars, and the future of trade. Soumaya joins the show today to talk about the general topic of trade, but also some other recent economic developments. David and Soumaya also discuss dollar dominance, the effects of trade policy on economic uncertainty, and the highlights, and major themes of the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson...
Sep 16, 2019•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University and holds the Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center. Alex has written widely on long run economic growth and joins the show today to talk about it. David and Alex also discuss how capital relates to economic growth, the impact of regulation on dynamism, and the important distinction between “catch-up” and “cutting edge” growth. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/09092019/a...
Sep 09, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Judge Glock is an economic historian and a scholar at the Cicero Institute in San Francisco. Judge’s research is focused on the Great Depression, and he has recently published a paper on an important idea shaping Federal Reserve policy during this time; the Riefler-Keynes Doctrine. He joins the show today to talk about this paper and the Great Depression. David and Judge also discuss the key ideas behind the Riefler-Keynes Doctrine, how it differs from the Real Bills Doctrine, and how this relat...
Sep 02, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Thomas Hoenig was vice-chair of the FDIC from 2012-2018 and in the 20 years prior to that he was also president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. Thomas is currently a distinguished senior fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University where he focuses on the long-term impact of the politicization of financial services, as well as the effects of government granted privileges and market performance. He joins the show today to talk about his career and some of the current issues i...
Aug 26, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Chris Crowe is head of economic research at Capula Investment Management, a London-based hedge fund, where he covers global economics, primarily the G10 countries plus China. Chris was previously UK economist at Barclays and prior to that he worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He joins the show today to give us the perspective of a macroeconomist from inside a hedge fund on markets, Brexit, and other current events as well as some of his own research. David and Chris also discuss ce...
Aug 19, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Aaron Klein is the director of the Center on Markets and Regulations at the Brookings Institution where, among other things, he focuses on financial regulations and real time payments. Aaron has written widely on real time payments and he joins the show today to talk about this issue, as they discuss the definition of real-time payments, how they could have a positive impact on limiting income inequality, and why the Fed is now interested in setting up its own real-time payments system. David an...
Aug 12, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this special bonus episode of Macro Musings, David Beckworth joins Employ America and several other monetary policy enthusiasts on the day of the July FOMC meeting to discuss what would be an historic event – the first interest rate cut executed by the Fed since December 2008, and the market reactions to this event. In addition to their discussion of this eventual rate cut, David and the other Fed watchers also get a chance to talk about Judy Shelton’s nomination to the Fed Board of Governors...
Aug 07, 2019•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Evan Koenig is a senior vice president and a principal policy advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas where he has been since 1988. Evan joins the show today to talk about his time at the Fed and some of his research. David and Evan also discuss where the Federal Reserve’s review is going in the next six months, Evan’s preferred version of nominal GDP targeting, and how important the yield curve is relative to other credit indicators. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/b...
Aug 05, 2019•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ulirch Bindseil is currently the director general of the Directorate General Market Operations at the European Central Bank (ECB), and in November he will become the director general of Market Infrastructure and Payments at the ECB. Ulrich has written widely on central banking operative frameworks, including a textbook, and is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on operating systems. He joins the show today to talk about these frameworks and much more. David and Ulrich also discuss...
Jul 29, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University and is the co-author of the popular economics blog, Marginal Revolution. Tyler has published widely in economics and is the author of numerous books including his 2017 book, *The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream.* As a returning guest to the show, however, he joins today to talk about his newest book, *Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero.* David and Tyler also discuss many aspects...
Jul 22, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Joe Gagnon is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics where he has been since September 2009. Previously, Joe worked for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as a senior economist and the associate director of both the Division of International Finance and the Division of Monetary Affairs, and he has also served at the US Treasury Department. Joe is a returning guest to Macro Musings and joins the show today to talk about the growing interest among U.S. politician...
Jul 15, 2019•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Heather Boushey is the executive director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a think tank founded to accelerate cutting edge analysis into whether and how structural changes in the US economy affect economic growth. Heather recently co-edited a book titled, *Recession Ready: Fiscal Policies to Stabilize the American Economy,* and she joins the show today to discuss it. David and Heather also discuss income inequality, automatic stabilizers for fiscal policy, and how monetary policy i...
Jul 08, 2019•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jeffry Frieden is a professor of government at Harvard University where he specializes in the politics of international monetary and financial relations. Jeff is the author of many articles and books including *Currency Politics: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Policy* and *Lost Decades: The Making of America’s Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery*. He joins the show today to talk about some of his work. David and Jeff also explore what has led to the recent rise in populism across the natio...
Jul 01, 2019•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Salim Furth is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center where he studies regional, urban, and macroeconomic trends and policies. Salim joins the show today to talk about some of his work on housing supply in the United States and its implications for policy. David and Salim also discuss the problems that arise from rigid zoning laws, the rise of NIMBYism, and possible ways to conduct regulatory zoning reform. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/06242019/la...
Jun 24, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sam Bell and Skanda Amarnath are a part of a new organization called Employ America, a new research and advocacy organization that aims to get better labor market outcomes. Sam is also known on “FOMC Twitter” as an influencer when it comes to nominations for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and Skanda is a former hedge fund economist and New York Federal Reserve research economist. Sam and Skanda join the show today to talk about gross labor income targeting and the future path of Federal...
Jun 17, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Daniel Griswold is a research fellow and co-director of the Trade and Immigration Project at the Mercatus Center. Dan is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy and is a returning guest to Macro Musings. He joins the show today to help get us up to speed on the latest developments in issues on the ever-expanding US trade war with the rest of the world. David and Dan also discuss the USMCA, the negative aspects and seriousness of the trade war, and US intellectual property ...
Jun 10, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mike Bird is a Hong Kong based reporter for the Wall Street Journal covering financial markets across Asia, and he previously worked in the Journal’s London bureau. Mike is also a returning guest to Macro Musings, and he joins the show today to talk about some recent developments in the Asian economies. More specifically, David and Mike discuss Japan’s activist monetary policy, yield curve control, and recent events within the Chinese economy. Transcript for the episode: (coming soon) Mike’s Twi...
Jun 03, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Robert Samuelson is an economics columnist for the Washington Post and spent several decades working at Newsweek, where he wrote on various economic topics. Robert is the author of several books, including *The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement* and *The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence*. He joins the show today to talk about the latter and its implications for today. David and Robert go in-depth about the Grea...
May 27, 2019•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dylan Matthews is a senior correspondent with Vox where he covers a wide array of topics including immigration policy, universal basic income, education policy, effective altruism, animal welfare, and global development. Dylan is one of Vox’s original founders and he has also previously worked for Wonkblog at the Washington Post. He joins the show today to discuss one of his most recent articles on business cycles, titled *The Government Failed to Stop the Last Recession. It Can Prevent the Next...
May 20, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Robert Graboyes is a senior research fellow and health economist at the Mercatus Center and has formerly worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Chase Manhattan Bank. Robert joins the show today to talk about monetary history and specifically the history of small coins. David and Robert also discuss a number of different coins and the history surrounding them, ranging from civil war tokens to early Roman currencies. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts...
May 13, 2019•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast David Andolfatto is a vice president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank and is published widely in the field of monetary economics. He also blogs at MacroMania, and has recently published on issues such as the zero lower bound, the symmetry of the Fed’s inflation target, a new standing repo facility, and MMT. David is a returning guest to Macro Musings, and he joins the show today to talk about these issues. David and David also discuss the safe asset shortage, average and flexible inflation ...
May 06, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Alexandra Scaggs is a senior writer at Barron’s covering financial markets with a special emphasis on bond markets, and she previously wrote news and commentary for the Financial Times and for Bloomberg. Alexandra joins the show today to talk about the current state of bond markets and what it means for the economy. David and Alexandra also discuss corporate debt, the inversion of the treasury yield curve, and the lasting impact of the modern monetary theory debate. Transcript for the episode: h...
Apr 29, 2019•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew Park is a senior editor at S&P LCD and is one of the foremost experts on collateralized loan obligations and the leverage loan market. Andrew also writes daily on what’s going on in the collateralized loan obligations (CLO) market and his data is the basis for most of the reporting on this topic in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and by many policymakers. He joins the show today to talk about CLOs and their implications for the financial system and, more generally, the economy. ...
Apr 22, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Eric Lonergan is macro hedge fund manager, and economist, and a writer. He has written for Foreign Affairs, the Financial Times, and has authored the book *Money (The Art of Living)*. More recently, Eric has also co-authored a new book called *Angrynomics*. He joins the show today to talk about how to improve policymakers’ responses to recessions. David and Eric also discuss helicopter drops, dual interest rates, and how governments can make monetary policy more direct. Transcript for the episod...
Apr 15, 2019•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Yair Listokin is a professor of law at Yale Law School and is the author of a new book titled, *Law and Macroeconomics*. He joins the show today to talk about the book as well as some of his new work. David and Yair also discuss sovereign wealth funds, the legal limits of central banks, and how to expand fiscal policy while making it more effective. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/04082019/law-and-macroeconomics Yair’s Yale Law School profile: https://law.yal...
Apr 08, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Bryan Cutsinger is an economist affiliated with Angelo State as well as Texas Tech University and recently published an article titled *Seigniorage in the Civil War South*. He joins the show today to talk about this article, the monetary history of the Civil War, and the economics of Seigniorage. David and Bryan also discuss how both the North and the South financed the war and why the South made some counterintuitive decisions in how they conducted monetary policy. Transcript for the episode: h...
Apr 01, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Paul Tucker is a 33-year veteran of the Bank of England where he served as both a member and deputy governor of the Monetary Policy Committee. Currently, Paul is a senior fellow at Harvard and a chair at the Systemic Risk Council. He has also recently authored a book, *Unelected Power: The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State* and joins the show today to discuss talk about it. David and Paul also discuss central bank independence and justifications for the existence o...
Mar 25, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast James Broughel is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and an adjunct professor of law at George Mason University Law School. James specializes in state and federal regulatory procedures, cost-benefit analysis, and economic growth. He joins the show today to talk about a recent symposium he hosted on the social discount rate; what it is, its uses, and the controversy surrounding how to measure it. David and James also discuss cost-benefit analysis in the regulatory world and why the s...
Mar 18, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Ryan Avent is an economics columnist with The Economist magazine and is a previous guest of Macro Musings. He joins the show today to talk about some of his recent columns including work on hyperinflation, the Green New Deal, and Fed policy. David and Ryan also discuss the growing popularity of Modern Monetary Theory, the Fed’s dovish change in direction, and why hyperinflation is so devastating to a nation’s economy. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/03112019/...
Mar 11, 2019•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Strain is the director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Previously, Michael worked in the Center for Economic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau and in the Macroeconomics Research Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He joins the show today to talk about recent developments in U.S. economic policy and some of his work on that topic. David and Michael also discuss the consequences of rising populism, MMT’s impact on tax policy, and the issues Ameri...
Mar 04, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 
