Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Latest Episodes:

Joe Gagnon on Inflation Progress and the Path Ahead: Breaking Down Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole Speech Sep 11, 2023

Show notes

Joe Gagnon is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and was formerly a senior staffer at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Joe is also a returning guest to Macro Musings, and he rejoins the podcast to talk about Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. Specifically, Joe and David talk about the future direction of r star, what current inflationary trends mean for the Phillips curve, the Fed's commitment to a two percent inflation target, and a lot more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

Joe's Twitter: @GagnonMacro

Joe's PIIE profile

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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Related Links:

*Low Inflation Bends the Phillips Curve Around the World* by Joe Gagnon, Kristin Forbes, and Christopher Collins

*Fed Chair Powell's Message in Jackson Hole: Two Means Two* by David Wilcox

*Why the Era of Historically Low Interest Rates Could Be Over* by Nick Timiraos

Nicholas Anthony on the Current Prospects and Legislative Developments Surrounding CBDC Sep 04, 2023

Show notes

Nicholas Anthony is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and works on issues relating to financial privacy, cryptocurrencies, and the use of money in society. Nicholas joins Macro Musings to talk about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and the recent developments surrounding CBDCs at the Fed and in Congress. Specifically, David and Nicholas discuss the arguments for and against CBDCs, the preemptive, behavioral, and punitive applications of these currencies, who would benefit from the development of CBDCs, and a lot more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

Nicholas's Twitter @EconWithNick

Nicholas's Cato Institute profile

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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Related Links:

*Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths* by Nicholas Anthony and Norbert Michel

*CBDC Legislation Recap* by Nicholas Anthony

*House Hearing and FOIA Reveals Fed's Stance on CBDC* by Nicholas Anthony

*The Fed's Questionable CBDC Campaign* by Nicholas Anthony

*Who Really Benefits from CBDCs? It's Not the Public* by Nicholas Anthony and Norbert Michel

*Questions of CBDC Cronyism Emerge as Fed Launches Pilot* by Nicholas Anthony

*Nigerians' Rejection of Their CBDC is a Cautionary Tale for Other Countries* by Nicholas Anthony

*Nigeria's CBDC Was Not Chosen. It Was Forced* by Nicholas Anthony

*The Risks of CBDCs: Why Central Bank Digital Currencies Shouldn't Be Adopted* by Norbert Michel and Nicholas Anthony

*The Digital Euro: A Solution Seeking a Problem?* by Martin Arnold and Sam Fleming

John Coates on *The Problem of Twelve: When a Few Financial Institutions Control Everything* Aug 28, 2023

Show notes

John Coates is a professor of law and economics and the deputy dean of the Harvard Law School. John is also the author of a new book titled, *The Problem of Twelve: When a Few Financial Institutions Control Everything,* and he joins Macro Musings to talk about it. David and John also discuss the basics and beginnings of index funds, how they may undermine capitalism, the issues with private equity, and a lot more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

John's Harvard Law School profile

John's publications archive

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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*House Republicans Probe BlackRock, Vanguard on Their ESG Policies* by Steven Dennis

*BlackRock Offers a Vote to Retail Investors in its Biggest ETF* by Brooke Masters

Zac Gross on the Past, Present, and Future of Australian Monetary Policy Aug 21, 2023

Show notes

Zac Gross is a senior lecturer at Monash University and was formerly an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. Zac joins Macro Musings to talk about the Australian central bank and the recent review of its framework. Specifically, David and Zac also break down Australian monetary policy over the past few decades, the RBA's yield curve control experiment, the future of its operating system, and a lot more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

Zac's Twitter: @ZacGross

Zac's website

Zac's Substack

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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Related Links:

*Assessing Australian Monetary Policy in the Twenty-First Century* By Isaac Gross and Andrew Leigh

*An RBA Fit for the Future* by Gordon de Brouwer, Renee Fry-McKibbin, and Carolyn Wilkins

Larry White on Gold, Fiat, and Bitcoin: Determining the Ideal Monetary Standard Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

Larry White is a professor of economics at George Mason University and is the author of a new book titled, *Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin?* Larry is also a returning guest to Macro Musings, and he rejoins the podcast to discuss this book and the comparison among those monetary standards. David and Larry specifically discuss the bottom-up vs. top-down theories of money, the basics and functionality of a gold, bitcoin, and fiat standards, the future of money, and more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

Larry's Twitter: @lawrencehwhite1

Larry's Mercatus profile

Larry's GMU profile

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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Related Links:

*Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin?* by Lawrence White

*Larry White on Stablecoins, Money Market Funds, and the History of Free Banking* by Macro Musings

Ricardo Reis on the Macroeconomics of Financial Crises and the Recent Inflation Surge Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

Ricardo Reis is a professor of economics at the London School of Economics and is the co-author of a new book titled, *A Crash Course on Crises: Macroeconomic Concepts for Run-ups, Collapses, and Recoveries.* Ricardo is also a previous guest of Macro Musings and he rejoins the podcast to talk about his new book as well as his overall assessment of the inflation surge of the past few years. David and Ricardo specifically discuss what constitutes a bubble, the Eurozone crisis as a story of capital inflows and misallocation, shadow banking and systemic risk during the 2008 financial crisis, Ricardo's view of the Phillips curve, and a lot more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

Ricardo's Twitter: @R2Rsquared

Ricardo's LSE profile

Ricardo's website

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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*A Crash Course on Crises: Macroeconomic Concepts for Run-Ups, Collapses, and Recoveries* by Ricardo Reis and Markus Brunnermeier

*Ricardo Reis on Central Bank Swap Lines, Fiscal Sustainability, and Outlooks for Inflation* by Macro Musings

Macro Lit Review 4: Highlights from Mid-2023 with George Selgin Jul 31, 2023

Show notes

George Selgin is a senior fellow and director emeritus of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute. George is also a frequent guest on Macro Musings, and he rejoins the podcast to talk about some of the recent developments in the monetary and financial policy space. Specifically, David and George discuss the history and present developments surrounding FedNow, the future of real-time payments, how to revise the Fed's operating system, whether the Fed is currently delivering on a soft landing, and a lot more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

George's Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin

George Cato Institute profile

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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*Getting Up From the Floor* by Claudio Borio

*Opening a Federal Reserve Account* by Julie Hill

*From Cannabis to Crypto: Federal Reserve Discretion in Payments* by Julie Hill

*Fiscal Arithmetic and the Global Inflation Outlook* by Peder Beck-Friis and Richard Clarida

Bryan Cutsinger and Louis Rouanet on the Politics and Dynamics of Hyperinflation in Revolutionary France Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

Bryan Cutsinger is an assistant professor of economics at Angelo State University and Louis Rouanet is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas, El Paso. Bryan and Louis join Macro Musings to talk about the French Revolution, France's public finances, its bout with hyperinflation, and finally, the implications of this experience for macroeconomic theory today. Specifically, David, Bryan and Louis also discuss the creation and widespread dissemination of assignats, the emergence guillotine-backed currency in France, the state vs. market theories of money, and a lot more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

Bryan's Twitter: @BryanPCutsinger

Bryan's website

Bryan's ASU profile

Louis's Twitter: @LouisROUANET

Louis's website

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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Related Links:

*Assignats or Death: The Politics and Dynamics of Hyperinflation in Revolutionary France* by Bryan Cutsinger, Louis Rouanet, and Joshua Ingber

*Macroeconomics Features of the French Revolution* by Thomas Sargent and Francois Velde

Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde on Demographic Trends, Recent Macroeconomic Developments, and AI's Implications for Economic Growth Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde is a professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania and is the co-director of the Business, Economic, and Financial History Project at the Wharton School of Business. Jesus is also a returning guest to the podcast, and he rejoins Macro Musings to talk about recent macroeconomic developments, the demographic issues facing the world, and AI's implications for economic growth. Specifically, David and Jesus also discuss whether we needed the fiscal and monetary stimulus of 2021, the European inflation story, South Korea as a case study for global demographic trends, how quantum computing will may impact macroeconomics in the future, and more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

Jesus's UPenn profile

Jesus's NBER archive

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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Related Links:

*The Demographic Future of Humanity: The Trends* by Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde

*The Demographic Future of Humanity: Economic Challenge* by Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde

*The Demographic Future of Humanity: Social Change* by Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde

*Dynamic Programming on a Quantum Annealer: Solving the RBC Model* by Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde and Isaiah Hull

Chris Conlon on the Post-COVID Inflation Surge and the Greedflation Narrative Jul 10, 2023

Show notes

Chris Conlon is an associate professor of economics at the NYU Stern School of Business where he focuses on industrial organization economics and econometrics. Chris joins David on Macro Musings to help shed light on the 2021-2023 inflation surge from the perspective of an IO economist. Specifically, David and Chris discuss the great markup debate within IO economics, the shaky foundation of greedflation, the cost anticipation story of higher prices, and more.

Transcript for this week's episode.

Chris's Twitter: @conlon_chris

Chris's website

Chris's NYU profile

David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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Related Links:

*Rising Markups, Rising Prices?* by Chris Conlon, Nathan Miller, Tsolmon Otgon, and Yi Yao

Chris's Twitter thread on the recent inflationary episode

*The Rise of Market Power and the Macroeconomics Implications* by Jan De Loecker, Jan Eeckhout, and Gabriel Unger

*How Much Have Record Corporate Profits Contributed to Recent Inflation?* by Andrew Glover, Jose Mustre-del-Rio, Alice von Ende-Becker