Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Latest Episodes:

Sam Hammond and Brink Lindsey on *Faster Growth, Fairer Growth: Policies for a High Road, High Performance Economy* Nov 30, 2020

Show notes

Sam Hammond is the director of poverty and welfare policy at the Niskanen Center and Brink Lindsey is vice president and director of the Open Society Project at the Niskanen Center. Both are returning guests to the podcast, and they join David again on Macro Musings to talk about their new pro-growth report titled, *Faster Growth, Fairer Growth: Policies for a High Road, High Performance Economy.* Specifically, they detail a number of different policies the US government could adopt to achieve faster and fairer economic growth, including social insurance modernization, child allowances, and more.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Sam's Twitter: @hamandcheese

Sam's Niskanen profile: https://www.niskanencenter.org/author/samuel-hammond/

Brink's Twitter: @lindsey_brink

Brink's Niskanen profile: https://www.niskanencenter.org/author/brink-lindsey/

Related Links:

*Faster Growth, Fairer Growth: Policies for a High Road, High Performance Economy* by Brink Lindsey and Sam Hammond

https://www.niskanencenter.org/faster-growth-fairer-growth-policies-for-a-high-road-high-performance-economy/

*Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?* by Nicholas Bloom, Charles Jones, John Van Reenen, and Michael Webb

https://web.stanford.edu/~chadj/IdeaPF.pdf

*How Asia Works* by Joe Studwell

https://groveatlantic.com/book/how-asia-works/

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

Bilal Hafeez on Inflation, Innovation, and Economic Recovery after COVID-19 Nov 23, 2020

Show notes

Bilal Hafeez is the CEO and Founder of Macro Hive and previously worked at JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Nomura. Bilal joins Macro Musings to discuss recent economic developments and the outlook for inflation after the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, Bilal and David discuss the prospects for a K-shaped US recovery, COVID-19's impact on the Eurozone and the UK, how the launch of the EU's recovery fund has fared, and how the pandemic has impacted the outlook for the services sector, inflation, and the US dollar.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Bilal's Macro Hive profile: https://macrohive.com/researcher/bilal-hafeez/

Bilal's website: http://bilalhafeez.com/

Bilal's Twitter: @bilalhafeez123

Related Links:

*The True Economic Consequences of the COVID Peace* by Bilal Hafeez

https://macrohive.com/hive-exclusives/the-true-economic-consequences-of-the-covid-peace

*EU Enjoys 'Outrageous Demand' for First Covid-related Bond* by Tommy Stubbington

https://www.ft.com/content/e3553b68-22c8-487c-a7c0-7e1c6dc0ec4b

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

Adam Ozimek on the Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work in the Face of COVID-19 Nov 16, 2020

Show notes

Adam Ozimek is the chief economist for Upwork, a global remote freelancing platform, and a returning guest to the podcast. Adam rejoins Macro Musings to talk about some of the lasting impacts of the pandemic on businesses; specifically its influence on remote work. David and Adam also discuss the results of the payment protection program, why the prime age employment to population ratio should become the most important employment measure, the economic geography of remote work, and more.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Adam's Twitter: @ModeledBehavior

Adam's website: https://adamozimek.com/

Related Links:

*The Future of Remote Work*by Adam Ozimek

https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/the-future-of-remote-work

*COVID-19 and Remote Work: An Early Look at US Data* by Erik Byrnjolfsson, John Horton, Adam Ozimek, Daniel Rock, Garima Sharma, and Hong-Yi TuYe

https://www.nber.org/papers/w27344

*Where Remote Work Saves Commuters Most* by Adam Ozimek

https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/where-remote-work-saves-commuters-most

*When Work Goes Remote* by Adam Ozimek

https://www.upwork.com/research/when-work-goes-remote

*How Many Jobs can be Done at Home?* by Jonathan Dingel and Brent Neiman

https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/BFI_White-Paper_Dingel_Neiman_3.2020.pdf

*How Many U.S. Jobs Might be Offshorable?* by Alan Blinder

https://www.princeton.edu/~ceps/workingpapers/142blinder.pdf

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

Alan Cole on Monetary Policy for a Post-COVID Economy Nov 09, 2020

Show notes

Alan Cole is a senior economist at the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. Alan joins David on Macro Musings to discuss his work with the JEC and his thoughts on the economy. Specifically, Alan and David discuss the high savings rate during the COVID-19 crisis, the track record of US monetary policy from the 2008 financial crisis to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, why the Fed's commitment to average inflation targeting is an incremental step toward level targeting, and suggestions for the Fed moving forward.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Alan's Twitter: @AlanMCole

Related Links:

The JEC's Social Capital Project: https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/socialcapitalproject

*Saving and COVID-19* by Alan Cole

https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/analysis?ID=754B52C6-04CD-458B-8755-98D1219398F1

*Stable Monetary Policy to Connect More Americans to Work* by Alan Cole

https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/analysis?ID=051267FC-0147-4E31-BE80-946E0543AF82

*Bullard May Be More Right Than Wrong* by Tim Duy

https://blogs.uoregon.edu/timduyfedwatch/2020/09/28/bullard-may-be-more-right-than-wrong/

*The Fed's Mistake* by Adam Ozimek and Michael Ferlez

https://www.economy.com/home/products/samples/2018-11-20-Feds-Mistake.pdf

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

David French on Political Polarization in America and Its Impact on the 2020 Elections Nov 02, 2020

Show notes

David French is a senior editor of The Dispatch and has written widely on American politics. David has a new book out on the polarization in the United States titled, *Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore our Nation.* He joins Macro Musings for another special presidential election episode to discuss this book as well as what political polarization means for the election, this country, and the economy. Specifically, both Davids talk about the political geography of polarization, the national red state versus blue state dynamics, and how instituting more federalism might be the solution.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

David French's Twitter: @DavidAFrench

David French's Dispatch archive: https://thedispatch.com/people/5849328-david-french

Related Links:

*Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore our Nation* by David French

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250201973

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

Michael Strain on the Differing Economic Policies of Trump vs. Biden Oct 29, 2020

Show notes

Michael Strain is the Director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and a previous guest of the show. Michael joins Macro Musings for a special presidential election episode to discuss President Trump's economic record and what a Biden presidency might mean for the economy compared to a second term for President Trump. Specifically, David and Michael discuss the presidential candidates' past records and campaign goals for trade, taxes, regulations, immigration, and more.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Michael's Twitter: @MichaelRStrain

Michael's AEI profile: https://www.aei.org/profile/michael-r-strain/

Related Links:

The Mercatus Center's RegData databse:

https://www.mercatus.org/publications/regulation/regdata

*The triumph of the Trump tax cuts* by Joshua McCabe

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/522813-the-triumph-of-the-trump-tax-cuts

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

Matt Yglesias on *One Billion Americans*: New Ideas to Revitalize the American Economy Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

Matt Yglesias is the co-founder of Vox, a senior correspondent who focuses on politics and economic policy, and a returning guest to the podcast. Matt once again joins Macro Musings to discuss his new book, *One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger.* Specifically, David and Matt talk about how to reinvigorate the economy; through enacting better housing and transportation policies, dramatically increasing immigration, reviving America's forgotten cities, and more. Finally, they also discuss the Fed's new average inflation targeting regime, and what kind of direction the Fed will take over the new few years.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Matt's Twitter: @mattyglesias

Matt's Vox profile: https://www.vox.com/authors/matthew-yglesias

Matt's podcast: https://www.vox.com/the-weeds

Related Links:

*One Billion Americans: The Case For Thinking Bigger* by Matt Yglesias

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/636499/one-billion-americans-by-matthew-yglesias/

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

Shruti Rajagopalan on the Past, Present, and Future of the Indian Economy Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

Shruti Rajagopalan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center where she leads the programs Indian Political Economy Research and the Emergent Ventures India. Shruti joins David on Macro Musings to discuss the past, present and future of the Indian economy. Specifically, Shruti and David discuss India's mid-20th century experiment with socialism, subsequent reforms from 1980 through the 2000s, and how further reforms to manufacturing and to land and labor markets can accelerate its economic development.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Shruti's Twitter: @srajagopalan

Shruti's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/shruti-rajagopalan

Shruti's podcast, *Ideas of India*: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/tag/ideas-of-india-podcast/https://www.mercatus.org/tags/ideas-india

Related Links:

*India Grows at Night* by Gurcharan Das

https://www.amazon.com/India-Grows-At-Night-Liberal/dp/0670084700

*In India, Don't Hate the Matchmaker* by Shruti Rajagopalan

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-02/netflix-s-indian-matchmaking-is-only-too-accurate

*It's Chiefly Rent Seekers Who Oppose Our Farm Reforms* by Shruti Rajagopalan

https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/it-s-chiefly-rent-seekers-who-oppose-our-farm-reforms-11601304066126.html

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

Roberto Perli on Average Inflation Targeting and Improving the Fed's Framework Oct 12, 2020

Show notes

Roberto Perli is a partner and the head of global policy at Cornerstone Macro and is formerly a senior staffer at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Roberto joins Macro Musings to discuss the Fed's new average inflation targeting framework and what it means for monetary policy, markets, and the economy going forward. Specifically, David and Roberto also discuss the current vague nature of FOMC forward guidance, the challenges and credibility concerns of AIT, and how to further improve the Fed's framework in the future.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Roberto's Twitter: @R_Perli

Roberto's Cornerstone Macro profile: https://www.cornerstonemacro.com/people/

Related Links:

FOMC September meeting press release: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200916a.htm

*Temporary Price-level Targeting: An Alternative Framework for Monetary Policy* by Ben Bernanke

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/ben-bernanke/2017/10/12/temporary-price-level-targeting-an-alternative-framework-for-monetary-policy/

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/

Megan Greene and Eric Lonergan on Dual Interest Rates and the Prospects of Average Inflation Targeting Oct 05, 2020

Show notes

Megan Greene is a global economist and Senior Fellow at Harvard University School, and Eric Lonergan is an economist and macro fund manager at M&G Investments. Both Megan and Eric are returning guests of the show, and they re-join Macro Musings to discuss dual interest rates and the potential power it brings to central banks. Specifically, they discuss the current constraints on central banks' toolkit, how the example of the ECB targeting TLTRO's illustrates the potential of dual interest rates, why the concern over fiscal versus monetary policy is misunderstood, and whether the Fed's new average inflation targeting mandate can be successfully implemented.

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

Eric's Twitter: @ericlonners

Eric's blog: https://www.philosophyofmoney.net/

Eric's M&G Investments profile: https://www.mandg.co.uk/investor/fund-managers/eric-lonergan/

Related Links:

*Dual Interest Rates Give Central Banks Limitless Firepower* by Eric Lonergan and Megan Greene

https://voxeu.org/article/dual-interest-rates-give-central-banks-limitless-fire-power

*A Misplaced Faith in the Power of Central Banks* by Greg Ip

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-misplaced-faith-in-the-power-of-central-banks-11583256163