Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Latest Episodes:

143 – Rohan Grey on Digital Currency, Privacy, and Modern Monetary Theory Feb 11, 2019

Show notes

Rohan Grey is a legal scholar and the research director of the Digital Fiat Currency Institute. He joins the show today to make the case for digital legal tender. David and Rohan also discuss privacy issues related to digital currency, getting the public onboard with a digital currency proposal, modern monetary theory, and how it is different than mainstream economics.

Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/02112019/future-digital-fiat-currency

Rohan's Twitter: @rohangrey

Rohan's Cornell profile: https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/admissions/degrees/graduate-legal-studies/JSD-Student-Profiles-Rohan-Grey.cfm

Related Links:

*Central Bank Digital Currency and the Future of Monetary Policy* by Michael Bordo and Andrew Levin

https://www.nber.org/papers/w23711

*Winds of Change: The Case for New Digital Currency* by Christine Lagarde

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/11/13/sp111418-winds-of-change-the-case-for-new-digital-currency

*The Case for Digital Legal Tender: The Macroeconomic Policy Implications of Digital Fiat Currency* by Rohan Grey and Jonathan Dharmapalan

https://www.ecurrency.net/static/resources/201802/TheMacroeconomicImplicationsOfDigitalFiatCurrencyEVersion.pdf

*Banking in a Digital Fiat Currency Regime* by Rohan Grey

https://custom.cvent.com/20310C03166C4C11B1AA63B0D6300264/files/Event/6230e8320cad4d97a45b8dcdc6c44200/aaeeabdc5cee41f5a8ad0a7e869faed8.pdf

*Mobile Finance in Developing Countries: Macroeconomic Implications and Potential* by Rohan Grey

http://www.binzagr-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/WP-116.pdf

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

142 – Donald Kohn on Fed Policy from the 1970s to Today Feb 04, 2019

Show notes

Donald Kohn is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and currently serves as an external member of the Financial Policy Committee at the Bank of England. Donald is also a 40-year veteran of the Federal Reserve System, serving previously as a governor and then as vice-chair of the Board of Governors from 2002 to 2010. He joins the show today to talk about his journey through the Federal Reserve System in addition to some of his recent work. David and Donald also discuss Fed policy during the '80s, expanding the types of assets the Fed could purchase, and the challenges it faces today.

Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/02012019/burns-powell

Donald's Brookings profile: https://www.brookings.edu/experts/donald-kohn/

Donald's Federal Reserve History biography: https://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/donald_l_kohn

Related Links:

*The Anguish of Central Banking* by Arthur Burns

http://www.perjacobsson.org/lectures/1979.pdf

*Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country* by William Greider

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Secrets-of-the-Temple/William-Greider/9780671675561

*Keeping At It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government* by Paul Volcker

https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/paul-volcker/keeping-at-it/9781541788299/

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

RE-AIR - Kevin Erdmann on Housing Shortages and Their Role in the Great Recession Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

Kevin Erdmann is an independent researcher and blogger at Idiosyncratic Whisk, where he explores economic and financial topics such as housing, investment, and speculation. He is also the author of an upcoming book titled, *Shut Out: How a Housing Shortage Caused the Great Recession and Crippled Our Economy*, and he joins the show today to discuss it. David and Kevin also break down the housing shortage problem, as they explore how the limited supply of housing in close access cities may have helped fuel the Great Recession.

NOTE: Although stated in the episode, Kevin's book was renamed to Shut Out. Locked Out was simply the working title at the time of the recording.

Link to the book: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538122150/Shut-Out-How-a-Housing-Shortage-Caused-the-Great-Recession-and-Crippled-Our-Economy

Discount code: 4S18MERC30

Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/01282019/were-we-all-wrong-about-great-recession

Kevin's Twitter: @KAErdmann

Kevin's blog: http://idiosyncraticwhisk.blogspot.com/

Related Links:

*A Slide Deck on the Bubble and Crisis* by Kevin Erdmann

http://idiosyncraticwhisk.blogspot.com/p/a-slide-deck-on-bubble-and-crisis.html

*Housing: Part 238 – Home Price Changes Over Time* by Kevin Erdmann

http://idiosyncraticwhisk.blogspot.com/2017/06/housing-part-238-home-price-changes.html

*Why Do Cities Matter? Local Growth and Aggregate Growth* by Enrico Moretti & Chang-Tai Hsieh

https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=housing_law_and_policy

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

141 – Christine McDaniel on Trade, China, and Intellectual Property Jan 21, 2019

Show notes

Christine McDaniel is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and was previously the deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department and senior trade economist in the White House. Christine is a returning guest to Macro Musings and joins the show today to talk about recent trade developments. David and Christine also discuss the details of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, how Brexit affects trade issues in Europe, and the possibility of blowback from Trump's trade policies.

Transcript for episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/01212019/china-usmca-uk-and-more

Christine's Twitter: @christinemcdan

Christine's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/christine-mcdaniel

Related Links:

"Tariff man": https://imgur.com/a/fcBuvKy

*A Weakened China Tries a Different Approach With the U.S.: Treading Lightly* by Keith Bradsher, Alan Rappeport and Glenn Thrush

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/business/china-trade-war.html

*Scholars Respond: New Trade Deal with Mexico, Canada* by Christine McDaniel and Daniel Griswold

https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/commentary/scholars-respond-new-trade-deal-mexico-canada

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

140 – Craig Torres on Fed Transparency, Automation, and the Bear Stearns Bailout Jan 14, 2019

Show notes

Craig Torres is a reporter for Bloomberg News where has earned several rewards for his reporting on Fed policy. Previously, Craig also served as the chief of the Wall Street Journal's Mexico City bureau, where his work on the collapse of the peso in the mid 90's made him a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting. He joins the show today to discuss some the stories he has written while reporting on the Fed and the economy. David and Craig also discuss the Fed's increase in transparency under Jay Powell, the current state of U.S. monetary policy, and effects of automation on demographics and the economy.

Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/01112019/war-stories-fed

Craig's Twitter: @ctorresreporter

Craig's Bloomberg archive: https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AElDlyQuDPM/craig-torres

Related Links:

*New Blue-Collar Jobs Will Survive the Rise of AI* by Craig Torres

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-01/new-blue-collar-jobs-will-survive-the-rise-of-ai

*Housing and Monetary Policy* by John Taylor

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/83de/849c0eaaa1eaa720427e1e1ac0c4782bf693.pdf

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

139 – Julia Coronado on Inflation, Fed Rate Hikes, and Recent Economic Developments Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

Julia Coronado is the president and founder of Macro Policy Perspectives, a Wall Street research firm. Previously, she was a chief economist for Graham Capital Management and a senior economist at BNP Paribas. Julia also served on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for over a decade, and she joins the show today to talk about the Fed's latest rate hikes and other recent economic developments. David and Julia also discuss the Fed's recent financial stability report, why inflation has been persistently low, and ways to improve communications between the Fed and the market.

Julia's Twitter: @jc_econ

Julia's Macropolicy Perspectives profile: https://www.macropolicyperspectives.com/about/

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

BONUS - Brian Goff on Sports Economics Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

Brian Goff is the distinguished professor of economics at the Gordon Ford College of Business at Western Kentucky University. He is the author of the Econosports blog at Forbes and most recently the author of a new book titled, *Sports Economics Uncut*. Brian joins the show today to talk about the economics behind professional and collegiate sports across the United States. David and Brian also discuss stadium subsidies, the relationship between salary caps and dynasties, and why there may need to be serious reform at the collegiate sports level.

Brian's blog: https://www.forbes.com/sites/briangoff/#393eb9d01647

Brian's WKU profile: https://www.wku.edu/economics/staff/brian_goff

Related Links:

*Sports Economics Uncut* by Brian Goff

https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/sports-economics-uncut

*eBooks link: https://www.ebooks.com/96329982/sports-economics-uncut/goff-brian/

*Football Still Americans' Favorite Sport to Watch* by Jim Norman

https://news.gallup.com/poll/224864/football-americans-favorite-sport-watch.aspx

*Happy 10th Birthday to the Most-Subsidized NFL Stadium in America* by Anne Philpot and Michael Farren

https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/commentary/happy-10th-birthday-most-subsidized-nfl-stadium-america

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

138 – Felix Salmon on Charitable Giving and Sovereign Debt Dec 24, 2018

Show notes

Felix Salmon is a financial journalist at Axios and the host of the Slate Money podcast. In this special holiday episode, Felix joins the show to discuss the economics of charitable giving and one of his other favorite topics, sovereign debt. David and Felix also discuss debt contract innovations, effective altruism, and ways to improve charitable giving across the U.S. and the globe.

Felix's Twitter: @felixsalmon

Felix's website: http://www.felixsalmon.com/

Related Links:

Axios Edge newsletter: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-edge

Recipe for Disaster: The Formula that Killed Wall Street by Felix Salmon

https://www.wired.com/2009/02/wp-quant/

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

137 – Matt Mitchell on Rent-Seeking and Public Choice Dec 17, 2018

Show notes

Matt Mitchell is the director and senior research fellow at the Equity Initiative at the Mercatus Center. He joins the show today to talk about rent seeking and how it affects long term economic growth and prosperity. David and Matt also discuss regulatory capture, the rise of patent trolls, and the economics of public choice theory.

Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/12172018/macroeconomics-rent-seeking

Matt's Twitter: @MattMitchell80

Matt's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/matthew-mitchell

Related Links:

*Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty* by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

https://scholar.harvard.edu/jrobinson/publications/why-nations-fail-origins-power-prosperity-and-poverty

*The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society* by Anne Krueger

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1808883?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

*Entrepreneurship: Production, Unproductive, and Destructive* by William Baumol

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2937617

*Uncontestable Favoritism* by Matt Mitchell

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3210953

*40 Years of Research on Rent Seeking* by Roger Congleton, Arye Hillman, and Kai Konrad

https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783540791881

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

136 – Josh Galper on LIBOR, Overnight Lending, and the Lehman Brothers Collapse Dec 10, 2018

Show notes

Josh Galper is the managing principal of Finadium, an independent consultancy in capital markets with unique expertise in securities, finance, collateral, and derivatives. He joins the show today to talk about money markets, overnight interest rates, and some of the big issues in this area. David and Josh also discuss the Lehman Brothers collapse, the "Narrow Bank," and what we should know about key interest rates; namely the repo rate, LIBOR, interest on excess reserves rate, and SOFR.

Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/12072018/plumbing-monetary-policy

Josh's Twitter: @Finadium

Josh's Finadium profile: https://finadium.com/josh-galper-mba/

Related Links:

Finadium's homepage: http://finadium.com

Finadium's magazine: http://securitiesfinancemonitor.com

*Second Report of the Alternative Reference Rates Committee* by the New York Fed

https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/Microsites/arrc/files/2018/ARRC-Second-report

*The SOFR Transition: Benchmarks, Futures, and P&L* by Finadium

https://finadium.com/finadium-report-desc/sofr-transition-benchmarks-futures-profit-loss/

David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com

David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth