Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Latest Episodes:

68 - Scott Sumner on Fed Performance since the Great Recession Jul 31, 2017

Show notes

In this week's episode in front of a live audience, Scott Sumner, the director of the Program on Monetary Policy at the Mercatus Center and blogger at *The Money Illusion,* returns to the show to share his thoughts on the Federal Reserve's performance from the Great Recession to the present. Scott explains how forecast targeting and price level targeting could have mitigated the economic decline in 2008 and 2009. He also shares his thoughts on how the cognitive biases of central bankers can cause them to make mistakes in evaluating the stance of monetary policy and offers some solutions to address this problem. Note: this episode was recorded as part of a special Mercatus Center event in June 2017. David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com Scott's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scott-sumner Scott's blog: www.themoneyillusion.com/ Related links: *The Midas Paradox: Financial Markets, Government Policy Shocks, and the Great Depression* by Scott Sumner https://www.amazon.com/Midas-Paradox-Financial-Government-Depression/dp/1598131508 "Nudging the Fed Toward a Rules-Based Policy Regime" by Scott Sumner https://www.mercatus.org/publication/nudging-fed-toward-rules-based-policy-regime "Demystifying the Fed" by Scott Sumner https://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/articles/2017-07-10/the-federal-reserve-needs-to-learn-from-its-monetary-mistakes "Inflation Forecasting Targeting: Implementing and Monitoring Inflation Targets" by Lars Svensson http://www.nber.org/papers/w5797

67 – Lisa Cook on Households in the Great Recession, Economic Growth in Africa, & Patents Jul 24, 2017

Show notes

Lisa Cook is an Associate Professor of Economics at Michigan State University and formerly served as a senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama. Today, she joins the show to discuss her work on how the Great Recession affected households in the U.S. She also shares her thoughts on the prospects for economic development in Africa. Finally, she and David also discuss the U.S. patent system and whether the system is in need of reforms. (Note: We experienced some technical difficulties during the record of this episode. You'll notice a slight change in audio quality around the 5 minute mark.) David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Lisa Cook's profile: https://msu.edu/~lisacook/ David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Lisa Cook's Twitter: @drlisadcook Related links: "Consumer Finance and the Financial and Economic Crises: Implications from Household Surveys in Michigan" by Lisa Cook https://msu.edu/~lisacook/mich_cons_fin_jconed_022511.pdf "Were the Nigerian Banking Reforms of 2005 A Success ... And for the Poor?" by Lisa Cook http://www.nber.org/papers/w16890 "Violence and Economic Activity: Evidence from African American Patents, 1870-1940" by Lisa Cook http://lisadcook.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/pats_paper17_1013_final_web.pdf

66 - Ryan Cooper on Economic Anxiety, Populism, and Population Growth Jul 17, 2017

Show notes

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at *The Week.* He joins the show to discuss how bad economic policy has hindered strong economic recovery from the Great Recession. Furthermore, Ryan argues economic anxiety stemming from the Great Recession has given rise to populist and even extremist political movements throughout the world. Finally, Ryan and David discuss the folly of limiting population growth as a means of combating climate change and how slowing population growth presents many long-term economic challenges. David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Ryan Cooper's *The Week* archive: http://theweek.com/authors/ryan-cooper David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Ryan Cooper's Twitter: @ryanlcooper "The Great Recession Clearly Gave Rise to Right-Wing Populism" by Ryan Cooper http://theweek.com/articles/685813/great-recession-clearly-gave-rise-rightwing-populism "The Federal Reserve is Still Wrecking America" by Ryan Cooper http://theweek.com/articles/696914/federal-reserve-still-wrecking-america "Why America is About to Start Freaking Out about Babies" by Ryan Cooper http://theweek.com/articles/625705/why-america-about-start-freaking-about-babies

65 - Stephen Miller on Financial Crises, Capital Requirements, and the US Banking System Jul 10, 2017

Show notes

Stephen Matteo Miller is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He joins the show to discuss his work on the history of financial crises as well as the evolution of the U.S. banking system since the late 1800s. Steph stresses the importance of capital requirements (how much capital or equity a bank holds relative to its liabilities) in combating financial crises. Furthermore, he argues that higher and simpler capital requirements, rather than more regulation, are the keys to a more market-disciplined banking system. David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Stephen Miller's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/stephen-matteo-miller David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Stephen Miller's Twitter: @SMatteoMiller Related links: "Ending Too-Big-to-Fail May Require More Than the Minneapolis Fed Too-Big-to-Fail Plan" by Stephen Miller https://www.mercatus.org/publications/too-big-to-fail-minneapolis-fed "A Primer on the Evolution and Complexity of Bank Regulatory Capital Standards" by Stephen Miller and James Barth https://www.mercatus.org/publications/primer-bank-regulatory-capital-standards *"To Establish a More Effective Supervision of Banking": How the Birth of the Fed Altered Bank Supervision* by Eugene White http://www.nber.org/papers/w16825.pdf

64 - Ricardo Reis Defends Macroeconomics Jul 03, 2017

Show notes

Ricardo Reis is a professor of economics at the London School of Economics and the editor of the prominent Journal of Monetary Economics. He joins the show to discuss the state of macroeconomics, which has recently come under attack from many commentators who claim the discipline lacks empirical rigor and has failed to accurately forecast economic conditions. Ricardo gives a nuanced defense of macroeconomics, arguing macroeconomic research is, indeed, quite vibrant and empirical. Furthermore, he argues that although there have been shortcomings, macroeconomics has greatly improved over the past few decades in its ability to forecast and inform policy debates. David Beckworth's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Ricardo Reis's LSE profile: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/reisr/ David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth "Is Something Really Wrong with Macroeconomics?" by Ricardo Reis http://personal.lse.ac.uk/reisr/papers/17-wrong.pdf "Achieving Price Stability by Manipulating the Central Bank's Payment on Reserves" by Robert Hall and Ricardo Reis http://www.nber.org/papers/w22761 "When Economics Failed" by Noah Smith https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-04/when-economics-failed

63 - Matt Yglesias on the Politics of Fed Policy Jun 26, 2017

Show notes

Matt Yglesias is a columnist and editor for the news website Vox, which he co-founded in 2014. Today, he joins the show to talk about the politics shaping Fed policy. Matt discusses why he thinks President Barack Obama's biggest policy failure was in failing to appoint members to the Fed's Board of Governors. He also shares his thoughts on where the Left and Right currently stand on monetary issues. David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Matt Yglesias's Vox archive: https://www.vox.com/authors/matthew-yglesias David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Matt Yglesias's Twitter: @MattYglesias Related links: "Obama's Biggest Economic Policy Mistake" by Matt Yglesias https://www.vox.com/2014/9/17/6219247/obamas-biggest-economic-policy-mistake "Fed Up" by Matt Yglesias (Feature in *Democracy: A Journal of Ideas*) http://democracyjournal.org/magazine/20/fed-up/

62 – Mandel and Swanson on *The Coming Productivity Boom* Jun 19, 2017

Show notes

In this week's episode, David is joined by two guests, who make a case for economic optimism. Michael Mandel, chief economist at the Progressive Policy Institute, and Bret Swanson, president of Entropy Economics and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, are the co-authors of the new paper, "The Coming Productivity Boom: Transforming the Physical Economy with Information." Michael and Bret argue that, despite the slowdown in productivity of the last few decades, innovations in information technology such as artificial intelligence are going remake our economy for the better. David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Michael Mandel's homepage: http://www.progressivepolicy.org/author/mmandel/ Brett Swanson's homepage: http://www.bretswanson.com/ David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Michael Mandel's Twitter: @MichaelMandel Bret Swanson's Twitter: @JBSay Related links: "The Coming Productivity Boom: Transforming the Physical Economy with Information" by Michael Mandel and Bret Swanson http://www.techceocouncil.org/clientuploads/reports/TCC%20Productivity%20Boom%20FINAL.pdf

61 - Steve Horwitz on Monetary Disequilibrium and Austrian Business Cycle Theory Jun 12, 2017

Show notes

Steven Horwitz is a professor of economics at Ball State University and a senior affiliated scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He joins the show to discuss monetary disequilibrium (the condition when the supply and demand for money are not aligned, which leads to either inflation or deflation). David and Steve also examine Austrian Business Cycle Theory – a theory of how "malinvestment" caused by bad policy leads to an unsustainable boom and inevitable bust. Steve also explains how monetary disequilibrium led to the Great Recession and offers some solutions for minimizing business cycles in the future. David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Steve Horwitz's personal website: http://myslu.stlawu.edu/~shorwitz/ Steve Horwitz's Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/steven-horwitz David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Related links: *Microfoundations and Macroeconomics: An Austrian Perspective* by Steven Horwitz https://www.amazon.com/Microfoundations-Macroeconomics-Perspective-Steven-Horwitz/dp/0415569575 "An Introduction to U.S. Monetary Policy* by Steven Horwitz https://www.mercatus.org/publication/introduction-us-monetary-policy

60 – Matt Klein on Greece, Optimal Currency Areas, and Safe Assets Jun 05, 2017

Show notes

Matt Klein is a columnist for the Financial Times and blogger at FT Alphaville. Today, he joins the show to discuss his work on the Eurozone, optimal currency areas, and safe assets. David and Matt examine the monetary policy problems and debt burdens facing the Eurozone area and Greece, in particular. They also chat about the possibility of the United States becoming less of an optimal currency, which would make Fed policy more challenging. David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Matt Klein's bio: https://ftalphaville.ft.com/meet-the-team#matthew-c-klein David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Matt Klein's Twitter: @M_C_Klein Related links: "Is the United States Becoming Less of an Optimal Currency Area?" by David Beckworth http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/2017/05/is-united-states-becoming-less-of.html "Will Nevada Ever Recover from the Housing Boom?" by Matt Klein https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2017/03/06/2185515/will-nevada-ever-recover-from-the-housing-bust/ "The IMF Implies Greece Should Have Left the Euro Long Ago" by Matt Klein https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2017/02/07/2184043/the-imf-implies-greece-should-have-the-left-the-euro-long-ago/

59 - Jay Shambaugh on the Macroeconomic Trilemma ("The Impossible Trinity") May 29, 2017

Show notes

Jay Shambaugh is a professor of economics and international affairs at The George Washington University and a former member on the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Today, he joins the show to discuss his work on the "Macroeconomic Trilemma" (or "Impossible Trinity"): the problem that a country cannot maintain a fixed exchange rate, free movement of capital, and an independent monetary policy all at once. He also shares stories from his time at the CEA as well as thoughts on current monetary policy both for the U.S. and the Eurozone. David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Jay Shambaugh's GW profile: https://www2.gwu.edu/~iiep/about/faculty/jshambaugh/ David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Jay Shambaugh's Twitter: @JayCShambaugh Related links: "The Euro's Three Crises" by Jay C. Shambaugh https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/the-euros-three-crises/ "Financial Stability, the Trilemma, and International Reserves" by Maurice Obstfeld, Jay C. Shambaugh, & Alan M. Taylor http://www.nber.org/papers/w14217

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