Macro Musings

Jens van 't Klooster is a political economist at the University of Amsterdam's Department of Political Science. Jens rejoins David on Macro Musings to discuss the changes taking place at the European Central Bank. Specifically, Jens and David talk about the ECB’s recent commitment to a gradual process of monetary tightening, the prospect and limitations of market neutrality in setting monetary policy, the rise of technocratic Keynesianism and questions surrounding the political legitimacy of the ECB’s recent policy decisions, as well as the politics surrounding the ECB’s approach to government debt.   Take our listener survey here.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Jens’s Twitter: @jvklooster Jens’s website: https://jensvantklooster.com/   Related Links:   *The Myth of Market Neutrality: A Comparative Study of the European Central Bank’s and the Swiss National Bank’s Corporate Security Purchases* by Jens van ’t Klooster and Clément Fontan htt

Colin Grabow is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies, and he joins Macro Musings to talk about US trade policies, the Jones Act, and the consequences of this harmful maritime statute. Specifically, David and Colin also discuss the counterfactual world of TPP, the future of international trade, and how to fix the myriad of problems caused by the Jones Act.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Colin’s Twitter: @cpgrabow Colin’s Cato Institute profile: https://www.cato.org/people/colin-grabow   Related Links:   Cato’s Project on Jones Act Reform: https://www.cato.org/project-jones-act-reform   *The Jones Act: A Burden America Can No Longer Bear* by Colin Grabow, Inu Manak, and Daniel Ikenson https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/jones-act-burden-america-can-no-longer-bear   *Rust Buckets: How the Jones Act Undermines U.S. Shipbuilding and National Security* by Colin Grabow https://www.cato.org/policy

Nick Timiraos is a Chief Economics Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and rejoins Macro Musings to discuss his new book titled, *Trillion Dollar Triage: How Jay Powell and the Fed Battled the President and a Pandemic and Prevented Economic Disaster.* Specifically, David and Nick discuss Jay Powell’s background and early career in law and finance, his unique path to being nominated as Fed Chair, how Powell’s character has aided him in his eventful tenure as Fed Chair, how he was uniquely suited to usher in the change to the Fed’s operating framework, and much more.   Check out the Conversations with Tyler episode featuring David Rubenstein.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Nick’s Twitter: @NickTimiraos Nick’s Wall Street Journal profile: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/nick-timiraos   Related Links:   Check out the Conversations with Tyler episode featuring David Rubenstein: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/david-rubenstein/

Joey Politano is an economist and a commentator who writes and publishes on a Substack newsletter named, “Apricitas Economics,” where he covers a wide range of subjects on a number of economic topics. Joey joins Macro Musings to talk about inflation, monetary policy, and the issues surround them. Specifically, David and Joey discuss the outlook for services and durable goods inflation, the indicators of tightening financial conditions, lessons learned from monetary policy over the past decade, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Joey’s Twitter: @JosephPolitano Joey’s Substack: https://apricitas.substack.com/   Related Links:   *Inflation Hits 7.9%, and Things are Likely to Get Worse Before They Get Better* by Joseph Politano https://apricitas.substack.com/p/inflation-hits-79-and-things-are?s=r   *Financial Conditions are Tightening as the Fed Raises Rates* by Joseph Politano https://apricitas.substack.com/p/financial-conditions-are-t

Eric Leeper is a professor of economics at the University of Virginia, an advisor to the Swedish and German central banks and a former Fed economist. Eric has written widely on the links between monetary policy and fiscal policy and joins David on Macro Musings to discuss these links and their implication for the price level. Specifically, Eric and David discuss the relationship between fiscal authorities and monetary authorities as it relates to fiscal dominance and monetary dominance, how the fiscal theory of the price level (FTPL) enhances our understanding of these relationships, how the FTLP can be applied to contemporary economies, what our expectations of fiscal policy should be moving forward, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Eric’s UVA profile: https://economics.virginia.edu/people/profile/eml3jf Eric’s NBER archive: https://www.nber.org/people/eric_leeper?page=1&perPage=50   Related Links:   *Some Unpleasant Monet

Alex Nowrasteh is the director of Economic and Social Policy Studies at the Cato Institute where he writes widely on US immigration policy. He also has several books on the topic, including his recently co-authored book, *Wretched Refuse? The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions.* Alex joins Macro Musings to talk about immigration in the United States and its implications for economic growth and policy. Specifically, David and Alex also discuss the current trends in population growth and immigration, the consequences of falling birthrates, Alex’s rebuttals to the most common arguments against immigration, and more.   Check out Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com, and subscribe to Conversations with Tyler on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Alex’s Twitter: @AlexNowrasteh Alex’s Cato profile: https://www.cato.org/people/alex-nowrasteh   Related Links:   *Wretched Refuse? The Polit

Kaleb Nygaard is a senior research associate at the Yale Program on Financial Stability and runs the website Centralverse, a place where all things central banking are made clear. Kaleb is also a former Chicago Fed staffer. Kaleb joins David on Macro Musings to discuss the governance and institutional details of the Federal Reserve System. Specifically, Kaleb and David get into President Biden’s nominations to the Fed Board of Governors, the nomination process at the Fed, what is driving the short tenures of Fed Governors in recent years, how regional bank presidents get elected, how social media has impacted the problem of groupthink at the Fed, and much more.   Check out Ideas of India: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/tag/ideas-of-india-podcast/, and subscribe to Ideas of India on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Kaleb’s Twitter: @KalebNygaard Kaleb’s website: https://kalebnygaard.com/   Related Links:   *Restor

Bill Nelson is a chief economist and an executive vice president at the Bank Policy Institute. Bill was previously a deputy director of the Division of Monetary Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board, where his responsibilities included monetary policy analysis, discount window policy analysis, and the analysis and financial institution supervision. He also worked closely with the BIS working groups on the design of liquidity regulations. Bill is also a previous guest of the podcast, are rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the outlook for US monetary policy, the future of the Fed’s balance sheet, and its implications for the Fed’s operating system and bank regulations. David and Bill also discuss the Fed’s response to current macroeconomic events, the stigma surround the standing repo facility, and how to think about exogenous risks to the US banking system.    Check out Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com, and subscribe to Conversations with Tyler on your favorite podcast app.   Transc

Matthew Klein is the author of The Overshoot, a newsletter that helps readers make sense of the global economy. Matthew also closely follows Eastern Europe and Russia, has written on the economics of the Russian-Ukraine War, and is a returning guest to the podcast. Matthew rejoins David on Macro Musings to discuss this conflict and its broader economic implications. Specifically, Matthew and David discuss the historical context dating back to the Soviet Union and leading up to this conflict, how Russia’s economy has been historically linked to Ukraine’s, the consequences of Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuel exports, and the implications of global sanctions against Russia for dollar dominance, globalization, and inflation.   Check out Ideas of India: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/tag/ideas-of-india-podcast/, and subscribe to Ideas of India on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Matthew’s Twitter: @M_C_Klein M

Emily Hamilton is a senior research fellow and director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Emily’s research focuses on urban economics and land use policy, and she joins Macro Musings to talk about housing in the United States. Specifically, David and Emily discuss many of the issues present within the American housing market, why we should care about rampant housing shortages, and the most effective avenues we can pursue for largescale reform.   Check out Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com, and subscribe to Conversations with Tyler on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Emily’s Twitter: @ebwhamilton Emily’s Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/emily-hamilton   Related Links:   *Light Touch Density: A Series of Policy Briefs on Zoning, Land Use, and a Solution to Help Alleviate the Nation’s Housing Shortage* by Edward Pinto, Tobias Peter,

William Diamond is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Will joins David on Macro Musings to discuss safe assets, convenience yields, bubbles and public debt and the implications for policy. Specifically, David and Will get into competing theories of interest rates and the rise of New Keynesian thinking, the role of the dollar in the global financial system, the drivers behind the growth in US debt, how the construction of risk-free interest rates unaffected by convenience yields on safe assets can improve our understanding of the financial system in times of stress, and much more.   Check out Ideas of India: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/tag/ideas-of-india-podcast/, and subscribe to Ideas of India on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Will’s Twitter: @wdiamond_econ Will’s Wharton profile: https://fnce.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/diamondw/#research  

Amanda Rose is a professor at Vanderbilt Law School where she works as a scholar on securities law and the institutional design of the regulatory regimes enforcing those laws. Amanda joins Macro Musings to talk about the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), its work and role in promoting financial stability, and her research on the SEC. Amanda and David specifically discuss the politics, governance, and politicization of the SEC, the mission of the agency, and the major issues that it must face moving forward.   Check out Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com, and subscribe to Conversations with Tyler on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings Amanda’s Vanderbilt Law profile: https://law.vanderbilt.edu/bio/amanda-rose   Related Links:   *Calculating SEC Whistleblower Awards: A Theoretical Approach* by Amanda Rose https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2143&context=

Dan Alpert is an investment banker and a founding Managing Partner of Westwood Capital. He also regularly writes and speaks on big macro-structural issues. Dan joins David on Macro Musings to discuss recent macroeconomic events. Specifically, Dan and David discuss a post-Keynesian account of the global safe asset shortage, the impact of the US policy response to COVID-19, whether inflation will remain a problem heading into 2022, what’s driving the ‘Great Resignation’, whether capital assets are overvalued, and much more.   Check out Ideas of India: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/tag/ideas-of-india-podcast/, and subscribe to Ideas of India on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Dan’s Twitter: @DanielAlpert Dan’s Westwood Capital profile: http://www.westwoodcapital.com/ourpeople/daniel-alpert/   Related Links:   *The Age of Oversupply: Overcoming the Greatest Challenge to the Global Economy* by Dan Alpert https://ww

Lubos Pastor is a professor of finance, and Elisabeth Kempf is an associate professor of finance, both at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. They join David on Macro Musings to talk about their recent paper, *Fifty Shades of QE: Comparing Findings of Central Bankers and Academics*. Lubos, Elisabeth, and David specifically discuss the scope, design, and findings of their study, the theory behind QE’s impact on output and inflation, the career implications of QE research, and more.   Check out Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com, and subscribe to Conversations with Tyler on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Lubos’s University of Chicago profile: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/directory/p/lubos-pastor Lubos’s NBER archive: https://www.nber.org/people/lubos_pastor?page=1&perPage=50   Elisabeth’s University of Chicago Profile: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/direc

George Selgin is a senior fellow and director emeritus of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute and is also a long-time returning guest of Macro Musings. In this bonus segment from the previous conversation, George rejoins the podcast to talk about the Fed’s near-term plans to shrink its balance sheet, the impact of the standing repo facility on demand for reserves, the potential benefits of returning to a corridor operating system, and more.     Check out Ideas of India: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/tag/ideas-of-india-podcast/ Subscribe to Ideas of India on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato Institute profile: https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin   Related Links:   *Floored!* by George Selgin https://www.cato.org/working-paper/floored   *The Menace of Fiscal QE* by George Selgin https://www.cato.org/books/menace-fiscal-qe   *C

George Selgin is a senior fellow and director emeritus of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute and is also a long-time returning guest of Macro Musings. He rejoins the podcast to talk about central bank digital currency, stablecoins, and the future of the Fed’s balance sheet and operating system. Specifically, David and George also discuss the challenges presented by CBDC and Fed accounts, how they could create financial instability, George’s proposal for wholesale CBDC, and more.   Check out Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com, and subscribe to Conversations with Tyler on your favorite podcast app.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato Institute profile: https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin   Related Links:   *Central Bank Digital Currency as a Potential Source of Financial Instability* by George Selgin https://www.cato.org/cato-journa

Henry Curr is the economics editor for the Economist Magazine and a returning guest to the show. Henry has a new working paper out titled, “Money Printers Go Grrrr: Three Myths and Three Uncomfortable Truths about Quantitative Easing.” Henry joins Macro Musings to discuss these three myths and uncomfortable truths about QE. Specifically, David and Henry discuss the continued relevance of quantitative easing as a policy tool, QE’s relationship to financial markets and its effect on the banking sector, whether we can estimate the magnitude of its effect on interest rates, whether QE necessarily boosts the monetary base, and much more.   Check out Ideas of India, another Mercatus original podcast: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/tag/ideas-of-india-podcast/   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Henry’s Twitter: @Henry_Curr Henry’s Economist profile: https://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/henry-curr/ Henry’s website: http://www.henrycurr.com/  

Lorie Logan is an executive vice president in the Markets Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In that role, she’s the manager of the System Open Market Account (SOMA), for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), and she is also the head of the market operations, monitoring, and analysis. Lorie joins Macro Musings to talk about the operations side of monetary policy and her work at the New York Fed. Specifically, David and Lorie discuss the “dash for cash” during the March 2020 Treasury market crisis, the Fed’s new standing repo facility, the future of the central bank’s balance sheet, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Lorie’s New York Fed profile: https://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/orgchart/logan Lorie’s Fed in Print archive: https://fedinprint.org/search?facets[]=authors_literal_array:Logan%2C+Lorie   Related Links:   *Monetary Policy Implementation: Adapting to a New Environment* by Lorie Logan https://www.newyork

Paul Krugman is a Nobel Laureate in economics, a columnist at The New York Times, and a Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He rejoins David on Macro Musings to discuss the great inflation surge of 2021 and its implications for policy. Specifically, David and Paul discuss the state of public opinion surrounding inflation, whether the level of aggregate demand or its composition is the more important driver, what the state of the economy would be if the Fed had more aggressively countered inflation, whether the Fed squeeze is the appropriate response, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Paul’s Twitter: @paulkrugman Paul’s NYT profile: https://www.nytimes.com/column/paul-krugman   Related Links:   *The Year of Inflation Infamy* by Paul Krugman https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/opinion/inflation-economy-2021.html   *It's Baaack: Japan's Slump and the Return of the Liquidit

In this special end-of-the-year episode of Macro Musings, David Beckworth joins guest host David Andolfatto of the St. Louis Fed to discuss a wide range of macroeconomic topics, including podcast highlights from the whole of 2021. More specifically, both Davids talk about the similarities and differences between average inflation targeting and NGDP targeting, the recent inflation puzzles that have plagued the macroeconomy, David’s safe asset theory of inflation, and more.   Want to support the show? Visit donate.mercatus.org/podcasts   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth David Beckworth’s blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ David Beckworth’s Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/david-beckworth   David Andolfatto’s Twitter: @dandolfa David Andolfatto’s St. Louis Fed profile: https://www.stlouisfed.org/about-us/leadership-governance/bank-officers/executive-bios/david-andolfatto   R