Macro Musings

Kate Judge is a professor of law at Columbia Law School and the editor of the Journal of Financial Regulation, and Peter Conti-Brown is an associate professor of financial regulation and the co-director of the Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation at the University of Pennsylvania. Both are also returning guests to the podcast, and they rejoin Macro Musings to talk about the banking panic of 2023 and the lessons learned so far. Specifically, Kate, Peter, and David discuss how the scene was set for this recent banking crisis, the quality of the policy response, how to reform the banking system moving forward, and a lot more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Kate’s Twitter: @ProfKateJudge Kate’s Columbia Law profile   Peter’s Twitter: @PeterContiBrown Peter’s UPenn profile   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!  

Brian Riedl is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute where he focuses on budget, tax, and economic policy issues. Previously, he worked for six years as chief economist for Senator Rob Portman of Ohio and as staff director of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth. He also served as director of budget and spending for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign and was the lead architect of the 10-year deficit reduction plan for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. Brian joins Macro Musings to talk about the outlook of US public finance and the tough choices ahead. Specifically, David and Brian also discuss the surging US debt to GDP ratio, the shortfalls of Republican and Democratic plans for budget reform, Brian’s preferable policy path forward, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Brian’s Twitter: @Brian_Riedl Brian’s Manhattan Institute profile   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for

Steven Kelly is a senior research associate at the Yale Program on Financial Stability and is a previous guest of the podcast. Steven rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the recent bank collapses at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature, the government response, and what this means for financial stability policy in the present and future. David and Steven also discuss the role that interest rate risk and macro policy played in SVB’s failure, the debate over the systemic nature of this crisis, the implementation and use of the Bank Term Funding Program, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Steven’s Twitter: @StevenKelly49 Steven’s Substack: Without Warning   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   Steven Kelly Twitter thread on SVB   Daniela Gabor Twitter thread on SVB   *Was This a Bailout? Skeptics Des

Derek Tang is the CEO and co-founder of LH Meyer, and is part of the research team based in Washington, D.C. where he forecasts Fed policy developments, provides bespoke policy analysis to institutional investors, and also closely monitors and forecasts the Fed’s balance sheet. Derek joins David on Macro Musings to talk about Fed policy, Fed politics, and what to expect in 2023 and 2024. Specifically, David and Derek discuss numerous personnel changes at the Fed, the future of the central bank’s balance sheet, the upcoming Congressional agenda for the Fed, what the next framework review has in store, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Derek’s Twitter: @macroderek Derek’s LH Meyer bio   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *The Federal Reserve’s Current Framework for Monetary Policy: A Review and Asse

Joey Politano is an economist and commentator who writes regularly on his Substack newsletter titled, Apricitas Economics. Joey is also a previous guest of the podcast, and he rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the state of the US economy, inflation, Fed policy, and much more. Specifically, David and Joey discuss the results of the Fed’s ongoing rate hikes, the narrative that higher rates may lead to higher inflation, conducting monetary policy in a supply constrained economy, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Joey’s Twitter: @JosephPolitano Joey’s Substack: Apricitas Economics   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *America’s 2022 Slowdown* by Joey Politano   *The US Labor Market Was Stronger Than We Thought* by Joey Politano

Peter Conti-Brown is an associate professor of financial regulation and legal studies at the University of Pennsylvania and is a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution. Peter is also a returning guest to Macro Musings, and rejoins the podcast to talk about some of the big legal and regulatory issues facing the financial and monetary policy space today. Specifically, David and Peter discuss the debt ceiling crisis, Fed master accounts, the current state of cryptocurrency, the implications of the Federal Reserve Accountability Act, and the most significant court cases facing the central bank today.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Peter’s Twitter: @PeterContiBrown Peter’s UPenn profile The Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation’s website   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *The Conti

David Wilcox is a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and is the Director of Economic Research at Bloomberg Economics. Previously, David served for many years on the staff of the Federal Reserve Board, as deputy director from 2001 to 2011 and as director from 2011 to 2018 of the Division of Research and Statistics. In the latter role, he functioned as the chief economist of the division, a senior advisor to three successive chairs of the board, and the division leader for strategic direction as well as chief manager. David joins Macro Musings to talk about a recent article he wrote titled, *The Cost of the US Going Over the Fiscal Cliff is Trauma, Then Unending Pain.* David and David also discuss the debt ceiling issue more broadly, including the severity and timing of a technical default, the two big economic shocks that would result from a default, the possible solutions to pursue in the face of the this debacle, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be foun

Julie Hill is a professor of law at the University of Alabama’s School of Law and she specializes in the study of the regulation of financial institutions. Julie also has a new paper out titled, *Opening a Federal Reserve Account,* and she joins Macro Musings to talk about the history and recent developments surrounding Fed master accounts. David and Julie also discuss the legal basis for these accounts and the numerous case studies surrounding them, including the Narrow Bank, Reserve Trust, Custodia, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Julie’s Twitter: @ProfJulieHill Julie’s Alabama Law profile   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *Opening a Federal Reserve Account* by Julie Hill

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 recent developments in the monetary and fiscal policy space. Specifically, David and George discuss new narratives around shadow banking and the financial crisis, the fiscal cost of large central bank balance sheets, the return of secular stagnation, and a lot more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato profile   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *A Monetary Policy Primer: Parts 1-12* by George Selgin   *Why Shadow Banking Didn’t Cause the Financial Crisis* by Norbert Michel   *The Federal Reserve’s Balance Sheet: Costs to Taxpayers of Quantitative Ea

Michael Strain is the Director of Economic Policy Studies and the Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute and is a returning guest to Macro Musings. Michael rejoins the podcast to talk about the looming debt ceiling crisis and his recent article on the issue titled, *Averting a Debt-Ceiling Disaster.* David and Michael specifically discuss the background, history and recent events leading up to the current crisis, how to impose fiscal discipline in a low interest rate world, solutions the US government could pursue, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Michael’s Twitter: @MichaelRStrain Michael’s website Michael’s AEI profile   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *Averting a Debt-Ceiling Disaster* by Michael Strain     *House Republicans Prepare Emergency Plan for Brea

John Roberts is a 36-year veteran of the Federal Reserve Board and mostly recently was the Deputy Associate Director in the Division of Research and Statistics, overseeing the board’s domestic macroeconomic modeling efforts. From 2017-2019, John also served as a special advisor to Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard, where his responsibilities includes preparation of speeches, providing advice on monetary policy, macroeconomic forecasting, and regulatory attending FOMC meetings. John joins Macro Musings to talk about his time at the Fed, macroeconomic modeling at the institution, his work on the zero lower bound, and current Fed policy. Specifically, David and John also discuss the art of interpreting the Fed’s Summary of Economic Projections, the future of modeling for policymakers at the Fed, the state of FAIT at the central bank, and a lot more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   John’s blog John’s paper archive   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Cl

Paul Tucker is a 33-year veteran of the Bank of England, where among other positions, he served as both a member and deputy governor of the Monetary Policy Committee. Currently, Paul is a research fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard. He is also a returning guest to the podcast, and rejoins Macro Musings to talk about his new book, *Global Discord: Values and Power in a Fractured World.* Specifically, David and Paul also discuss China’s push for reserve currency status, how to sell international legitimacy to the general public, the geopolitical advantage of trade deals, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Paul’s Harvard profile Paul’s website   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *Global Discord: Values and Power in a Fractured World Order* by Paul Tucker   *Unele

Victoria Guida is an economics reporter for Politico where she covers monetary policy and financial regulatory policy. Victoria is also a returning guest to Macro Musings, and she rejoins the podcast to talk about the big developments at the Fed and in the financial regulatory policy space in 2022 and what we can expect in 2023. Specifically, David and Victoria discuss personnel changes and trading scandals at the Fed, the debate surrounding Fed Master Accounts, how to improve the liquidity of the Treasury market, and a lot more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Victoria’s Politico profile Victoria’s Twitter: @vtg2   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *Victoria Guida on the Politics of Monetary Policy* by the Macro Musings podcast

Martin Chorzempa is a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics and is the author of a new book titled, *The Cashless Revolution: China’s Reinvention of Money and the End of America’s Domination of Finance and Technology.* Martin joins Macro Musings to talk about this book as well as the history of Chinese fintech development, the basics of super apps in China, challenges to the Chinese fintech revolution, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Martin’s PIIE profile Martin’s Twitter: @ChorzempaMartin   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *The Cashless Revolution: China’s Reinvention of Money and the End of America’s Domination of Finance and Technology* by Martin Chorzempa   *Letter From Apple Supplier Foxconn’s Founder Prodded China to Ease Zero-Covid Rules* by Keith Zhai and Yang J

For this special end of the year edition of Macro Musings, Heather Long, Ryan Avent, and Cardiff Garcia rejoin the podcast to reflect on the biggest economic surprises and stories of the past few years, while giving their outlook and predictions for the future. Heather Long is an editorial writer and columnist for the Washington Post, Ryan Avent is the trade and international economic editor for the Economist Magazine, and Cardiff Garcia is a veteran journalist for the Financial Times and NPR as well as the host of the New Bazaar podcast and the co-founder of Bazaar Audio. Specifically, this returning panel of guests discuss the major economic themes throughout the pandemic, the most overrated and underreported stories that have dominated the headlines over the past few years, what issues are primed for prominence within the next decade, and a lot more.     Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Support the podcast by making a donation during this holiday season!   Heather’s Washington Post profile

Tomas Hirst is a macro analyst in the Strategy and Allocation division at LMI and formerly worked at Credit Sights, an independent fixed income research company, where he led the European strategy team covering Euro and sterling credit markets. Prior to that, he also worked at Bloomberg and the World Economic Forum in Geneva. Tomas joins David on Macro Musings to talk about the Eurozone economy, the ECB, and the future of the Euro project. Specifically, David and Tomas discuss the macroeconomic state of post-pandemic Europe, the rationale behind the ECB’s rate hikes, the inflation expectations conundrum within the Eurozone, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Support the podcast by making a donation during this holiday season!   Tomas’s blog Tomas’s Twitter: @tomashirstecon   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:

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 the podcast, and he rejoins Macro Musings to take a look back on the past few years and to discuss his new paper on excess unemployment over the past 25 years. Specifically, David and Joe also discuss the movement of the natural rate of unemployment over time, alternative explanations for the flattening of the Phillips curve, policy implications for the Fed moving forward, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Support the podcast by making a donation during this holiday season!   Joe’s PIIE profile Joe’s Twitter: @GagnonMacro   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *25 Years of Excess Unemployment in Advanced Economies: Les

Noah Smith is a former columnist for Bloomberg and is now a popular writer at his own Noahpinion Substack. In this bonus segment from the previous conversation, Noah rejoins the podcast to talk about the nuts and bolts of macroeconomic modeling. Specifically, David and Noah discuss why macroeconomics is still in its infancy, how we can improve macro modeling moving forward, how to spot “nutty” macroeconomic theories, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Noah’s Substack: Noahpinion Noah’s Bloomberg archive Noah’s Twitter: @Noahpinion    David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *Macroeconomics is Still in Its Infancy* by Noah Smith   *Nutty Macroeconomic Theories Will Ruin Your Country’s Economy* by Noah Smith

Noah Smith is a former columnist for Bloomberg and is now a popular writer at his own Noahpinion Substack. Noah is also a returning guest to the podcast, and rejoins Macro Musings for a wide ranging discussion on some of the recent issues he’s been covering on his Substack, including China, social change in the US, recent macro developments, and much more. Noah and David also discuss the façade of Xi Jinping’s leadership, the elite overproduction hypothesis, how Fukuyama’s *End of History* thesis can be applied today, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Noah’s Substack: Noahpinion Noah’s Bloomberg archive Noah’s Twitter: @Noahpinion   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here, and use the promo code NGDP for 10% off!   Related Links:   *The Elite Overproduction Hypothesis* by Noah Smith   *Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China* b

Hugh Rockoff is a professor of economics at Rutgers University and has done extensive work in U.S. monetary history. He joins the show to discuss the criteria for an ideal monetary union and argues that the U.S. didn’t really become an optimal currency area until the 1930s. David and Hugh then discuss whether a present-day example, the Eurozone, fits these criteria. They also talk about interesting chapters in U.S. monetary history, including the Civil War, the Free Banking Era, and the bimetallism debate of the late 1800s.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   Check out our new Macro Musings merch here, and use the promo code NGDP for 10% off!   Hugh’s Rutgers profile   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox!   Related Links:    *History of the American Economy* by Hugh Rockoff and Gary Walton   *How Long Did It Take the United States to Become an Optimal Currency Area?* by Hugh Rockoff