Macro Musings

Mike Bird is a Hong Kong based reporter for the Wall Street Journal covering financial markets across Asia, and he previously worked in the Journal’s London bureau. Mike is also a returning guest to Macro Musings, and he joins the show today to talk about some recent developments in the Asian economies. More specifically, David and Mike discuss Japan’s activist monetary policy, yield curve control, and recent events within the Chinese economy.   Transcript for the episode: (coming soon)   Mike’s Twitter: @birdyword Mike’s Wall Street Journal profile: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/mike-bird   Related Links:   *Japan Is Giving Up on Activist Monetary Policy* by Mike Bird https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-is-giving-up-on-activist-monetary-policy-11556271835   *The Fed Would Struggle to Match Japan’s Bond Market Control* by Mike Bird https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fed-would-struggle-to-match-japans-bond-market-control-11557480894   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckwo

Robert Samuelson is an economics columnist for the Washington Post and spent several decades working at Newsweek, where he wrote on various economic topics. Robert is the author of several books, including *The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement* and *The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence*. He joins the show today to talk about the latter and its implications for today. David and Robert go in-depth about the Great Inflation, as they discuss the disagreement within macroeconomics during the 60s and 70s, the history and significance of the period, and how Ronald Reagan and Paul Volcker sought to end the inflation.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/05282019/great-inflation-its-history-and-its-legacy   Robert’s Washington Post profile & bio: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/robert-j-samuelson/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6e300b47761d   Related Links:   *The Great Inflation and Its Aft

Dylan Matthews is a senior correspondent with Vox where he covers a wide array of topics including immigration policy, universal basic income, education policy, effective altruism, animal welfare, and global development. Dylan is one of Vox’s original founders and he has also previously worked for Wonkblog at the Washington Post.  He joins the show today to discuss one of his most recent articles on business cycles, titled *The Government Failed to Stop the Last Recession. It Can Prevent the Next One*, as well as some of his other work on the subject. David and Dylan also discuss recessions at length, exploring what we know about them, why we should worry about them, and outlining 9 potential policy options to help prevent recessions in the future.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/05202019/nine-ways-prevent-future-recessions   Dylan’s Twitter: @dylanmatt Dylan’s Vox profile: https://www.vox.com/authors/dylan   Related Links:   *Why I Gave My Kidney to a Stranger – and Why

Robert Graboyes is a senior research fellow and health economist at the Mercatus Center and has formerly worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Chase Manhattan Bank. Robert joins the show today to talk about monetary history and specifically the history of small coins. David and Robert also discuss a number of different coins and the history surrounding them, ranging from civil war tokens to early Roman currencies.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/05132019/robert-graboyes-monetary-history-small-coins   Robert’s Twitter: @Robert_Graboyes Robert’s Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/robert-graboyes   Related Links:   *Anticipations of the General Theory?* by Don Patinkin https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo5964857.html   *Notre-Dame and the Myth of Timelessness* By Robert Graboyes https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/commentary/notre-dame-and-myth-timelessness   Coins discussed during the interview:   20th century token from Kopper’s S

David Andolfatto is a vice president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank and is published widely in the field of monetary economics. He also blogs at MacroMania, and has recently published on issues such as the zero lower bound, the symmetry of the Fed’s inflation target, a new standing repo facility, and MMT. David is a returning guest to Macro Musings, and he joins the show today to talk about these issues.  David and David also discuss the safe asset shortage, average and flexible inflation targeting, and the legal, political, and economic restraint surrounding negative interest rates.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/05062019/safe-assets-symmetric-inflation-and-mmt   David Andolfatto’s Twitter: @dandolfa David Andolfatto’s blog: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/   Related Links:   *Is Low Inflation Really a Mystery?* by David Beckworth https://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/2019/04/is-low-inflation-really-mystery.html   *Why the Fed Should Create a Standing Repo Fac

Alexandra Scaggs is a senior writer at Barron’s covering financial markets with a special emphasis on bond markets, and she previously wrote news and commentary for the Financial Times and for Bloomberg. Alexandra joins the show today to talk about the current state of bond markets and what it means for the economy. David and Alexandra also discuss corporate debt, the inversion of the treasury yield curve, and the lasting impact of the modern monetary theory debate.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/04292019/bond-markets-and-macroeconomics   Alexandra’s Twitter: @alexandrascaggs Alexandra’s Barron’s profile: https://www.barrons.com/authors/8576   Related Links:   *Negative-Yielding Bonds Top $9 Trillion as Growth Worries Return* by Adam Haigh https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-14/negative-yielding-bonds-top-9-trillion-as-growth-worries-return   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

Andrew Park is a senior editor at S&P LCD and is one of the foremost experts on collateralized loan obligations and the leverage loan market. Andrew also writes daily on what’s going on in the collateralized loan obligations (CLO) market and his data is the basis for most of the reporting on this topic in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and by many policymakers. He joins the show today to talk about CLOs and their implications for the financial system and, more generally, the economy. David and Andrew also discuss the leveraged loan market, the differences between CDOs and CLOs, and the Fed’s most recent rate hikes.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/04222019/andrew-park-loans-financial-system-and-economy   Andrew’s Twitter: @apark_ Andrew’s Forbes profile & archive: https://www.forbes.com/sites/spleverage/people/andrewparksp/#18bc9eb1102d   Related Links:   *Wall Street’s Billionaire Machine, Where Almost Everyone Gets Rich* by Tom Metcalf, Tom Maloney,

Eric Lonergan is macro hedge fund manager, and economist, and a writer. He has written for Foreign Affairs, the Financial Times, and has authored the book *Money (The Art of Living)*. More recently, Eric has also co-authored a new book called *Angrynomics*. He joins the show today to talk about how to improve policymakers’ responses to recessions. David and Eric also discuss helicopter drops, dual interest rates, and how governments can make monetary policy more direct.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/04152019/how-respond-recessions   Eric’s Twitter: @ericlonners Eric’s blog: https://www.philosophyofmoney.net/blog/   Related Links:   *Money: The Art of Living* by Eric Lonergan https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/money/486535FC2BE6ADB342A82A668584AE71   *Fixing the Euro Zone and Reducing Inequality, Without Fleecing the Rich* by Eric Lonergan and Mark Blyth https://hbr.org/2015/01/fixing-the-euro-zone-and-reducing-inequality-without-fleecing-the-rich   David’s blog: ma

Yair Listokin is a professor of law at Yale Law School and is the author of a new book titled, *Law and Macroeconomics*. He joins the show today to talk about the book as well as some of his new work. David and Yair also discuss sovereign wealth funds, the legal limits of central banks, and how to expand fiscal policy while making it more effective.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/04082019/law-and-macroeconomics   Yair’s Yale Law School profile: https://law.yale.edu/yair-listokin   Related Links:   *Law and Macroeconomics: Legal Remedies to Recessions* by Yair Listokin http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674976054   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

Bryan Cutsinger is an economist affiliated with Angelo State as well as Texas Tech University and recently published an article titled *Seigniorage in the Civil War South*. He joins the show today to talk about this article, the monetary history of the Civil War, and the economics of Seigniorage. David and Bryan also discuss how both the North and the South financed the war and why the South made some counterintuitive decisions in how they conducted monetary policy.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/03292019/civil-war-and-economics-seigniorage   Bryan’s website: https://www.bryancutsinger.com/ Bryan’s George Mason profile: https://economics.gmu.edu/people/bcutsing   Related Links:   *Seigniorage in the Civil War South* by Bryan Cutsinger and Joshua Ingber https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014498318300470   *The Gold Standard as a Rule: An Essay in Exploration* by Michael Bordo and Finn Kydland https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0

Paul Tucker is a 33-year veteran of the Bank of England where he served as both a member and deputy governor of the Monetary Policy Committee.  Currently, Paul is a senior fellow at Harvard and a chair at the Systemic Risk Council. He has also recently authored a book, *Unelected Power: The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State* and joins the show today to discuss talk about it. David and Paul also discuss central bank independence and justifications for the existence of a regulatory state as well as Paul’s “principles for delegation” criteria.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/03252019/paul-tucker-central-bank-independence-and-unelected-power   Paul’s website: http://paultucker.me/ Paul’s Harvard University profile: https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/people/001970-paul-tucker   Related Links:   *Unelected Power: The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State* by Paul Tucker https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11240.html   David’s b

James Broughel is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and an adjunct professor of law at George Mason University Law School. James specializes in state and federal regulatory procedures, cost-benefit analysis, and economic growth. He joins the show today to talk about a recent symposium he hosted on the social discount rate; what it is, its uses, and the controversy surrounding how to measure it. David and James also discuss cost-benefit analysis in the regulatory world and why the social discount rate matters for policy.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/03182019/discounting-future   James’ Twitter: @JamesBroughel James’ Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/james-broughel   Related Links:   *The Social Rate of Time Preference and the Social Discount Rate* by Mark Moore and Adam Vining https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/moore_and_vining_-_mercatus_research_-_a_social_rate_of_time_preference_approach_to_social_discount_rate_-_v1.pdf   *The Appropriate

Ryan Avent is an economics columnist with The Economist magazine and is a previous guest of Macro Musings. He joins the show today to talk about some of his recent columns including work on hyperinflation, the Green New Deal, and Fed policy. David and Ryan also discuss the growing popularity of Modern Monetary Theory, the Fed’s dovish change in direction, and why hyperinflation is so devastating to a nation’s economy.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/03112019/hyperinflation-and-mmt   Ryan’s Twitter: @ryanavent Ryan’s Economist profile: http://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/ryan-avent/   Related Links:   *Hyperinflations Can End Quickly, Given the Right Sort of Regime Change* by Ryan Avent https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/01/31/hyperinflations-can-end-quickly-given-the-right-sort-of-regime-change   *Taking the Fed at its Word: Direct Estimation of Central Bank Objectives using Text Analytics* by Adam Shapiro & Daniel Wilson https://www.frbsf.o

Michael Strain is the director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Previously, Michael worked in the Center for Economic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau and in the Macroeconomics Research Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He joins the show today to talk about recent developments in U.S. economic policy and some of his work on that topic. David and Michael also discuss the consequences of rising populism, MMT’s impact on tax policy, and the issues Americans should be most worried about.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/03042019/populism-mmt-and-billionaires   Michael’s Twitter: @MichaelRStrain Michael’s AEI profile: https://www.aei.org/scholar/michael-r-strain/   Related Links:   *Economic Shocks and Clinging* by Michael Strain and Stan Veuger https://ideas.repec.org/p/aei/rpaper/1004842.html   *Wealth Inequality in the United States Since 1913: Evidence from Capitalized Income Tax Data* by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman https:

George Selgin is the director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia, and a returning guest to show.  For this special live episode, George joins Macro Musings to talk about his new book, *Floored: How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession.* David and George also discuss the liquidity coverage ratio, the Fed’s transition from a corridor to a floor system, and the arguments for and against such an operating system.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/02252019/floors-and-corridors   George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato Institute profile: https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin   Related Links:   *The Fed Marches On* by George Selgin https://www.alt-m.org/2019/01/31/the-fed-marches-on/   *Balance Sheet News* blog post by Stephen Williamson http://newmonetarism.blogspot.com/2019/02/balance-sheet-news_21.html   David Beckworth’s Twitter thread

Peter Stella is the managing director of Stellar Consulting and was formerly an IMF official where he led the central banking and monetary and foreign exchange divisions. Peter has researched and written extensively on safe assets, collateral, and central banking operations, and he joins the show today to discuss this work.  David and Peter also discuss the Fed’s large scale asset purchases, money and payment systems in advanced economies, and why the U.S. Treasury should start issuing bills to the Fed.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/02182019/peter-stella-debt-safe-assets-and-central-bank-operations   Peter’s Voxeu profile: https://voxeu.org/users/peterstella0 Peter’s Research Gate archive: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Stella   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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

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 Feder

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://idiosy

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 Mexic