Macro Musings

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-r

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/   Related Links:    Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/01072019/micro-foundations-macro-questions(link forthcoming)   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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-wa

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

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/293

 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, a

Victoria Guida is a reporter for Politico where she covers monetary policy and financial regulation, including extensive coverage of the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the Treasury Department, and Congress. She joins the show today to talk about some of the big developments in monetary policy and financial regulation over the past few years and what kind of policy changes may be on the horizon. David and Victoria also discuss the Financial CHOICE Act, the accomplishments and failures of the current lame duck Congress, and what to expect from the new appointees at the Fed.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/12032018/victoria-guida-politics-monetary-policy   Victoria’s Twitter: @vtg2 Victoria’s Politico profile: https://www.politico.com/staff/victoria-guida   Related Links:   *Big Banks, Feeling Unloved in Trump’s Washington, Shake Up Lobbying* by Zachary Warmbrodt https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/09/banks-lobbying-donald-trump-669706   *A Bank’s Activities, Not Its Assets

Neil Irwin is a senior economics correspondent for the New York Times and was formerly a columnist at the Washington Post. He is the author of the book, *The Alchemist: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire*, and he joins the show today to talk about his work as an economics correspondent. David and Neil also discuss the invisible recession of 2016, how monopsony power affects labor market wage setting, and the political fallout from the Great Recession.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/11262018/economic-journalism-recession-economics-and-international-monetary-policies   Neil’s Twitter: @Neil_Irwin Neil’s New York Times profile: https://www.nytimes.com/by/neil-irwin   Related Links:   *The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire* by Neil Irwin https://www.amazon.com/Alchemists-Three-Central-Bankers-World/dp/0143124994   *The Policymakers Saved the Financial System. And America Never Forgave Them* by Neil Irwin https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/upshot

Adam Ozimek is a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics where he covers U.S. labor markets and demographics while actively blogging and tweeting about a wide range economic issues. He joins the show today to discuss mistakes in Fed policy and demographics. David and Adam also discuss the role demand played in the Great Recession, the link between population growth and inflation, and why the economy is experiencing weak productivity growth.   Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/11192018/adam-ozimek-inflation-migration-and-productivity   Adam’s Twitter: @ModeledBehavior Adam’s blog: https://www.economy.com/dismal/analysis/datapoints Adam’s website: https://www.adamozimek.com   Related Links:   If you would like access to *The Fed’s Mistake*, you can email Adam at Adam.Ozimek@moodys.com to request the paper.   *Population Growth and Inflation* by Adam Ozimek https://www.economy.com/getlocal?q=a7c139c0-2b8c-4abf-9b65-bd8b11392939&app=eccafile   *Declining Business Dynamism in

This week, Scott Sumner joins David Beckworth at the University of Texas at Austin for the Financial Crisis Symposium: “Ten Years Later: What Does the Data Say?” hosted by the Center for Enterprise and Policy Analytics at the McCombs School of Business. In this special live episode, Scott offers his thoughts on what the data tells us about the 2008 Financial Crisis from a monetary policy perspective. David and Scott also discuss using markets to guide monetary policy, why the Fed should conduct retrospective analyses, why we may want to replicate Australian monetary policy, and more. Transcript to this week's episode   Scott’s Mercatus profile Scott’s blog    Related Links:   *Pause Interest-Rate Hikes to Help the Labor Force Grow* by Neel Kashkari   David’s blog David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth   Audio recording provided by the LAITS Audio Development Studio at the University of Texas at Austin

Mike Derby is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who covers the Federal Reserve. He joins the show today to talk about his coverage of recent developments in the economy and in Fed policy. David and Mike also discuss the future of the Fed’s operating framework, what an inversion of the Treasury yield curve portends, and the normalization of monetary policy after the 2008 Financial Crisis. Mike’s Twitter: @michaelsderby Mike’s Wall Street Journal archive: http://www.wsj.com/news/author/8347 Related Links: * Fed’s Evans: U.S. Economy ‘Firing on All Cylinders’* by Michael Derby https://www.wsj.com/articles/feds-evans-u-s-economy-firing-on-all-cylinders-1536930039 *Derby’s Take: Watch Out, There’s a Fedspeak Storm Coming* by Michael Derby https://www.wsj.com/articles/derbys-take-watch-out-theres-a-fedspeak-storm-coming-1538386200 *Derby’s Take: Fed Rate-Range Settings Could See More Tweaks* by Michael Derby https://www.wsj.com/articles/derbys-take-fed-rate-range-settings-could-see-more-tweaks-1538127000 *Bank

Don Boudreaux is a professor of economics at George Mason University as well as the co-director of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization at the Mercatus Center. He joins the show today to talk about the future of trade and globalization. David and Don also discuss the history of protectionism in the US, President Trump’s trade policies, and why the China Shock thesis may signal bad economics. Don’s blog: https://cafehayek.com/ Don’s Mercatus Profile: https://www.mercatus.org/donald-j-boudreaux Related Links: *Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy* by Doug Irwin https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo24475328.html *Tariffs, Immigration, and Economic Insulation: A New View of the U.S. Post-Civil War Era*by Cecil Bohanon and Norman Van Cott https://www.jstor.org/stable/24562083?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents *The China Shock: Learning from Labor Market Adjustment to Large Changes in Trade* by David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson https://www.nber.org/papers/

Nick Bunker is an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab where he focuses on the U.S. labor market and was previously a senior policy analyst at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, an economics think tank. Nick joins the show today to talk about the U.S. labor market and how the government measures unemployment. David and Nick also discuss the decreasing trend of male participation in the labor force, declining labor mobility, and the importance of a larger public database for labor data. Nick’s Twitter: @nick_bunker Nick’s Indeed profile: https://www.hiringlab.org/author/nbunker/ Related Links: *Labor Force Participation: Recent Developments and Future Prospects* by Stephanie Aaronson et al. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Fall2014BPEA_Aaronson_et_al.pdf *The Long-Term Decline in Prime-Age Male Labor Force Participation* by the Council of Economic Advisers https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/page/files/20160620_cea_primeage_male_lfp.pdf David’s blog: macromarketm

Rob Kaplan is the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Previously, he was a professor and associate dean at Harvard Business School and a vice chairman at Goldman Sachs. Rob joins the show today to talk about his career, the Dallas Fed, and U.S. monetary policy. David and Rob also discuss the inner workings of the FOMC, the future of the Fed’s operating system, and lessons to be learned from the 2008 Financial Crisis. Rob also shares his thoughts on alternative monetary regimes, including nominal GDP targeting. Rob’s Twitter: @RobSKaplan Rob’s Dallas Fed profile: https://www.dallasfed.org/en/fed/bios/kaplan.aspx David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Transcript to this week's episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/commentary/robert-kaplan-fomc-dallas-fed-and-lessons-great-recession

Jared Bernstein is a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and previously served as chief economist and economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden in the Obama Administration. Jared also writes regularly for the Washington Post. David and Jared discuss a wide range of topics including fiscal stimulus, the relationship between fiscal and monetary policy, subsidized employment programs, Trump’s trade agenda, and the direction of economic policy after the 2018 midterm elections. Jared’s Twitter: @econjared Jared’s Washington Post profile: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jared-bernstein/?utm_term=.23a83717b1c3 Related Links: *Populism and the Economics of Globalization* by Dani Rodrik https://drodrik.scholar.harvard.edu/files/dani-rodrik/files/populism_and_the_economics_of_globalization.pdf *Going to Extremes: Politics after Financial Crises, 1870-2014* by Manuel Funke, Moritz Schularick, & Christoph Trebesch https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/1115_eer_slides_sep2016_shor

Will Luther is an assistant professor of economics at Florida Atlantic University and is the director of the Sound Money Project at the American Institute for Economic Research. Will is also an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and is a returning guest to Macro Musings. He joins today to talk about a recent debate over the future of cash and the current state of cryptocurrencies. David and Will also discuss the implications of issuing “supernotes” (like $500 and $1000 bills), the existence of stable coins as cryptocurrencies, and opening up the Fed’s balance sheet to the general public. Will’s Twitter: @WilliamJLuther Will’s website: http://www.wluther.com/ Related Links: *Cash, Crime, and Civil Liberties*, A collection of essays by J.P. Koning, Joshua Hendrickson, Will Luther, and James McAndrews https://www.cato-unbound.org/issues/august-2018/cash-crime-civil-liberties *Moneyness*, J.P. Koning’s blog http://jpkoning.blogspot.com/ *The Stable Coin Myth* by Barry Eichengreen https://www.project-syndicate.

Sam Hammond is a policy analyst and covers topics in poverty and welfare for the Niskanen Center. Sam is a previous guest on Macro Musings, and he joins the show today to talk about his new article in National Review which addresses Senator Elizabeth Warren’s new proposal, the Accountable Capitalism Act, and its potentially negative effects. David and Sam also discuss the problematic stereotypes surrounding ‘corporate bigness’, the positive and negative features of co-determination, and why we need universal safety nets. Sam’s Twitter: @hamandcheese Sam’s Medium profile: https://medium.com/@hamandcheese Related Links: *Elizabeth Warren’s Corporate Catastrophe* by Sam Hammond https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/08/elizabeth-warren-accountable-capitalism-act-terrible-idea/ *Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business* by Robert Atkinson and Michael Lind https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/big-beautiful *Concentration in US Labor Markets: Evidence from Online Vacancy Data* by Ioana Marinescu, Marshall Stei

Brad Setser is a senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations where he works on macroeconomics, global capital flows, and financial crises. Brad also served as a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2011 to 2015 where he worked on Europe’s financial crisis, currency policy, financial sanctions, commodity shocks, and Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. Brad joins the show today to talk about global economic imbalances and why we should care about them. David and Brad also discuss emerging market tensions in Turkey, the implications of running current account deficits, and the economic dangers accompanying the existence of a monetary superpower. Brad’s blog: https://www.cfr.org/blog/Setser Brad’s Twitter: @Brad_Setser Related Links: *Putin’s Unlikely Ally in His Standoff With the West: His Central Banker* by Anatoly Kurmanaev https://www.wsj.com/articles/putins-unlikely-ally-in-his-standoff-with-the-west-his-central-banker-1534773380 *Exchange Arrangements Ente

Adam Posen is the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and was formerly senior fellow at the Bank of England, helping set monetary policy between 2009 and 2012. Adam has also worked at the New York Federal Reserve, has advised many central banks and governments, and is an accomplished scholar in the field of macroeconomics. He joins the show today to discuss some of his research as well as the work of the Peterson Institute. David and Adam also discuss central bank independence, trade policy under the Trump regime, and the differences between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. Adam’s Twitter: @AdamPosen Adam’s Peterson Institute profile: https://piie.com/experts/senior-research-staff/adam-s-posen Related Links: *Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience* by Ben Bernanke, Thomas Laubach, Frederic Mishkin, & Adam Posen https://press.princeton.edu/titles/6380.html *The Post-American World Economy: Globalization in the Trump Era* by Adam Posen https://

Sebastian Edwards is a professor of economics at UCLA, and is a former chief economist for the World Bank. He joins the show today to talk about his new book, *American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and A Battle over Gold*. Sebastian and David also discuss Roosevelt’s plan to ease the U.S. off the gold standard, his attempts to fix the banking sector, and the details and implications of the Gold Clause Cases. Sebastian’s UCLA profile: http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/sebastian.edwards/ Sebastian’s NBER archive: http://www.nber.org/people/sebastian_edwards Related Links: *American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and A Battle over Gold* by Sebastian Edwards https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11230.html David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth