Macro Musings

Andy Levin is a professor of economics at Dartmouth College and longtime advisor to many central banks. Andy returns to the show to discuss his policy brief on holding the Fed accountable for its spending practices. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on April 9th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:00:50) – Andy’s Professional Background (00:02:07) – Overstaffed or Overworked? (00:04:09) – The Fed’s Extraordinary Independence (00:10:10) – Inspector Generals and the Fed (00:20:33) – The Fed’s Workers and Payroll (00:37:35) – Updates to the Fed’s Headquarters (00:48:24) – Other Fed Challenges (00:56:26) – How to Improve

Kathryn Judge is a law professor at Columbia University and a legal scholar of the Federal Reserve and financial policy. Kathryn returns to the show to discuss the Fed’s Emergency Lending Facilities, or 13(3) and current happenings at the Federal Reserve. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on March 27th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Kathryn Judge on X: @ProfKateJudge Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:43) – History of Section 13(3) (00:03:55) – Increasing Use of 13(3) (00:06:55) – Unusual and Exigent Circumstances (00:08:53) – Changes to 13(3) (00:13:17) – Classification of the Facilities (00:21:13) – Should the Fed Be Doing Emergency Le

Paul Blustein is a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal journalist who has authored several acclaimed books on global economic institutions. In Paul’s first appearance on the show, he discusses the historical rise of the dollar, it’s present-day power, how it compares to other global currencies, current challenges to its power, the rise of crypto, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on March 26th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Paul Blustein on X: @PaulBlustein Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:00:52) – Paul’s Books (00:05:08) – Motivations for King Dollar (00:09:02) – History of the Dollar (00:12:57) – Nixon Shock of

Bill Nelson is a Chief economist and an executive vice president at the Bank Policy Institute. Bill returns to the show to discuss the changes at many central banks around the world from a supply-driven floor system to a demand-driven floor system and how the Fed has been resistant to this change. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on March 6th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:35) – Trend Toward a Demand-Driven Ceiling System (00:07:32) – Will the Fed Follow Suit? (00:13:11) – Bank of England’s New Policy Implementation Framework (00:21:33) – Bill’s Suggestions for the Fed’s Implementation Framework (00:39:18) –

Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Scott Lincicome is the vice president of general economics and trade at Cato. Scott returns to the program to discuss the past, present, and future of Trump’s trade war, the impact of tariffs on the US consumer, myths about globalization, the state of globalization worldwide, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on March 19th, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Scott Lincicome on X: @ScottLincicome Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:01) – Cato’s Trade Center (00:04:06) – Current State of Trump’s Trade War (00:14:09) – Trade War Strategy (00:20:48) – Break in the Globalization Trend (00:29:51) – Bilateral Trade Deficit View (00:54:

Sign up for David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Lyman Stone is a demographer and the director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies. In Lyman’s first appearance on the show, he discusses demographic and marriage decline, the fallacy in the thinking of degrowthers, the benefits of pronatalist policy, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on February 13th, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Lyman Stone on X: @LymanStoneKY Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:02:04) – Lyman Stone’s Career Path (00:04:54) – Demography as a Discipline (00:10:41) – Demographic Decline (00:15:28) – Decline of Marriage (00:32:24) – Degrowthers (00:43:15) – Possible Policy Solutions

Sign up for David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Athanasios Orphanides is a professor at MIT, formerly served at the Federal Reverse for 15 years, and was the Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus. In Athanasios’s first appearance of show he discussed real-time monetary policy rules, their implication on the Fed’s framework review, his natural growth target, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on February 18th, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Substack Announcement (00:00:49) – Intro (00:02:24) – Athanasios’ Career Journey (00:06:08) – Real-Time Policy Rules (00:23:36) – Potential Drawbacks of Monetary Rules (00:28:46) – Natural Growth Targeting Rule (00:37:31)

Dean Ball is a research fellow at the Mercatus Center. In Dean’s first appearance on the show, he explains the AI revolution, current AI developments, policy implications of the AI boom, and the future of AI. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on February 19th, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Follow Dean on X: @Deanwball Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:03) – Dean’s Background in Artificial Intelligence (00:03:32) – Recent AI Events (00:22:03) – Policy Implications (00:33:58) – AI and the Future (00:56:34) – Outro

Liya Palagashvili is a senior research fellow and director of the Labor Policy Project at the Mercatus Center. In Liya’s first appearance on the show she explains federal and state level changes to labor regulations, who makes up the gig economy workforce, the role women play in the independent workforce, the novel concept of portable benefits, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on January 31st, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Follow Liya on X: MissLiyaP Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:37) – Liya’s Background and Interest in Labor Economics (00:03:18) – Labor Policy Project and Labor Market Matters (00:07:32) –Independent Contractors and the Gig Economy (00:17:20) – Independent Work as a

Evan Koenig is a former senior aide to the president of the Dallas Fed. Evan returns to the show to discuss, the ins and outs of nominal GDP targeting, the practical applications of NGDP targeting, the reasons the Fed should consider it for the framework review, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on October 29th, 2024 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:06) – Evan Koenig at the Fed (00:02:04) – Nominal GDP Targeting (00:06:22) – Why the Fed Didn’t Consider Nominal GDP Targeting (00:17:25) – How to Explain Nominal GDP Targeting to the Public (00:23:10) – Main Arguments for Nominal GDP Targeting (00:33:52) – Practical Applications of Nominal GDP (00:47:19) – Nominal

Steven Kelly is the associate director of research as the Yale Program on Financial Stability. Steven returns to the show to discuss his new model, the Treasury Equity Model of the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on January 23rd, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Steven Kelly: @StevenKelly49 Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:00:47) – The Discount Window and Its Current Momentum (00:03:22) – Evaluating the Treasury-Equity Model of Fed Emergency Lending (00:07:33) – The Fed’s Section 13(3) Facilities (00:12:54) – Creation of Section 13(3) (00:16:46) – Currency Swap Lines (00:18:36) – Beginnings of the Treasury-Equity Model (00:28:16) – Treasury-Equity Model During

Pat Toomey is a former senator from the state of Pennsylvania and served on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. In Pat’s first appearance on the show he discussed his career in public service, Fed master accounts, the future on monetary policy, his quest for Fed accountability, the looming debt issue, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on January 23rd, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Pat Toomey: @SenToomey Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:09) – Senator Toomey’s Committee Work (00:21:21) – Federal Reserve Master Accounts (00:27:07) – Accountability of the Fed (00:30:07) – Monetary Policy (00:45:19) – Debts, Deficits, and Fiscal Policy (00:57:22) – Outro

Brian Albrecht is the chief economist for the International Center for Law & Economics and is the coauthor of the economics newsletter Economic Forces. In Brian’s first appearance on the show, he discussed the data behind business dynamism, the notion of greedflation, the recent developments in antitrust, the update Econ 101 needs to make in regard to tariffs, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on January 6th, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Brian Albrecht: @BrianCAlbrecht Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:00:51) – Brian’s Education and Career (00:08:03) – Market Structure and Business Dynamism (00:31:07) – Greedflation (00:45:25) – Trump and Tariffs (00:55:51) – Outro

On this special greatest hits compilation episode our host David Beckworth primes listeners for the Fed Framework Review by highlighting the best snippets from past shows discussing nominal GDP targeting. This episode includes Mary Daly’s thoughts on NGDP targeting, Evan Koenig on the basics of NGDP targeting, George Selgin on Powell’s hesitations with NGDP targeting and how it responds to supply shocks, Jim Bullard on the financial stability of NGDP targeting, Eric Sims on the New Keynesian argument for NGDP targeting, Carola Binder on the benefits of NGDP targeting, Charlie Evans on the prospects of NGDP target, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Int

Peter Conti-Brown is a historian and legal scholar of the Federal Reserve System and an associate professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Peter returns to the podcast to discuss the state of Federal Reserve leadership under the incoming Trump administration, expectations for Fed independence, a new proposal for limiting stigma at the discount window, stories about a life lead by faith, and much more.   Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on January 10th, 2025 Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Peter Conti-Brown on BlueSky: @PeterContiBrown Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:23) – Reaching Audiences Through Various Forms of Media (00:10:30) – Federal Reserve Under Trump

David Bahnsen is a Wall Street veteran and currently is the managing director of The Bahnsen Group. In David’s first appearance on the podcast, he talks through multiple questions about the incoming Trump Administration, the problem with the growing indebtedness of the US government, shifts in the Republican party, the notion of financialization of the US economy, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow David Bahnsen on X: @DavidBahnsen Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:50) – David Bahnsen’s Career Path (00:04:39) – Shifts in the Republican Party (00:12:20) – Trump Administration 2.0 and Growth, the Fed, and the Financial Sector? (00:33:38) – Financialization and Missed

Marijn Bolhuis is an economist in the World Economic Studies Division of the IMF’s research department. In Marijn’s first appearance on the podcast he discusses his new paper, which introduces the idea of a fiscal r-star, and expands on another paper which helps economists understand why consumer sentiment is so depressed, despite relatively low unemployment and inflation coming back to target. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Follow David on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Marijn on X: @MA_Bolhuis Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:38) – Marijn Bolhuis’ Career Path (00:06:02) – Fiscal R-Star (00:45:30) – Cost of Money and Consumer Sentiment (00:51:43) – Outro

David Beckworth and producer Sam Alburger dive into the last year of Macro Musings. They pick their favorite episodes, discuss how the year 2024 will be remembered in the macroeconomic history, highlight stories about the making of the show, combine David’s love for basketball and economics, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Follow David on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server! Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Intro (00:01:18) – Year in Review (00:11:48) – New Macro Musings Content (00:15:13) – NGDP Level Targeting vs. FAIT (00:18:43) – Preparing for Macro Musings Interviews (00:24:23) – Macro Musings and AI (00:26:17) – Looking Back at 2024 in Macroeconomic History (00:30:27) – Combing David’s Love for Economics and Basketball (00:34:34) – Thank

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 returning guest to the program, and he rejoins David on Macro Musings to talk about crypto, strategic Bitcoin reserves, and the Fed’s framework review. Specifically, David and George also discuss George’s outlook for a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the US, the significance of the debanking problem, the path to adopting a nominal GDP targeting framework, and much more.   Transcript for this week’s episode.   George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato profile   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!   Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch!   Related Links:   *The ‘Digital Gold’ Fallacy, or Why Bitcoin Can’t Save the US Dollar* by George Selgin   *The Fed’s 2024-25 Framework Review: Optimizing th

Joey Politano is an economist and a commentator who writes a popular Substack newsletter on economics. Joey is also a returning guest to Macro Musings, and he rejoins David to talk about the AI investment boom and broader economic growth trends. Specifically, David and Joey also discuss generational differences in economic perspectives, the increased demand for nuclear energy, the importance of AI in driving scientific research, and much more.   Transcript for this week’s episode.   Joey’s X: @JosephPolitano Joey’s Bluesky: @josephpolitano.bsky.social Joey’s Substack   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!   Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch!   Related Links:   *The AI Investment Boom* by Joey Politano   Timestamps:   (00:00:00) – Intro   (00:03:09) – The Competition Between X and Bluesky   (00:10:55) – The Generational Differences in Eco