Macro Musings

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

Talmon Smith is an economics reporter for The New York Times and joins David on Macro Musings to talk about the great inflation surge of 2021 and its implications for policy and politics. Specifically, David and Talmon discuss the potential drivers and implications of the great inflation surge that has taken place in 2021, the current and future state of supply chains, the impact of COVID-era stimulus, the state of the labor market, the political implications of the inflation surge, and much 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   Talmon’s Twitter: @talmonsmith Talmon’s New York Times profile: https://www.nytimes.com/by/talmon-joseph-smith   Related Links:   *One-year jump in energy prices is a big factor in inflation’s jump*  by Talmon Smith https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/10/business/inflation-cpi-stock-market-news#one-year-jump-in-energy-prices-is-a-big-factor-in-inflati

Yesha Yadav is a law professor and associate dean at the Vanderbilt University Law School, where she works on banking and financial regulation, securities regulation, and the law of money and payment system. Yesha has written a recent paper titled, *The Failed Regulation of US Treasury Markets*, and she joins Macro Musings to discuss it. Specifically, David and Yesha talk about the implications of the 2020 Treasury market collapse, the fragmented nature of the Treasury market’s regulatory structure, solutions for reform, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Yesha’s Vanderbilt Law profile: https://law.vanderbilt.edu/bio/yesha-yadav Yesha’s Google Scholar archive: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Dn5cmSQAAAAJ&hl=en   Related Links:   *The Failed Regulation of U.S. Treasury Markets* by Yesha Yadav https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3365829   *Fragile Financial Regulation* by Pradeep Yadav and Yesha Yadav https

Carola Binder is an Associate Professor of Economics at Haverford College, and Christina Parajon Skinner is an assistant professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Both are returning guests to Macro Musings and they rejoin the podcast to talk about populism at the Fed and its implications for policy. Specifically, they discuss rising technopopulism at the Fed, the effect of populist pressures on its legitimacy, the importance of balancing experimentation and intellectual freedom with managing risks of politicization at the Fed, as well as their thoughts on the recent bouts of inflation.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Carola’s Twitter: @cconces Carola’s blog: https://carolabinder.blogspot.com/ Carola’s Haverford profile: https://carolabinder.sites.haverford.edu/   Christina’s Twitter: @CParaSkinner Christina’s Wharton profile: https://lgst.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/skinnerc/   Related Links:   Cato Institute 39th Annu

Matthew Klein is the author of The Overshoot, a newsletter that helps readers make sense of the global economy. Matt is also a returning guest to the podcast, and rejoins Macro Musings to talk about the hot topic of inflation and its outlook. Specifically, David and Matt discuss what is driving trend inflation, Matt’s decomposition of the CPI, whether or not we should be worried about inflationary trends, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Matthew’s Twitter: @M_C_Klein Matthew’s Substack: https://theovershoot.co/about   Related Links:   *The Case for Patience on Inflation* by Matthew Klein https://theovershoot.co/p/the-case-for-patience-on-inflation   *What’s Going On With Interest Rates? (Part 1)* by Matthew Klein https://theovershoot.co/p/whats-going-on-with-interest-rates   *Fed Policy Must Adjust for Inflation* by Martin Wolf https://www.ft.com/content/dc3bedc7-5694-4868-8b86-f9a215966f52   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth David’s

Markus Brunnermeier is a professor of economics and the director of the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University. Markus is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Markus joins Macro Musings to discuss his new book, titled “The Resilient Society,” as well as his work on safe assets and their implications for inflation. Specifically, David and Markus discuss the implications of the fiscal theory of the price level for inflation, the role of the Fed in stabilizing money markets, what is meant by “resilience” compared to “robustness” in economies, and much more.   Transcript can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Markus’s Twitter: @MarkusEconomist Markus’s Princeton profile: https://scholar.princeton.edu/markus/home   Related Links:   *The Fiscal Theory of the Price Level with a Bubble* by Markus Brunnermeier https://scholar.princeton.edu/markus/publications/fiscal-theory-price-level-bubble   *The Resilient Society* by M

Ajmal Ahmady is the former acting governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan and is now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Ajmal joins Macro Musings to talk about his experience as a central bank governor in Afghanistan and the challenges now facing the nation’s economy. Specifically, David and Ajmal discuss his unique role as the country’s central bank chief, the structure of the Afghan monetary system, the state of the nation’s economy moving forward, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Ajmal’s Twitter: @aahmady Ajmal’s biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajmal_Ahmady   Related Links:   Ajmal’s Twitter thread about Afghanistan’s collapse: https://twitter.com/aahmady/status/1427265049668636674?lang=en   *Why Afghanistan Fell: An Insider’s Account of What Went Wrong* by Ajmal Ahmady https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2021-10-11/why-afghanistan-fell   *Severe Drought Adds to Afghanistan’

Peter Stella is the former Head of the IMF Central Banking division and has researched and written extensively on safe assets, collateral and central bank operations. Peter now hosts a website Central Banking Archeology. Peter joins David on Macro Musings to discuss the role of money and its relationship to inflation as well as its relationship to the payment system. Specifically, David and Peter discuss the fiscal theory of the price level, how rising indebtedness can signal higher inflation in the future, the implications of the fiscal theory for contemporary fiscal and monetary policy going forward, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Peter’s Twitter: @Stellar_Consult Peter’s website: https://www.centralbankarchaeology.com/ Peter’s Voxeu profile: https://voxeu.org/users/peterstella0 Peter’s Research Gate archive: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Stella   Related Links:    *Some Incredible Monetarist Arithmetic* by Pet

Robert Orr is a policy analyst at the Niskanen Center where he focuses on welfare, healthcare, and labor market policy. Robert joins Macro Musings to talk about one of the more important sectors of the US economy, healthcare, and some of the biggest supply side bottlenecks the industry faces. Specifically, David and Robert discuss the uniqueness of the US healthcare system, the reason for massive spending within the healthcare industry, and how to fix the supply bottlenecks that have emerged.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Robert’s Twitter: @Robert_t_Orr Robert’s Niskanen profile: https://www.niskanencenter.org/author/robert-orr/   Related Links:   *The Planning of U.S. Physician Shortages* by Robert Orr https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-planning-of-u-s-physician-shortages/   *The U.S. Has Much to Gain from More Doctors* by Robert Orr https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-u-s-has-much-to-gain-from-more-doctors/   *Unmatched: Repairing the U