
271 episodes

Macro Musings with David Beckworth Mercatus Center at George Mason University
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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Hosted by David Beckworth of the Mercatus Center, Macro Musings is a podcast which pulls back the curtain on the important macroeconomic issues of the past, present, and future.
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Pat Parkinson on the 2020 Treasury Market Meltdown and How to Avoid a Potential Sequel
Pat Parkinson is a senior fellow at the Bank Policy Institute and a 30-year veteran of the Federal Reserve system, where he served as director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation. During that time, he was also a member of the Basel Committee on Banking and advised Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and Tim Geithner on financial market issues. Pat joins Macro Musings to discuss the treasury market meltdown in March 2020, as well as what we can do moving forward to avoid this issue from happening again. Specifically, David and Pat outline the implementation of a standing repo facility, changes to the supplemental leverage ratio, expanded central clearing, and increased data collection as possible solutions to this problem.
Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings
Pat’s BPI profile: https://bpi.com/people/pat-parkinson/
Related Links:
*Enhancing Liquidity of the U.S. Treasury Market Under Stress* by Nellie Liang and Pat Parkinson
https://www.brookings.edu/research/enhancing-liquidity-of-the-u-s-treasury-market-under-stress/
*US Treasuries: The Lessons from March’s Market Meltdown* by Colby Smith and Robin Wigglesworth
https://www.ft.com/content/ea6f3104-eeec-466a-a082-76ae78d430fd
David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com
David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth -
Kathy Bostjancic on Priorities for the Fed in 2021 and Beyond
Kathy Bostjancic is the chief US financial economist at Oxford Economics and joins Macro Musings to discuss the outlook for monetary and fiscal policy in 2021 as well as in financial markets. Specifically, David and Kathy discuss the prospects for Fed policy and personnel under the Biden Administration, immediate concerns facing the Fed as the COVID pandemic continues into 2021, what steps the Fed can take to make their new AIT framework credible, how large scale asset purchases have impacted asset prices and the real economy, and much more.
Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings
Kathy’s Twitter: @BostjancicKathy
Kathy’s Oxford Economics profile: https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/about-us/staff/267824/kathy-bostjancic
David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com
David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth -
Ricardo Reis on Central Bank Swap Lines, Fiscal Sustainability, and Outlooks for Inflation
Ricardo Reis is a professor of economics at the London School of Economics and a returning guest to the podcast. Ricardo rejoins Macro Musings to talk about central bank swap lines, the importance of fiscal sustainability, and the outlook for inflation in advanced economies. David and Ricardo also discuss safe asset alternatives, and how to think about inflation, debt, and deficits in a more nuanced way.
Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings
Ricardo’s Twitter: @R2Rsquared
Ricardo’s LSE profile: https://personal.lse.ac.uk/reisr/
Related Links:
*Central Bank Swap Lines* by Saleem Bahaj and Ricardo Reis
https://voxeu.org/article/central-bank-swap-lines
*Central Bank Swap Lines During the Covid-19 Pandemic* by Saleem Bahaj and Ricardo Reis
https://personal.lse.ac.uk/reisr/papers/20-covicbswaps.pdf
*The Constraint on Public Debt When r https://iepecdg.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/mpkrg-201112.pdf
*Inflating Away the Public Debt? An Empirical Assessment* by Jens Hilscher, Alon Raviv, and Ricardo Reis
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w20339/w20339.pdf
*The New Global Financial Safety Net: Struggling for Coherent Governance in a Multipolar System* by Beatrice Weder di Mauro and Jeromin Zettelmeyer
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2946452
David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com
David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth -
Robert Kaplan on the Fed’s New Framework, Inflation, and the Post-COVID Economy
Robert 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 prior to that was a Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs. Robert is a returning guest to the podcast, and he rejoins Macro Musings to discuss the Fed's new framework, inflation, interest rates and more. Specifically, David and Robert talk about COVID’s impact on FOMC operations, how demographic trends are impacting productivity, the Fed’s expanding balance sheet, its average inflation targeting framework, and more.
Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings
Robert’s Twitter: @RobSKaplan
Robert’s Dallas Fed profile: https://www.dallasfed.org/en/fed/bios/kaplan.aspx
David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com
David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth -
Daniel Griswold on US Demographic Decline and the Case for Expanding Immigration
Daniel Griswold is a senior affiliated scholar at the Mercatus Center and a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. Dan is also a returning guest is to the podcast, and joins Macro Musings to talk about immigration policy and the outlook for trade policy with the new Biden Administration. Specifically, David and Dan discuss the major demographic decline in the US, and how greater levels of immigration and can solve many of America’s economic concerns.
Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings
Dan’s Twitter: @danielgriswold
Dan’s Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/daniel-griswold
Related Links:
*More Immigration Needed to Offset COVID-19 and America’s Demographic Decline* by Daniel Griswold
https://www.mercatus.org/publications/trade-and-immigration/more-immigration-needed-offset-covid-19-and-america%E2%80%99s-demographic
*Half a Million Fewer Children? The Coming COVID Baby Bust* by Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine
https://www.brookings.edu/research/half-a-million-fewer-children-the-coming-covid-baby-bust/
*World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights* by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division at the United Nations
https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_Highlights.pdf
*The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050* by Joel Kotkin
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/298866/the-next-hundred-million-by-joel-kotkin/9781101195703
*Fertility, Mortality, Migration, and Population Scenarios for 195 Countries and Territories from 2017 to 2100: A Forecasting Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study* by Stein Emil Vollset et al.
https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)30677-2/fulltext
*Clashing over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy* by Douglas Irwin
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo24475328.html
David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com
David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth -
Sam Bell on Fed Policy, Personnel, and Politics in 2021
Sam Bell is the policy director of Employ America, a think tank dedicated to having the economy run at full employment levels. Sam is also known on FOMC Twitter as an influencer when it comes to nominations for the Board of Governors. Sam returns to Macro Musings to talk about what 2021 likely has in store for the Fed. Specifically, Sam and David discuss Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida’s vision for temporary price level targeting, the prospects of Jay Powell and Lael Brainard (and others) for the next Fed chair, the significance of Janet Yellen’s treasury secretary appointment, and the political pressures facing the Fed in 2021.
Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings
Sam’s Twitter: @sam_a_bell
About Employ America: https://employamerica.org/about/
Related Links:
*Monetary Policy Strategies for a Low-Rate Environment* by Ben Bernanke, Michael Kiley, and John Roberts
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20191082
David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com
David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth
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Macroeconomics!!
Slightly US-/ FED-focused, but highly recommendable!