Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Business EN ↓ 557 episodes

Hosted by David Beckworth of the Mercatus Center, Macro Musings pulls back the curtain on the important macroeconomic issues of the past, present, and future.

Author

Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Category

Business

Latest episode

Jul 6, 2026

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Episodes

Macro Lit Review 2: Highlights from Late 2022 with George Selgin 10.10.2022

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 frequent guest of the podcast, and he rejoins David on Macro Musings once again to discuss their top three articles from the past few weeks related to macroeconomics and monetary policy. Specifically, David and George talk about Jerome Powell's recent...

Bill English on the Effectiveness of QE and the Consequences of Fed Losses 03.10.2022

Bill English is a professor at Yale University, a former senior Fed staffer, and a veteran of the Bank for International Settlements. Bill joins Macro Musings to talk about his time at the Federal Reserve, recent Fed developments, and a paper he co-authored titled, "What If the Federal Reserve Books Losses Because of Its Quantitative Easing?" David and Bill also discuss the Fed's recent low-inflat...

Andrew Levin on the Costs and Benefits of QE4 and the Future of the Fed's Balance Sheet 26.09.2022

Andrew Levin is a professor of economics at Dartmouth College and a former long-time Fed official. Andy is also a previous guest of Macro Musings and rejoins the podcast to talk about the costs and benefits of the Fed's QE4 program. David and Andy also discuss the Fed's recent record on inflation, QE4's impact on market functioning, the present and future of the Fed's balance sheet, and more.   Tr...

Steven Kelly on Crises, Stability, and the Fed's Role in Financial Markets 19.09.2022

Steven Kelly is a senior research associate at the Yale Program on Financial Stability. Steven joins David on Macro Musings to discuss his work on financial stability and the role the Federal Reserve plays in it. Specifically, David and Steven discuss the Fed's evolving role in niche financial markets such as commodities and derivatives markets, what Section 13.3 of the Federal Reserve Act says ab...

Scott Sumner on Alternative Approaches to Monetary Policy 12.09.2022

Scott Sumner is the Ralph G. Hawtrey Chair of Monetary Policy at the Mercatus Center. Scott joins David on Macro Musings to look back on his contributions to monetary policy research with the Mercatus Center and elsewhere, as well as discuss his upcoming book, Alternative Approaches to Monetary Policy. In particular, Scott and David discuss how the Fed's monetary policy mistakes in 2008 impacted t...

Hanno Lustig on Fiscal Dominance, Inflation, and the Effects of Long-term Interest Rate Decline 05.09.2022

Hanno Lustig is a professor of finance at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Hanno is also a former guest on Macro Musings and rejoins the podcast to talk about fiscal dominance, global inflation, interest rates, wealth and equality, and Eurozone challenges. David and Hanno also discuss how to reconcile Treasury yield movements with impe...

Joshua Younger on the Treasury Market: Structure, Stressors, and Potential Reforms 29.08.2022

Josh Younger is currently a managing director and global head of ALM research and strategy at JP Morgan, and previously spent over a decade as a senior market strategist focused on interest rate and money markets. Josh joins David on Macro Musings to discuss the current state of the Treasury market and various reforms that have recently been proposed for it. Specifically, Josh and David discuss th...

Carola Binder on the Importance of Inflation Expectations and How Policymakers Should Respond 22.08.2022

Carola Binder is an associate professor of economics at Haverford College and is currently a visiting scholar in the Monetary Policy Program at the Mercatus Center. She is also an associate editor at the Review of Economics and Statistics and the Journal of Money Credit and Banking. Carola rejoins Macro Musings to talk about inflation expectations and uncertainty. Specifically, David and Carola di...

Jeffrey Lacker on the Past, Present, and Future of Federal Reserve Policy 15.08.2022

Jeffrey Lacker is a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, where he served as its head from 2004 to 2017, and more recently served as a distinguished professor of economics at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business through 2022. Currently, Jeff serves on the Shadow Open Market Committee. He joins David on Macro Musings to discuss the traditions of the Richmond F...

BONUS: Gerard DiPippo on China's Attempts to Infiltrate the Fed 10.08.2022

Gerard DiPippo is a senior fellow with the economics program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Previously, he spent 11 years in the US intelligence community as a deputy national intelligence officer for economic issues at the National Intelligence Council and as a senior economic analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. In this bonus segment from the previous conversation,...

Gerard DiPippo on the Russia Sanctions, Demographic Decline, and the Future of the Global Monetary System 08.08.2022

Gerard DiPippo is a senior fellow with the economics program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Previously, he spent 11 years in the US intelligence community as a deputy national intelligence officer for economic issues at the National Intelligence Council and as a senior economic analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. Gerard joins Macro Musings to talk about the Russia S...

Tom Graff on the July FOMC Meeting and the Recession Debate 01.08.2022

Tom Graff is the head of investments for Facet Wealth and has several decades leading fixed income departments. Tom joins David on Macro Musings to provide his thoughts on the recent FOMC meeting, the Q2 2022 GDP numbers and their implications for the economy, and the future path of Fed policy. Specifically, David and Tom discuss the recent GDP numbers from Q2 2022, the merits of public concerns o...

Ellen Meade on Transparency, Independence, and Lessons for the Fed's Next Framework Review 25.07.2022

Ellen Meade is a research professor of economics at Duke University and a veteran of the Federal Reserve System. Most recently, Ellen served as a special advisor to the board and Vice Chair, Richard Clarida. Ellen joins David on Macro Musings to discuss her research on monetary policy and her work at the Federal Reserve. Specifically, Ellen and David discuss the prospect of central bank independen...

Randal Quarles on Inflation, Balance Sheet Reduction, Financial Stability, and the Future of the Fed 18.07.2022

Randal Quarles is the executive chairman of the Cynosure Group and the former Vice Chair of Supervision for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Randy also served as an official in the US Department of Treasury, and he joins Macro Musings to talk about his time at the Federal Reserve and his thoughts on current issues facing the institution. David and Randy also discuss how the Fed fell behind...

Kathy Jones on the Current Economic Slowdown, Quantitative Tightening, and the Fed's New Framework 11.07.2022

Kathy Jones is managing director and chief fixed income strategist for the Schwab Center for Financial Research, and she has spent many years on Wall Street, covering bond markets and foreign exchange. Kathy joins Macro Musings to talk about the present outlook for the economy, the state of markets, and Fed policy. Specifically, David and Kathy discuss the story behind the recent economic slowdown...

Michael Dooley on the International Monetary System and Future of Global Dollar Dominance 04.07.2022

Michael Dooley is a chief economist for Figure Technologies and a 20-year veteran of the Federal Reserve System and the IMF. Michael is also a professor emeritus in the department of economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and he joins Macro Musings to talk about the international monetary system and the future of the dollar. Specifically, David and Michael also discuss the original...

Brian Knight on the Politicization of Finance 27.06.2022

Brian Knight is the Director of Innovation and Governance at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Brian's research focuses on numerous aspects of financial regulation, including the creation of pro-innovation regulatory environments, the role of federalism in fintech regulation, the use of digital assets for financial transactions, the role of regulation for credit markets and consumer...

Lev Menand on *The Fed Unbound: Central Banking in a Time of Crisis* 20.06.2022

Lev Menand is an associate professor of law at Columbia University Law School and writes widely on legal issues surrounding the Federal Reserve. Lev rejoins Macro Musings to talk about his new book titled, *The Fed Unbound: Central Banking in a Time of Crisis.* Specifically, David and Lev discuss why the Fed can be considered unbound, the history of the Fed's engagement with the shadow banking sys...

Macro Lit Review 1: Highlights from Mid-2022 with George Selgin 13.06.2022

George Selgin is a senior fellow and director emeritus of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute. He is also the most frequent guest on Macro Musings, now appearing for his 12th time. In this episode, George and David identify and discuss their top three articles from the past few weeks related to macroeconomics and monetary policy. Specifically, George and Selgin...

Christine McDaniel on the Russia Sanctions and Their Impact on Globalization and the Russian Economy 06.06.2022

Christine McDaniel is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center where she focuses on trade and intellectual property rights issues. Christine previously held several positions in the US government, including deputy assistant secretary at the Treasury Department and senior trade economist in the White House Council of Economic Advisors. She has also worked in the economic offices of the US De...

Manmohan Singh on the Role and Structure of Stablecoins and the Impact of Collateral in the Financial System 30.05.2022

Manmohan Singh is a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund and works on rehypothecation, shadow banking, the plumbing of the monetary system, and more. Manmohan joins Macro Musings to talk about stablecoins, central bank balance sheets, central bank digital currencies, and their broader implication for central banks. David and Manmohan specifically discuss the role and structure of st...

Bill Nelson on How the Fed Fell Behind the Curve 23.05.2022

Bill Nelson is the Chief Economist and an Executive Vice President at the Bank Policy Institute. Bill previously was a deputy director at the Division of Monetary Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board where his responsibilities included monetary policy analysis, discount window policy analysis, and financial institution supervision. He also worked closely with the BIS on the design of liquidity reg...

Josh Hendrickson on Economic Growth, National Defense, and US Monetary Policy 16.05.2022

Josh Hendrickson is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Mississippi and Chair of the Economics Department. Josh joins David on Macro Musings to discuss US monetary policy and US defense policy. Specifically, Josh and David discuss the coordination of fiscal and monetary policy and what Milton Friedman would think of it today, the Fed's responsibility for modern inflation trends,...

Peter Ireland on the Fed's Pandemic Performance and the Path Forward for Monetary Policy 09.05.2022

Peter Ireland is a professor of economics at Boston College, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee. Peter has also been a visiting scholar at numerous Federal Reserve Banks and is a returning guest to the podcast. He rejoins Macro Musings to talk about U.S. monetary policy during the pandemic and what the path forward loo...

Jens van 't Klooster on Recent ECB Policy: A Paradigm Shift Without Legislative Change 02.05.2022

Jens van 't Klooster is a political economist at the University of Amsterdam's Department of Political Science. Jens rejoins David on Macro Musings to discuss the changes taking place at the European Central Bank. Specifically, Jens and David talk about the ECB's recent commitment to a gradual process of monetary tightening, the prospect and limitations of market neutrality in setting monetary pol...

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