Macro Musings with David Beckworth
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.
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Neha Narula, Anders Brownworth, and Daniel Aronoff on Understanding Stablecoins in the GENIUS Era
<p> Subscribe to the new Macro Musings YouTube Channel!</p> <p> Neha Narula is the director of the Digital Currency Initiative which is based out of the Media Lab at MIT. Anders Brownworth is veteran software engineer in the crypto space and is a Senior Research Advisor at DCI. Daniel Aronoff is Research Affiliate in the MIT Department of Economics and a Collaborator at DCI. Neha, Anders, and Daniel join the show to discuss their work at DCI, the current state of stablecoins, their paper on the hidden plumbing of stablecoins, the basic mechanics of stablecoins, the technical and operational...
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde on the Quandary of Global Demographic Decline
<p> Subscribe to the new Macro Musings YouTube Channel!</p> <p> Jesús Fernández-Villaverde is a professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Jesús returns to the show to discuss his rise on X, how to frame global demographic decline, the three accelerants of demographic decline, the role of housing in family size, how AI will play a role in global demographics, what we know about AGI, the question of dollar dominance, and much more. </p> <p >Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.</p> <p >Recorded on February 20th, 2026</p> <p >Subscribe to Dav...
Chris Meissner on the History of Globalization
<p> Subscribe to the new Macro Musings YouTube Channel!</p> <p> Chris Meissner is a professor of economics at University of California at Davis and is the author of the recent book One from the Many: The Global Economy Since 1850. In Chris's first appearance on the podcast he discusses the historical bend towards greater globalization, how we should really define the global economy, the impact of the Great Financial Crisis on globalization and populism, the scope of globalization from the 1820's to today, the validity of the China Shock, the United States' current move away from globalization, and much more.<...
Raghuram Rajan on the Impact of the Ratcheting Effect of The Fed's QE Program
<p> Subscribe to the new Macro Musings YouTube Channel!</p> <p> Raghuram Rajan is a finance professor at the University of Chicago and leads the Group of 30. Previously he was the chief economist at the IMF and the governor of the Reserve Bank of India. In Raghuram's first appearance on the show, he discusses his famous 2005 Jackson Hole speech, how he righted the ship on India's emerging economy, the consequences of zero-sum thinking, the differences between being a policymaker and an academic, the ratcheting effect of QE on the Fed's balance sheet, and much more.</p> <p >Check out the t...
Andrew Martinez on the Art of Forecasting
<p > Andrew Martinez is a former Treasure economist and currently is an assistant professor of economics at American University. In Andrew's first appearance on the show, he discusses his career as a forecaster, the current state of forecasting, the intersection of AI and forecasting, the role of the SEP and monetary policy surprises, his work with David on the NGDP Gap measure, and much more. </p> <p >Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.</p> <p >Recorded on January 13th, 2025</p> <p >Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus</p> <p >Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBe...
Dan Awrey on the Future of the U.S. Payments System in a Digital World
<p> Dan Awrey is a professor of Law at Cornell University and the author of the new book Beyond Banks: Technology, Regulation, and the Future of Money. Dan returns to the show to discuss his new book, the shadow monetary system, the case for markets to correct this problem, Gresham's new law, his proposals for fixing the payments system, and much more.</p> <p >Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.</p> <p >Recorded on January 13th, 2025</p> <p >Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus</p> <p >Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth</p> <p >Foll...
Scott Sumner on Monetary Policy Confusion in Our Current Policy Debates
<p> Scott Sumner is the Ralph G. Hawtrey Chair Emeritus of Monetary Policy and the founder of the Monetary Policy Program at Mercatus. Scott returns to the show, to discuss his life post Mercatus, nominal GDP counterfactuals of the pandemic and the Great Financial Crisis, the role of QE in inflation, the fears about Fed independence, and much more.</p> <p >Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.</p> <p >Recorded on January 15th, 2025</p> <p >Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus</p> <p >Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth</p> <p >Follow the show on X...
Tyler Muir on How to Understand the Fed's Quantitative Easing
<p> Tyler Muir is a professor of finance at UCLA. In Tyler's first appearance on the show, he discusses how he became a leading scholar on quantitative easing, what things the Fed can learn in responding to crises, why QE matters, how QE transformed the bond market, the new "Tyler Rule", QE's role in the COVID Pandemic, and much more.</p> <p >Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.</p> <p >Recorded on January 8th, 2025</p> <p >Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus</p> <p >Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth</p> <p >Follow Tyler Muir...
Richard Berner on Growth of the Private Credit and the Role of Fiscal Dominance on Treasury Markets
<p> Richard Berner is the former director of the Office of Financial Research and was a counselor of the Treasury Secretary. In Richard's first appearance on the show, he discusses a career that included public service and Wall Street, the fragility of global liquidity, the implications of fiscal dominance, the expansion of private credit, the 2023 SVB banking turmoil, and much more.</p> <p >Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.</p> <p >Recorded on January 7th, 2025</p> <p >Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus</p> <p >Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth</p> <p >Follow the...
Aaron Klein on the US's Real-Time Payments Problem and the Impact of Covid Era Quantitative Easing
<p> Aaron Klein is a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. Aaron returns to the show to discuss his paper with George Selgin calling for real time payments, the inequality caused by the Fed's current payment processes, the results of Covid time QE, recommendations for dealing with future crises, and much more.</p> <p >Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.</p> <p >Recorded on December 11th, 2025</p> <p >Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus</p> <p >Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth</p> <p >Follow Aaron Klein on X: @AarondKlein</p> <p >F...
