Scott Sumner on the Government’s Response to COVID-19 and the Future of Level Targeting

Scott Sumner is the Ralph G. Hawtrey Chair of Monetary Policy at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Professor Emeritus of economics at Bentley University, and a research fellow at the Independent Institute. As a returning guest to the podcast, Scott joins Macro Musings to give his latest thoughts on the COVID-19 crisis and its implications for monetary policy. Specifically, David and Scott discuss how the Fed can conduct more aggressive monetary policy, what a level targeting regime should look like in the future, and the current progression toward negative interest rates.

 

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

 

Scott’s Mercatus profile: https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/scott-sumner

Scott’s blog: https://www.themoneyillusion.com/

 

Related Links:

 

Scott's bonus segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8DXU_1oIsg&feature=youtu.be

 

*Reforming the Fed’s Toolkit and Quantitative Easing Practices: A Plan to Achieve Level Targeting* by Scott Sumner and Patrick Horan

https://www.mercatus.org/publications/covid-19-policy-brief-series/reforming-feds-toolkit-and-quantitative-easing-practices

 

*Negative Interest Rates and Negative IOER* by Scott Sumner

https://www.econlib.org/negative-interest-rates-and-negative-ioer/

 

David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth