Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Ángel Ubide is a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and formerly was a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Today, he joins the show to discuss his new book *The Paradox of Risk: Leaving the Monetary Policy Comfort Zone.* Ángel argues that the Federal Reserve has become too afraid to take risks when implementing new policies. Instead, he offers alternative proposals aimed to move monetary policy out of its comfort zone. David and Ángel also discuss the Eurozone crisis, the ECB, and using more effective communication, accountability, and greater transparency to minimize biases within monetary policy. David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Ángel Ubide’s Twitter: @AngelUbide Ángel Ubide’s book: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-paradox-of-risk/9780881327199 “The Latest Central Bank Fad: Asymmetric Inflation Targeting” by David Beckworth(Bull’s Eye images of symmetric and asymmetric targets) http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-latest-central-bank-fad-asymmetric.html

Jesse Eisinger is a senior reporter and editor at ProPublica as well as a Pulitzer Prize winner. Today, he joins the show to discuss his new book *The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives.* Jesse argues that in recent years, the U.S. Justice Department has become excessively timid in prosecuting white collar crime on Wall Street and in the financial sector. David and Jesse discuss why this is a problem for the rule of law as well as some ways to reform the system. [To rate and review this podcast, go to: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/macro…d1099277290?mt=2 Then, leave your information at: www.mercatus.org/macromusings ] David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com Macro Musings podcast site: macromusings.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Jesse Eisinger’s Pro Publica Profile: https://www.propublica.org/people/jesse-eisinger Jesse Eisinger’s Twitter: @eisingerj Related links: *The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives* http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Chickenshit-Club/Jesse-Eisinger/9781501121364

Sarah Binder is a professor of Political Science at George Washington University and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. She research focuses on Congress, Congressional development, and political parties. Mark is the founder and chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital LLC, and formerly was with the World Bank. Today, they join the show to discuss the history and politics behind the creation of the Fed as well as their new book, *The Myth of Independence: How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve.* [To rate an review this podcast, go to: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/macro…d1099277290?mt=2 Then, leave your information at: www.mercatus.org/macromusings ] David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com Macro Musings podcast site: macromusings.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Sarah Binder's Brookings profile: https://www.brookings.edu/experts/sarah-a-binder/ Sarah Binder's Twitter: @bindersab Mark Spindel's Twitter: @potomac Related links: *The Myth of Independence: How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve* by Sarah Binder and Mark Spindel https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11123.html

Mike Bird is a reporter for *The Wall Street Journal* and covers global economics and markets from the Journal’s London office. Today, he joins the show to discuss recent developments in central banking across the world. David and Mike discuss how the Eurozone has dealt with some of the serious turmoil it has faced in recent years as well as Japan’s “Abenomics” program geared toward raising inflation and implementing structural reforms. Finally, Mike shares his thoughts on the Fed’s plan to reduce its balance sheet and what impact that will have on the global economy. [To rate an review this podcast, go to: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/macro-musings/id1099277290?mt=2 Then, leave your information at: https://www.mercatus.org/macromusings ] David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com Macro Musings podcast site: macromusings.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Mike Bird’s WSJ archive: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/8326 Mike Bird’s Twitter: @Birdyword Related links: “ECB Taper Promises to Set Off Ripples Across Many Markets” by Mike Bird https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecb-stimulus-unwind-could-have-broad-knock-on-effect-1508670002 “A Decade After the Crisis, King Dollar is the World’s Tyrant” by Mike Bird https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-decade-after-the-crisis-king-dollar-is-the-worlds-tyrant-1511697601

(REBROADCAST EPISODE) In this week’s special episode, David compares and contrasts the economics of the Star Wars and Star Trek universes. He is joined by Zachary Feinstein, an Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and Manu Saadia, author of *Trekonomics.* Topics include the economic fallout from the destruction of the Death Star, the absence of money in Star Trek, and whether a universe can really eliminate scarcity. Original episode: https://soundcloud.com/macro-musings/feinsteinsaadia David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Macro Musings podcast site: macromusings.com David’s Twitter: @davidbeckworth Manu’s *Trekonomics* website: trekonomics.tumblr.com/ (you can order the book, *Trekonomics,* here as well) Manu’s Twitter: @trekonomics Zach’s faculty profile: sites.wustl.edu/fictionomics/ Zach’s Twitter: @FictionomicsWU Related links: “It’s a Trap: Emperor Palpatine’s Poison Pill” by Zachary Feinstein arxiv.org/pdf/1511.09054.pdf “The Case for the Empire” by Jonathan Last www.weeklystandard.com/the-case-for-…/article/2540

(REBROADCAST EPISODE) In this week’s special episode, David discusses the economics of Christmas with Laura Birg, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Goettingen, and Anna Goeddke, a professor of economics at the ESB Business School at Reutlingen University. Topics include the dead-weight loss of gift-giving, Christmas’ effects on seasonal GDP, increases in alcohol consumption, and the effect of secularization on Christmas celebrations. David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ David’s Twitter: @davidbeckworth Original episode: https://soundcloud.com/macro-musings/birggoeddeke Anna’s VoxEU profile: voxeu.org/users/annagoeddeke0 Anna’s Twitter: @annagoeddeke Laura’s University of Goettingen profile: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/362254.html Related links: “Christmas Economics – A Sleigh Ride” by Laura Birg and Anna Goeddke (2014) papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?a…stract_id=2526055 “The Seasonal Cycle and the Business Cycle” by Robert Barsky and Jeffrey Miron (1988) www.nber.org/papers/w2688 “The Business Cycle Effects of Christmas” by YI Wen (2001) www.discuto.io/sites/default/fil…christmas2010.pdf We Wish you a Merry Christmas Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Ricardo Caballero, an MIT economics professor, discusses the 'Safe Asset Shortage Conundrum' with a focus on the US as a global financial intermediary. They explore solutions to address the scarcity of safe assets, including central bank interventions and asset transformation. The conversation also delves into the sustainability of current account deficits and Australia's economy, touching on topics like real estate markets and sovereign wealth funds.

Stephen Williamson is a professor of economics at the University of Western Ontario and formerly served as a vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Today, Steve joins the show to discuss his work on “New Monetarism,” a research agenda emerging out of the monetarist tradition associated with Milton Friedman. David and Steve also discuss “Neo-Fisherism,” a counterintuitive view that higher interest rates may actually lead to higher inflation. David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com Macro Musings podcast site: macromusings.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Stephen Williamson’s University of Western Ontario profile: http://economics.uwo.ca/people/faculty/williamson.html Stephen Williamson’s blog “New Monetarism”: http://newmonetarism.blogspot.com/ Stephen Williamson’s Twitter: @1954swilliamson Related links: “New Monetarist Economics: Models* by Stephen D. Williamson and Randall Wright https://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/sr/sr443.pdf “Neo-Fisherism: A Radical Idea, or the Most Obvious Solution to the Low-Inflation Problem?” by Stephen D. Williamson https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/july-2016/neo-fisherism-a-radical-idea-or-the-most-obvious-solution-to-the-low-inflation-problem *Macroeconomics* by Stephen D. Williamson https://www.amazon.com/Macroeconomics-5th-Stephen-D-Williamson/dp/0132991330

William A. Barnett is the Oswald Distinguished Professor of Macroeconomics at the University of Kansas and Director of the Center for Financial Stability. Today, Bill joins the show to discuss his work on better measurement of monetary aggregates in the economy. David and Bill also discuss Bill’s book *Getting It Wrong,* which argues that old simple-sum aggregates of the money supply are obsolete and that more sophisticated aggregates (called Divisia aggregates) are more appropriate in making decisions related to monetary policy. In Bill’s view, better financial data and better measurement of monetary aggregates would have averted the recent financial crisis. Finally, Bill also explains how he went from being a rocket scientist to a macroeconomist! David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com Macro Musings podcast site: macromusings.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth William Barnett’s University of Kansas profile: https://economics.ku.edu/william-barnett The Center for Financial Stability homepage: http://www.centerforfinancialstability.org/ *Getting It Wrong: How Faulty Monetary Statistics Undermine the Fed, the Financial System, and the Economy* by William Barnett https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/getting-it-wrong

Caroline Baum is an economics columnist at MarketWatch and formerly was a writer for Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Today, she joins the show to discuss how she became a financial journalist as a non-economics major as well as her recent columns on monetary policy and what Treasury bond yields are predicting about the future. She also shares her thoughts on why the debt ceiling should be abolished. Finally, Caroline and David discuss Jerome Powell and Fed leadership in the age of Trump. David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com Macro Musings podcast site: macromusings.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Caroline Baum’s MarketWatch archive: https://www.marketwatch.com/topics/journalists/caroline-baum Caroline Baum’s Twitter: @cabaum1 Related links: “Bonds are from Venus; Stocks are from Mars” by Caroline Baum https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bonds-are-from-venus-stocks-are-from-mars-2017-11-14?mg=prod/accounts-mw “It’s Time to Get Rid of the Debt Ceiling” by Caroline Baum https://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-time-to-get-rid-of-the-debt-ceiling-2017-09-07 “Fed Flunks Econ 101: Understanding Inflation” by Caroline Baum https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-flunks-econ-101-understanding-inflation-2017-10-18 “The Federal Reserve is Peddling ‘Tinkering Economics’ " by Caroline Baum https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-federal-reserve-is-peddling-tinker-bell-economics-2017-09-19