Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Narayana Kocherlakota is the Lionel W. McKenzie Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester, and he previously served as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He joins the show to discuss to discuss what it is like working as a Fed president and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee. He also shares some of his thoughts on the drawbacks of current proposals on establishing monetary rules. David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Narayana's website: https://sites.google.com/site/kocherlakota009/ David's Twitter: @davidbeckworth Narayana's Twitter: @kocherlakota009 Related links: Narayana's profile, speeches, and articles as Fed president: https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about/more-about-the-fed/presidents-of-the-minneapolis-fed/narayana-kocherlakota Narayana's Bloomberg archive: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/contributors/APvwpZqjDaA/narayana-kocherlakota/articles Narayana's Brookings article: Rules vs. Discretion: A Reconsideration https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/rules-versus-discretion-a-reconsideration/ Responses to the Brookings article by John Taylor and George Selgin: https://economicsone.com/2016/09/17/kocherlakota-on-the-fed-and-the-taylor-rule/ http://www.alt-m.org/2016/09/22/rules-discretion-audacity-critique-kocherlakota/

Izabella Kaminska is a writer for the Financial Times at its premier blog, FT Alphaville. She joins the show to discuss her work on blockchain technology as well as current proposals on monetary and fiscal policy. Finally, Izabella and David, who are both big sci-fi fans, talk about economics in the Star Trek and Star Wars sagas. David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Izabella Kaminska's Twitter: @izakaminska David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Izabella Kaminska's FT bio and archive: http://ftalphaville.ft.com/meet-the-team/izabella-kaminska/ Related links: "You see, money doesn't exist in the 24th century" – Izabella Kaminska http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/10/12/2142030/you-see-money-doesnt-exist-in-the-24th-century/ Even lower rates? "Thanks but no thanks" say banks everywhere – Izabella Kaminska http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/07/11/2168870/even-lower-rates-thanks-but-no-thanks-say-banks-everywhere/ Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek – Manu Saadia https://www.amazon.com/Trekonomics-Economics-Star-Manu-Saadia/dp/1941758754 It's a Trap: Emperor Palpatine's Poison Pill – Zachary Feinstein https://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.09054.pdf

Claudio Borio is the director of the monetary and economic department at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). He joins the show to discuss his career in monetary policy, banking, and macroprudential regulation. In particular, he and David discuss problems afflicting the Eurozone and how to address massive financial imbalances across the world. David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Claudio's bio and research: https://www.bis.org/author/claudio_borio.htm David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Related links: "Revisiting Three Intellectual Pillars of Monetary Policy" by Claudio Borio http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2016/5/cj-v36n2-1.pdf

Andrew Levin is a professor of economics at Dartmouth College and a former Federal Reserve Board economist. For two years, he worked as a special adviser to Chairman Ben Bernanke and Vice Chair Janet Yellen. He joins the podcast to discuss his experiences at the Fed and the need for more accountability. His ideas include increasing transparency, setting term limits, and fostering diversity of thought and background among its members. David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Andy Levin's Twitter: @AndrewTLevin David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Andy Levin's bio: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~alevin/ Related links: Dartmouth College Q&A with Professor Andy Levin http://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2016/09/qa-with-economics-professor-andrew-levin How Andy proposes to reform the Fed: http://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-levins-4-radical-fed-changes-2016-4 http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-04-11/former-yellen-adviser-proposes-sweeping-reform-of-fed-system http://www.wsj.com/articles/former-fed-adviser-activists-lay-out-a-plan-for-change-at-the-fed-1460400788 https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomchistorical2008.htm

Law professor Morgan Ricks discusses his book 'The Money Problem' which argues that shadow banking institutions create instability in the financial system. He proposes that only properly chartered, FDIC-insured banks issue short-term liabilities to solve this problem. The podcast also explores topics such as the causes of the financial crisis, the role of panic, and the potential solutions of narrow banking and government intervention in the shadow banking system.

Ryan Avent is an economics columnist for The Economist and author of the new book, The Wealth of Humans: Work, Power, and Status in the Twenty-First Century. He joins the show to discuss his new book, which explores how the Digital Revolution is dramatically changing the economy and our lives. He also discusses how he previously worked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and as a private sector consultant before moving to journalism. Finally, David and Ryan talk about economic angst both in the United States and abroad as well as some sound macroeconomic policies to address this. David's Twitter: @davidbeckworth David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Ryan Avent's Twitter: @ryanavent Ryan Avent's website: http://www.ryanavent.com/blog/?page_id=6 Related links: http://www.economist.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Humans-Status-Twenty-first-Century/dp/1250075807

Michael Bordo, Professor of economics and director of the Center for Monetary and Financial History at Rutgers University, discusses his research with Anna Schwartz and compares the Great Recession with the Great Depression. He challenges the assumption that financial crises lead to slow recoveries. They also talk about the history of American banking law and how it hindered economic growth. Michael gives advice on being a successful monetary historian.

Peter Ireland is the Murray and Monti 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. He joins the show to discuss his experience as a student at the University of Chicago as well as the nuts and bolts of how the Federal Reserve sets out to achieve its short-, medium-, and long-term objectives. David and Peter also discuss the role of monetary aggregates in monetary policy. Economists largely don't pay much attention to the traditional simple-sum measures of the money supply anymore, but Ireland argues that more complex measures of money, called Divisia indices, can teach us a lot about the stance of monetary policy. [To learn more about the upcoming conference, Monetary Rules for a Post-Crisis World, co-hosted by the Mercatus Center and the Cato Institute, and register, please click the link below. You can also watch the conference online by clicking the link.] http://mercatus.org/content/register-monetary-rules-post-crisis-world David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Peter Ireland's personal website: https://www2.bc.edu/peter-ireland/ Peter Ireland's Boston college profile: http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/economics/faculty-and-staff/faculty-listing/peter-ireland.html David's Twitter: @davidbeckworth Peter Ireland's Twitter: @PIrelandatBC Related links: The Shadow Open Market Committee http://shadowfed.org/ A "Working" Solution to the Question of Nominal GDP Targeting by Peter Ireland and Michael Belongia https://dlib.bc.edu/islandora/object/bc-ir:103357/datastream/PDF/view

Hugh Rockoff is a professor of economics at Rutgers University and has done extensive work in U.S. monetary history. He joins the show to discuss the criteria for an ideal monetary union and argues that the U.S. didn't really become an optimal currency area until the 1930s. David and Hugh then discuss whether a present-day example, the Eurozone, fits these criteria. They also talk about interesting chapters in U.S. monetary history, including the Civil War, the Free Banking Era, and the bimetallism debate of the late 1800s. [To learn more about the upcoming conference, Monetary Rules for a Post-Crisis World, co-hosted by the Mercatus Center and the Cato Institute, and register, please click the link below. You can also watch the conference online by clicking the link.] http://mercatus.org/monetaryconference?utm_source=MacroMusingsPodcast&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=MonetaryRules David's blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ Hugh Rockoff's homepage: http://econweb.rutgers.edu/rockoff/ David's Twitter: @davidbeckworth Related links History of the American Economy by Hugh Rockoff and Gary M. Walton https://www.amazon.com/History-American-Economy-Economics-Titles/dp/1111822921 "How Long Did It Take the United States to Become an Optimal Currency Area?" (National Bureau of Economic Research) http://www.nber.org/papers/h0124 "The Wizard of Oz as a Monetary Allegory" (The Journal of Political Economy) https://www.unc.edu/~salemi/Econ006/Rockoff.pdf The Free Banking Era: A Re-Examination (Dissertations in American Economic History) https://www.amazon.com/Free-Banking-Era-Re-Examination-Dissertations/dp/0405072155

Economics professor Douglas Irwin discusses free trade, US trade history, and the gold standard. They explore the impact of import shocks from China, the benefits of trade policies, and France's role in the Great Depression.