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Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Mercatus Center at George Mason University 552 episodes Latest Jun 1, 2026

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. The podcast features in-depth interviews with economists and policymakers, exploring topics like monetary policy, fiscal policy, and economic history. It aims to make complex economic ideas accessible to a broad audience.

Episodes

Bryan Cutsinger, Peter Ireland, and Will Luther on Lessons Learned from the Fed Framework Review Jun 8, 2026 01:03:46  Bryan Cutsinger is an assistant professor of economics at the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University. Peter Ireland is a professor of Economics at Boston College. Will Luther is an associate professor of economics at the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University and is the director of the American Institute for Economic Research's Sound Money Project. Bryan, Peter, and Will
Brendan Greeley on the 500 Year History of the Dollar Jun 1, 2026 01:02:40 Brendan Greeley is a veteran journalist from the Financial Times and current PhD student at Princeton studying monetary history. In Brendan's first appearance on the show, he discusses why he went for a PhD after being a journalist for 20 years, why the dollar's history goes far beyond America's founding, when America actually achieved a currency union, the untold origins of the dollar, how Herbe
David Zaring on Skinny Charters and the Future of Banking May 25, 2026 55:50  David Zaring is legal scholar and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In David's first appearance on the show, he discusses the role the Great Financial Crisis played in FinReg scholarship, how he came up with the term "skinny" in the new skinny Fed master accounts, the tumultuous road of Custodia vs. the Fed, a reimagined way to look at federal bank charters, whether commerce and banki
Bill Beach on the Future of United States' Economic Statistics and Fiscal Position May 18, 2026 52:53 Bill Beach is the former commissioner of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the current executive director of the Fiscal Lab on Capitol Hill. In Bill's first appearance on the show he discusses a career in and around public service, the important niche his new organization fills, the frightening fiscal outlook of the United States, exactly how long we have before Social Security runs out, why
Tyler Goodspeed on Challenging the Way Economists Look at Recessions May 11, 2026 01:01:06 Tyler Goodspeed is the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors and is currently a chief economist in the private sector. In Tyler's first appearance on the podcast he discusses his new book highlighting a different way of looking at recessions, the challenge of breaking away from the human inclination of ascribing patterns to random phenomena, whether recessions are more Dorian Gray o
Peter Conti-Brown and David Beckworth on All Things Financial Regulation May 4, 2026 54:56 Recorded live in front of the Wharton Financial Regulation Conference, former guest Peter Conti-Brown joins David Beckworth as a Macro Musings co-host on this week's episode. Peter and David discuss the inflection point of 2008 in FinReg scholarship, how Macro Musings has become just as much a show about financial regulation as about macro, what to make of the Trump administrations changes to ban
Basil Halperin on Macroeconomic Policy in an Age of Transformative AI Apr 27, 2026 56:21 Basil Halperin is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Virginia. In Basil's first appearance on the show he discusses the famous but flawed Citrini essay, why Silicon Valley's growth expectations aren't showing up yet in interest rates, the impact of Less Than Zero by George Selgin, what the true frictions in the economy are, the differences between Calvo and menu-cost pricing
Rich Clarida on Navigating Monetary Policy in Choppy Waters Apr 20, 2026 52:16 Rich Clarida was the vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and is currently a professor of economics at Columbia University and a managing director at PIMCO. Rich returns to the program to discuss whether we give the Fed too little credit for its soft landing, the problem of persistent inflation, how the Fed should respond to rapidly succeeding negative supply shocks,
Kris Mitchener on What Actually Anchors the Price Level Apr 13, 2026 56:02 Kris Mitchener is a professor of economics at Santa Clara University and is an economic and monetary historian. In Kris's first appearance on the show, he discusses how he fell in love with building data sets out of old dusty archives, the origins and fall of bimetallism, the pros and cons of the gold standard, the problem of operating losses on the Fed's balance sheet, what truly anchors the pri
Steve Kamin and Mark Sobel on the Outlook of Dollar Dominance Apr 6, 2026 01:01:20 Steve Kamin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and was previously the director of the Division of International Finance at the Federal Reserve Board. Mark Sobel is the US chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum and is a veteran of the US Department of Treasury. Steve and Mark return to the show to discuss the status of dollar dominance, the future t
Ruth Judson on Chasing Dollars Around the World Mar 30, 2026 50:35 Ruth Judson is a monetary economist, economic historian, and veteran of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. In Ruth's first appearance on the show she discusses her career at the Fed, field trips tracking counterfeit dollars around the global, how we know how much currency is held overseas, why money doesn't matter anymore, the problem with cashless societies, how to understand TIC data, the
Bill Nelson on the Future of the Fed's Balance Sheet Mar 23, 2026 55:32 Bill Nelson is a chief research officer and chief economist at the Bank Policy Institute. In Bill's 10th appearance on the show he discusses his infamous email list, the ratchet effect from QE, his congressional testimony, the BPI's Bank Treasurers Survey, how he thinks the Fed should shrink the balance sheet, whether the Fed is profitable, and much more.   Watch the full length video on our new

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