Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Ed Nelson, former student and co-author of Bennett McCallum, joins David to discuss McCallum's life, work, and legacy in monetary economics. They cover topics such as McCallum's contributions to the rational expectations revolution, his views on nominal GDP targeting, and his perspective on monetary policy. Nelson also shares a story about McCallum's expressive nature during conversations and presentations.

Sam Hammond, senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, talks about AI, techno-feudalism, and the future of the state. They discuss the current AI environment, potential obsolescence of federal agencies, impact of AI on government structures, and personal branding in the future. They also explore the rise of AI-generated content in entertainment and the establishment of a techno-feudalistic state by 2040.

Marc Goldwein, Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, discusses the challenges and structures of the US government budget. Topics include government shutdowns, inflationary episodes, and reform strategies for Medicare and Social Security.

Lev Menand, associate professor of law, and Josh Younger, senior policy advisor, discuss their paper on Treasury market liquidity as a legal phenomenon. They cover the transition from bank to market financing, the impact of increasing debt on instability, recent regulations on the primary dealer system, and restoring balance between public debt and money creation.

Thomas Hoenig, former vice chair of the FDIC, discusses public debt sustainability, the US banking system, and more. Topics include the Treasury market, US current accounts deficit, Fed's role as Treasury Market backstop, risk-weighted capital regulation, and challenges in selling Treasury debt.

Robert McCauley, senior fellow at the Global Development Policy Center, discusses the basics of a bond market run and the policy reaction to the 2020 'Dash for Cash'. They also delve into concerns with corporate bond facilities and the effectiveness of the Federal Reserve's interventions in stabilizing the bond market.

Joe Gagnon, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former senior staffer at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, joins the podcast to discuss Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech. They cover topics such as the future direction of r star, current inflationary trends and the Phillips curve, the Fed's commitment to a two percent inflation target, and more.

Nicholas Anthony from the Cato Institute joins to discuss CBDCs, including arguments for and against, concerns in implementing a retail version, costs of development, legislative developments, concerns surrounding CBDCs, and prospects and challenges.

John Coates, professor of law and economics, discusses his book 'The Problem of Twelve: When a Few Financial Institutions Control Everything' on Macro Musings. They explore the rise of index funds and private equity, their impact on corporate governance, concerns with collusion and conflicts of interest, the influence on capitalism and markets, size and listings on stock exchanges, and potential solutions to the issue of concentrated financial institution control.

Zac Gross is a senior lecturer at Monash University and was formerly an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. Zac joins Macro Musings to talk about the Australian central bank and the recent review of its framework. Specifically, David and Zac also break down Australian monetary policy over the past few decades, the RBA's yield curve control experiment, the future of its operating system, and a lot more. Transcript for this week's episode. Zac's Twitter: @ZacGross Zac's website Zac's Substack David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our new Macro Musings merch! Related Links: *Assessing Australian Monetary Policy in the Twenty-First Century* By Isaac Gross and Andrew Leigh *An RBA Fit for the Future* by Gordon de Brouwer, Renee Fry-McKibbin, and Carolyn Wilkins