Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Jeffrey Lacker is a senior affiliated scholar at the Mercatus Center, and he previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, where he served as its president from 2004 to 2017. Jeff is also a returning guest to the podcast, and he rejoins David on Macro Musings to talk about the history of the Federal Reserve’s credit policy, as well as a recent Shadow Open Market Committee conference.   Transcript for this week’s episode.   Jeffrey’s website Jeffrey’s Mercatus profile   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!   Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch!   Related Links:   *A 50-Year Retrospective on the Shadow Open Market Committee and its Role in Monetary Policy* — A conference hosted by the Hoover Institution   *From the “Lender of Last Resort” to “Too Big to Fail” to “Financial System Savior”: Federal Reserve Credit Policy and the Shadow Open Market Committee* by Jeffrey Lacker   *Last Resort Lending: Classical Thought vs. Modern Federal Reserve Practice* by Jeffrey Lacker   Timestamps:   (00:00:00) – Intro   (00:01:47) – The Shadow Open Market Committee and its Contributions Throughout Time   (00:05:32) – Highlights from the Recent Shadow Open Market Committee Conference   (00:10:17) – From FAIT Back to FIT?   (00:14:07) – *Federal Reserve Credit Policy and the Shadow Open Market Committee*: Motivation and Summary   (00:16:05) – Breaking Down the Difference Between Credit Policy and Monetary Policy   (00:22:10) – The Four Doctrines of Fed Lending: The Monetary Stability Doctrine   (00:28:56) – The Four Doctrines of Fed Lending: The Real Bills Doctrine   (00:34:49) – The Four Doctrines of Fed Lending: Warburg’s Mercantilism   (00:39:11) – The Four Doctrines of Fed Lending: Too-big-to-fail and the Reluctant Samaritan   (00:47:45) – Solutions for Improving the System Moving Forward   (00:55:25) – Outro

Zachary Mazlish is an economist at the University of Oxford, and he joins David on Macro Musings to explain some recent and important macroeconomic developments, specifically the inflation linkages to the 2024 presidential election and the macroeconomic implications of transformative AI. David and Zach also discuss transformative AI’s impact on asset pricing, optimal monetary policy in world of high growth, the causes of the slowdown in trend productivity, and more.   Transcript for this week’s  episode.   Zach’s Twitter: @ZMazlish Zach’s Substack Zach’s website   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!   Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch!   Related Links:   *Yes, Inflation Made the Median Voter Poorer* by Zachary Mazlish   *Transformative AI, Existential Risk, and Real Interest Rates* by Trevor Chow, Basil Halperin, and Zachary Mazlish   *Decomposing the Great Stagnation: Baumol’s Cost Disease vs. “Ideas Are Getting Hard to Find”* by Basil Halperin and Zachary Mazlish   *The Unexpected Compression: Competition at Work in the Low Wage Labor Market* by David Autor, Arin Dube, and Annie McGrew   Timestamps:   (00:00:00) – Intro   (00:04:03) – Inflation Made the Median Voter Poorer: Comparing Periods of Wage Growth   (00:15:26) – Inflation Made the Median Voter Poorer: The Median Change in the Wage   (00:22:19) – Assessing the Feedback to Zachary’s Article   (00:25:05) – The Significance of Transformative AI and its Double-Edged Sword   (00:27:02) – The Impact of Transformative AI on Asset Pricing and its Policy Challenges   (00:38:07) – The Broader Macroeconomic Effects of Rapid Growth   (00:41:05) – Optimal Monetary Policy in a World of High Growth   (00:43:19) – Exploring the Causes of the Productivity Slowdown   (00:49:21) – Outro

Ellen Correia Golay is an advisor in the Markets Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, focusing on the US Treasury market. She also helped lead an interagency working group report and a recent conference on the Treasury market. Ellen joins David on Macro Musings to talk about these and other Treasury-related developments. Ellen and David also discuss her career journey and role at the New York Fed, the current and future challenges in the Treasury Market, necessary areas for reform, and more.   DISCLAIMER: Ellen Correia Golay’s views are her own, and they do not represent those of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System.   Transcript for this week’s episode.   Register now for Building a Better Fed Framework: The AIER Monetary Conference.   Ellen’s LinkedIn profile   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!   Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch!   Related Links:   *Enhancing the Resilience of the U.S. Treasury Market: 2024 Staff Progress Report* by the Inter-Agency Working Group on Treasury Market Surveillance (IAWG)   *The 2024 U.S. Treasury Market Conference* — An event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York   Timestamps:   (00:00:00) – Intro   (00:03:09) – Ellen’s Career Journey and Role at the New York Fed   (00:17:13) – Breaking Down the Treasury Market   (00:20:38) – Current and Future Challenges in the Treasury Market   (00:29:54) – How Would Central Clearing Impact the Fed and the Treasury Market?   (00:31:47) – Explaining the Treasury Department Buyback Program   (00:36:12) – Commencement of Data Dissemination on Individual Nominal Coupon Treasury Transactions   (00:38:29) – Requiring the Reporting of Non-Centrally Cleared Bilateral Repos   (00:41:26) – The 2024 U.S. Treasury Market Conference   (00:43:50) – Future Areas for Reform in the Treasury Market   (00:46:43) – Outro

Emil Verner is an associate professor of finance at MIT Sloan and is a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Emil has written widely on financial stability, banking panics, and credit booms, and he joins David on Macro Musings to talk about these issues. Specifically, David and Emil also discuss the causes and policy implications of bank failures, the shortcomings of the Diamond-Dybvig model of bank runs, how financial crises spur the rise of populism, and much more.   Transcript for this week’s episode.   Register now for Building a Better Fed Framework: The AIER Monetary Conference.   Emil’s Twitter: @EmilVerner Emil’s website   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot! Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!   Join the Macro Musings mailing list! Check out our Macro Musings merch!   Related Links:   *Failing Banks* by Sergio Correia, Stephan Luck, and Emil Verner   *Banking Crises Without Panics* by Matthew Baron, Emil Verner, and Wei Xiong   *Financial Crisis, Creditor-Debor Conflict, and Populism* by Gyozo Gyongyosi and Emil Verner   *Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit* by Charles Calomiris and Stephen Haber   *Going to Extremes: Politics After Financial Crises, 1870-2014* by Manuel Funke, Moritz Schularick, and Christoph Trebesch   Timestamps:   (00:00:00) – Intro   (00:03:45) – Why Do We Care About Banking Panics and Financial Stability?   (00:05:42) – Breaking Down the Causes of Bank Failures and its Policy Implications   (00:13:38) – Exploring the Historical Banking Data   (00:15:59) – *Failing Banks*: Key Findings and Takeaways   (00:24:00) – *Banking Crises Without Panics*   (00:28:05) – Responding to the Diamond-Dybvig Model of Bank Runs   (00:33:29) – Applying the Bank Solvency Story to the Great Financial Crisis   (00:36:16) – The Impact of Credit Booms   (00:40:56) – What Are the Necessary Policy Prescriptions?   (00:43:08) – Why is Diamond-Dybvig So Popular?   (00:47:01) – *Financial Crisis, Creditor-Debtor Conflict, and Populism*   (00:52:55) – How Do We Stem the Tide of Populism in the Future?   (00:54:36) – Outro