Aditi Sahasrabuddhe on the Role Central Banker Relationships Play in Economic Crises
Aditi Sahasrabuddhe is a political scientist at Brown University and the author of the new book, Banker’s Trust: How Social Relations Avert Global Financial Collapse. In Aditi’s first appearance on the show, she discusses how central bankers’ relationships in the 1920’s impacted the global economy, how the ending of those relationships played a part in the Great Depression, how we can apply those principles to the Great Recession and the present, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on July 30th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:50 - Aditi’s Intellectual Journey 00:03:57 - Louis Franck at the National Bank of Belgium 00:05:46 - Relationships and Crisis 00:11:07 - Central Bank Club 00:17:06 - Central Bankers and the Butterfly Effect 00:22:33 - Montagu Norman and Benjamin Strong 00:32:06 - Émile Moreau 00:34:48 - Japan 00:38:11 - Benjamin Strong and the Great Depression 00:48:55 - Great Financial Crisis 00:51:18 - India 00:55:25 - Jerome Powell the Central Banker 00:58:23 - Outro
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Will Luther and Josh Hendrickson on the Future of Bitcoin
Will Luther is an associate professor of economics at Florida Atlantic University and a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute. Josh Hendrickson is a professor of economics and the chair of the economics department at the University of Mississippi. Josh is also a fellow at BPI. Will and Josh return to the show to defend the idea of a strategic Bitcoin reserve, discuss the future of Bitcoin, and contend with the problem of Bitcoiners, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on June 25th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Will Luther on X: @WilliamJLuther Follow Josh Hendrickson on X: @RebelEconProf Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:39 - Strategic Bitcoin Reserve 00:23:33 - Future of Bitcoin 00:45:07 - Scaling Bitcoin 00:50:46 - Outro
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Rashad Ahmed on the Global Impact of US Stablecoin Regulation and Crypto Adoption
Rashad Ahmed is a former Treasury and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency financial economist and is currently an economist at the upstart Andresen Institute for Finance and Economics. In Rashad’s first appearance on the show, he discusses the real-world impacts of the GENIUS Act, what US stablecoin regulation means for the rest of the world, the state of crypto adoption, and much more.  Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on June 27th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Rashad Ahmed on X: @VARshad_ Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Bumper 00:00:31 - Intro 00:01:44 - Rashad’s Career 00:07:33 - Global State of Crypto 00:23:48 - Stablecoins and Safe Asset Prices 00:40:00 - Sovereign Default Risk and Cryptocurrency Adoption 00:56:51 - Outro
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Paul Kupiec on Problems with the Fed’s Balance Sheet and Calls to End Interest on Reserves
Paul Kupiec is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In Paul’s first appearance on the show, he discusses life at a think tank, the insolvency of the Fed, theories on how to fix the Fed’s balance sheet, Ted Cruz’s call to end interest on reserves, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on June 24th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:14 - Paul’s Career 00:08:12 - Think Tanks 00:10:42 - Current State of the Fed’s Balance Sheet 00:20:22 - The Federal Reserve and Gold 00:23:04 - The Fed’s Unique Accounting 00:39:28 - Ending Interest on Reserve Payments to Banks 00:50:08 - Outro
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George Hall on the Fiscal Consequences of the US War on COVID
Check out David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus for a special 500th episode post! George Hall is a professor of economics at Brandeis University and formerly worked as an economist at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank. George returns to the show to discuss the current fiscal status of the US, how the Big Beautiful Bill will impact the fiscal outlook going forward, the history of running deficits in the US, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links. Recorded on June 24th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow George on X: @George_J_Hall Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Bumper 00:00:29 - Intro 00:01:55 - Current US Fiscal Status 00:05:45 - What Is Inflation? 00:10:18 - Fiscal Consequences of the US War with COVID 00:23:21 - World War COVID 00:25:05 - Before and After War 00:34:02 - Financing with Inflation 00:38:47 - World War II Period vs. Today 00:38:47 - World War II Period vs. Today 00:44:19 - Who Bears the Fed’s Losses? 00:47:14 - How to Foot the Big, Beautiful Bill 00:52:10 - Outro
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.
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