Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Scott Sumner is the Ralph G. Hawtrey Chair Emeritus of Monetary Policy and the founder of the Monetary Policy Program at Mercatus. Scott returns to the show, to discuss his life post Mercatus, nominal GDP counterfactuals of the pandemic and the Great Financial Crisis, the role of QE in inflation, the fears about Fed independence, and much more.
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on January 15th, 2025
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:34 - Scott's Life Post Mercatus
00:05:28 - Nominal GDP Targeting
00:19:53 - Quantitative Easing
00:38:28 - Fed Framework Review
00:42:36 - Fed Independence
01:04:33 - Outro

Tyler Muir is a professor of finance at UCLA. In Tyler's first appearance on the show, he discusses how he became a leading scholar on quantitative easing, what things the Fed can learn in responding to crises, why QE matters, how QE transformed the bond market, the new "Tyler Rule", QE's role in the COVID Pandemic, and much more.
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on January 8th, 2025
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:33 - Tyler's Background
00:08:36 - Financial Crisis and Risk Premium
00:14:40 - Intermediaries and Asset Prices
00:22:18 - QE and Why It Matters
00:28:40 - QE and the Bond Market
00:32:38 - The Tyler Rule
00:37:51 - When Selling Goes Viral
00:41:01 - QE During COVID
00:49:26 - Shrinking the Fed's Balance Sheet
00:55:03 - Outro

Richard Berner is the former director of the Office of Financial Research and was a counselor of the Treasury Secretary. In Richard's first appearance on the show, he discusses a career that included public service and Wall Street, the fragility of global liquidity, the implications of fiscal dominance, the expansion of private credit, the 2023 SVB banking turmoil, and much more.
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on January 7th, 2025
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:57- Dick's Career
00:07:46 - Fragility of Global Liquidity
00:17:29 - Post-GFC Regulations
00:25:29 - Fiscal Dominance
00:36:23 - Private Credit
00:48:09 - Banking Turmoil of 2023
01:01:149 - Outro

Aaron Klein is a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. Aaron returns to the show to discuss his paper with George Selgin calling for real time payments, the inequality caused by the Fed's current payment processes, the results of Covid time QE, recommendations for dealing with future crises, and much more.
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on December 11th, 2025
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:06- Faster Payments
00:29:09 - Fed Governance
00:30:35 - Quantitative Easing and Housing Inflation Post-COVID
00:52:16 - Fed Assets
01:01:149 - Outro

Per Åsberg Sommar is a senior advisor in the markets department at the Swedish central bank. In Per's first appearance on the show, he discusses his career as a central banker, the history of the Riksbank, evolutions in inflation targeting at the Riksbank, changes in the Sweden's central banks operating system, its new tool called the Deposit Requirement Facility, and much more.
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on December 12th, 2025
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:08 - Per's Career
00:04:02 - Riksbank
00:09:07 - Inflation Targeting at Riksbank
00:11:56 - Riksbank's Operating System
00:15:39 - Certificate of Deposits
00:33:42 - Quantitative Tightening
00:36:42 - The Deposit Requirement Facility
00:45:38 - Other Central Banks and Demand-Driven Systems
00:58:16 - Outro