# Macro Musings with David Beckworth 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. Page: Feed: --- ## [Ben Harris on AI, Fiscal Sustainability, and the Resilience of the U.S. Economy](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/ben-harris-on-ai-fiscal-sustainability-and-the-resilience-of-the-us-economy) _2026-08-24_ Ben Harris is vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution and previously served in senior economic policy roles at the Treasury Department and Council of Economic Advisers. Ben returns to the program to discuss why recent economic shocks have been less damaging than expected, the outlook for inflation and energy markets, whether AI can improve the U.S. fiscal… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-557-BenHarris-Podcast_mixdown.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [Bill Nelson on Shrinking the Fed's Balance Sheet and Reviving Interbank Markets](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/bill-nelson-on-shrinking-the-feds-balance-sheet-and-reviving-interbank-markets) _2026-08-17_ Bill Nelson is chief research officer and chief economist at the Bank Policy Institute and a former deputy director of the Division of Monetary Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board. In Bill's 11th appearance on the show, he discusses how central banks are rethinking their operating systems, the case for a smaller Fed balance sheet and more routine discount window borrowing, the revival of… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-556-BillNelson-Podcast-auphonic.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [Gianluca Benigno on Central Bank Balance Sheets, Stablecoins, and Nonlinear Inflation](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/gianluca-benigno-on-central-bank-balance-sheets-stablecoins-and-nonlinear-inflation) _2026-08-10_ Gianluca Benigno is a professor of economics at the University of Lausanne. Previously, he was a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and an economist at the Bank of England. Gianluca returns to the program to discuss financial r-star, the changing landscape of central bank balance sheets, the unique challenges facing the Swiss National Bank, how stablecoins could affect… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-555-GianlucaBenigno-Podcast-auphonic.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [Barry Eichengreen, Paul Blustein, and Brendan Greeley on Dollar Dominance](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/barry-eichengreen-paul-blustein-and-brendan-greeley-on-dollar-dominance) _2026-08-03_ Barry Eichengreen is a is well known author, economist, and economic historian from the University of California, Berkeley. Paul Blustein is a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal journalist who has authored several acclaimed books on global economic institutions. Brendan Greeley is a veteran journalist from the Financial Times and current PhD student at Princeton studying monetary… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-554-PaulBrendanBarry-Audio-Final.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [David Wessel on the Fed's Current Inflection Point](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/david-wessel-on-the-feds-current-inflection-point) _2026-07-27_ David Wessel is a senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings and is the director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy. In David's first appearance on the show, he discusses stories of the Greenspan Fed, what is was like in Europe when the euro was adopted, the legacy of the Powell Fed, his thoughts on the great man theory, the outlook for the Kevin Warsh Fed, the ongoing… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-553-DavidWessel-Podcast-Final.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [Sam Lyman on the Digital Payments Race Between the US and China](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/sam-lyman-on-the-digital-payments-race-between-the-us-and-china) _2026-07-20_ Sam Lyman is the head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute and formerly was a senior advisor and speechwriter for Treasury Secretary Bessent. In Sam's first appearance on the show, he discusses Secretary Bessent's secret skill, the competition in the digital payments space between the US and China, why the strategic Bitcoin reserve is important, what the future of Bitcoin holds, where… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-552-SamLyman-Audio-Final.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [Stephan Luck on What History can Teach Us about Financial Stability](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/stephan-luck-on-what-history-can-teach-us-about-financial-stability) _2026-07-13_ Stephan Luck is a Financial Research Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In Stephan's first appearance on the show, he discusses how the 2008 Great Financial Crisis shaped his career, how he and his coauthors leverage LLMs to comb through massive amounts of historical data, what this data can teach us about responding to bank failures, what people get wrong when they try and make… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-551-StephanLuck-Audio-Final.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [Barry Eichengreen on the History of Global Currencies](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/barry-eichengreen-on-the-history-of-global-currencies) _2026-07-06_ Barry Eichengreen is a well known author, economist, and economic historian from the University of California, Berkeley. In Barry's first appearance on the show he discusses a career in untangling the world's monetary history, the origins of his new book Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto , the first uses on currencies in the 7 th Century BC, the unexpected start of the… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-550-BarryEichengreen-Audio-Final.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [Yesha Yadav, Chris Odinet, and Andrea Tosato on the Moneyness of Stablecoins](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/yesha-yadav-chris-odinet-and-andrea-tosato-on-the-moneyness-of-stablecoins) _2026-06-29_ Yesha Yadav is a professor of law, the Milton R. Underwood Chair, the Associate Dean & Robert Belton Director of Culture & Community, and the Co-Faculty Director, Master of Laws (LL.M) Program at the Vanderbilt University Law School. Chris Odinet is a professor of law, Mosbacher Research Fellow, and Affiliate Professor of Finance at Texas A&M University School of Law. Andrea Tosato is professor of… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-549-YeshaChrisAndrea-AudioFinal.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [Jeffrey Lacker on What a New Fed Treasury Accord Might Look Like](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/jeffery-lacker-on-what-a-new-fed-treasury-accord-might-look-like) _2026-06-22_ Jeffrey Lacker is the former president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank and is a senior affiliated scholar at the Mercatus Center. Jeff returns to the show to discuss the history of the Fed Treasury Accord, the state of fiscal dominance, his five proposals for a new Fed Treasury Accord, his calls for reform around the discount window, a memorial to his friend and colleague Charlie Plosser, and… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-548-JeffLacker-Audio-Final.mp3?dest-id=865793) ## [AI QA That Opens Fix PRs (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/ojrm3gKlZy3U) _2026-06-22 · **Sponsored**_ Runs browser QA, files issues with repro evidence, and opens fix PRs. ## [Nik Bhatia on Bitcoin and the Case for Using Stablecoins for Statecraft](https://macromusings.libsyn.com/nik-bhatia-on-bitcoin-and-the-case-for-using-stablecoins-for-statecraft) _2026-06-15_ Nik Bhatia is an author of two economics books, a visiting fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute and the founder of The Bitcoin Layer. In Nik's first appearance on the podcast, he discusses his niche in the Bitcoin community, the role of Bitcoin as a transaction asset, the threat or lack thereof of quantum computing on Bitcoin, his issues with the current eurodollar market, his new proposal to… [Listen](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/macromusings/MM-547-NikBhatia-Audio-Final.mp3?dest-id=865793)