Macro Musings with David Beckworth

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 law at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Yesha, Chris, and Andrea join the show to discuss their avenues into stablecoin regulation, their four-part definition of moneyness (nature of the claim, safety, discharge capacity, and negotiability), how Tether and Circle stack up to these definitions, the stablecoin bankruptcy conundrum, the progress the GENIUS Act made on closing legal loopholes, their prescriptions for policymakers, and much more.  
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Recorded on May 20th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:26 - Career Backgrounds of Chris, Yesha, and Andrea
00:02:35 - Background on the Paper
00:06:52 - Structure of Money
00:17:33 - Moneyness: Nature of the Claim
00:22:37 - Moneyness: Safety
00:23:45 - Moneyness: Discharge Capacity
00:30:50 - Moneyness: Negotiability
00:31:55 - How Stablecoins Currently Hold Up in Moneyness
00:58:18 - Recommendations to Policymakers
01:10:51 - Outro

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 much more.
Watch the full length video on our new YouTube Channel!
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on May 20th, 2026
Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:56 - Fed Treasury Accord
00:18:26 - Fiscal Dominance
00:22:05 - Jeff's Five Proposals
00:49:05 - Charlie Plosser
00:55:49 - Outro

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 use stablecoins as statecraft, and much more.
Watch the full length video on our new YouTube Channel!
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on May 5th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:49 - Nik's Career and Background
00:12:32 - Crypto Assets for Transactions
00:18:28 - Quantum Computing and Bitcoin
00:24:08 - Stablecoins as Statecraft
00:58:36 - Outro

Bryan Cutsinger is an assistant professor of economics at the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University. Peter Ireland is a professor of Economics at Boston College. Will Luther is an associate professor of economics at the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University and is the director of the American Institute for Economic Research's Sound Money Project. Bryan, Peter, and Will return to the show to discuss the big takeaways from the 2025 Fed framework review, the flip flopping of FIT to FAIT back to FIT, the biggest lessons from the 2020 Fed framework review, the case for NGDP targeting at the Fed, hope for future reviews, and much more.
Watch the full length video on our new YouTube Channel!
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on May 6th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:51 - Origins of Bryan, Will, and Peter's Paper
00:03:40 - Big Takeaways
00:06:14 - The Fed's 2020 Framework Review
00:12:43 - Lessons Learned from 2020 Review
00:14:38 - Nominal GDP Targeting and Productivity Shocks
00:26:59 - Reviewing the Fed's 2025 Framework Review
00:57:20 - Hopes for the Future
01:03:06 - Outro

Brendan Greeley is a veteran journalist from the Financial Times and current PhD student at Princeton studying monetary history. In Brendan's first appearance on the show, he discusses why he went for a PhD after being a journalist for 20 years, why the dollar's history goes far beyond America's founding, when America actually achieved a currency union, the untold origins of the dollar, how Herbert and Lou Hoover's date nights played a role in the history of the dollar, the crucial importance of Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz in understanding the dollar's history, the happy accident of Eurodollars, what the future of dollars looks like, and much more.
Watch the full length video on our new YouTube Channel!
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on May 4th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:12 - Brendan's Career
00:06:27 - How Old Is the Dollar?
00:25:24 - Where Did the Dollar Start?
00:38:11 - The Modern Dollar
00:57:08 - Future of the Dollar
01:01:59 - Outro