Macro Musings with David Beckworth

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.
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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

David Zaring is legal scholar and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In David's first appearance on the show, he discusses the role the Great Financial Crisis played in FinReg scholarship, how he came up with the term "skinny" in the new skinny Fed master accounts, the tumultuous road of Custodia vs. the Fed, a reimagined way to look at federal bank charters, whether commerce and banking are actually still separate, Fed independence and how it functions in a more corporatist model, 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 April 24th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:04 - The Great Financial Crisis and FinReg Scholarship
00:04:58 - David's Experience with Fintech Charter Litigation
00:17:18 - Skinny Charters
00:37:16 - How to Govern the Fed
00:55:10 - Outro

Bill Beach is the former commissioner of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the current executive director of the Fiscal Lab on Capitol Hill. In Bill's first appearance on the show he discusses a career in and around public service, the important niche his new organization fills, the frightening fiscal outlook of the United States, exactly how long we have before Social Security runs out, why he believes it will take lots of small changes instead of a big one to fix our fiscal outlook, the important role of the BLS, why our statistical methods needs reform, the most underrated economic statistical indicators, 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 April 15th, 2026
Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:25 - Bill's Career
00:10:11 - Fiscal Lab on Capitol Hill
00:17:23 - Fiscal Challenges of the United States
00:30:05 - Surveys from Bureau of Labor Statistics
00:43:12 - Challenges to Survey Work
00:52:13 - Outro