James Bullard was the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis from 2008 to 2023, and he is currently the dean of the Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business at Purdue University. James is also a previous guest of the show, and he rejoins David on Macro Musings to talk about his time at the Fed, FAIT, and the upcoming Fed framework review. Specifically, James and David also discuss how to improve the FOMC’s economic reporting, the case for implementing nominal GDP targeting, the future of R-star, and much more.

Transcript for this week’s episode.

James’s St. Louis Fed bio

James’s Purdue University profile

David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings

Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot!

Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!

Join the Macro Musings mailing list!

Check out our Macro Musings merch!

Related Links:

*R-Star Wars: The Phantom Menace* - A presentation by James Bullard at the 34th Annual National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Economic Policy Conference

*Demand Shocks as Technology Shocks* by Yan Bai, Jose-Victor Rios-Rull, and Kjetil Storesletten

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:03:10) – Defining the St. Louis Fed and Bullard’s Fed Tenure

(00:09:58) – Comparing FAIT and Nominal GDP Targeting

(00:15:55) – Assessing the Current FAIT Framework

(00:25:37) – Evaluating the Recent V-Shaped Recovery

(00:29:28) – What to Expect from the Upcoming Fed Framework Review

(00:33:31) – Improving the FOMC’s Economic Reporting

(00:37:46) – The Case for Nominal GDP Targeting

(00:50:24) – The Future of R-Star

(00:53:52) – Outro

Josh Lipsky is the senior director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. Josh joins David on Macro Musings to talk about the tools of financial statecraft, how they have evolved over the years, and their implications for digital currencies moving forward. Specifically, David and Josh also discuss how financial statecraft would be applied to a possible conflict with China, the current state of the cross-border payments system, the future of wholesale CBDC in the US, and much more.

Transcript for this week’s episode.

Josh’s Twitter: @joshualipsky

Josh’s Atlantic Council profile

David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings

Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot!

Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!

Join the Macro Musings mailing list!

Check out our Macro Musings merch!

Related Links:

*Sanctioning China in a Taiwan Crisis: Scenarios and Risks* by Charlie Vest, Agatha Kratz, Juliana Bouchaud, Josh Lipsky, Kimberly Donovan, Charles Lichfield, and Niels Graham.

*The Geopolitical Imperative to Upgrade the Dollar* by Jordan Bleicher and Josh Lipsky

*Stablecoins and National Security: Learning the Lessons of Eurodollars* by Timothy Massad

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:04:02) – The Russia Sanctions as an Example of Financial Statecraft

(00:10:14) – The Financing of the Russia-Ukraine War

(00:14:08) – The Delicacy of Legal Precedents and the REPO Act

(00:19:10) – Breaking Down the Tools of Financial Statecraft

(00:22:08) – Applying Financial Statecraft to a Possible China Conflict

(00:28:52) – Cross-border Payments and the Global Status of the US Dollar

(00:34:05) – Breaking Down the Development and Geopolitical Importance of mBridge

(00:38:34) – The Future and Importance of Wholesale CBDC in the US

(00:43:28) – Private Sector Alternatives to CBDCs

(00:45:05) – Where is the CBDC Conversation Headed?

(00:49:25) – Closing Thoughts: The 80th Anniversary of Bretton Woods and the Future of Dollar Dominance

(00:52:48) – Outro

Steven Kelly is the Associate Director of Research at the Yale Program on Financial Stability and is also a returning guest to the podcast. Steven rejoins David on Macro Musings to talk about the financial stability implications of the discount window. David and Steven also discuss the issues with FHLBs, how to fix the challenge of reporting requirements, restarting the term auction facility and committed liquidity facilities, and much more.

Transcript for this week’s episode.

Steven’s Twitter: @StevenKelly49

Steven’s blog: Without Warning

David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings

Check out our new AI chatbot: the Macro Musebot!

Join the new Macro Musings Discord server!

Join the Macro Musings mailing list!

Check out our Macro Musings merch!

Related Links:

*Domestic Liquidity Provision During Potential Crises* - a panel discussion featuring Steven Kelly, Bill Nelson, Susan McLaughlin, and Luc Laeven at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s 2024 Financial Markets Conference

*Weekly Fed Report Still Drives Discount Window Stigma* by Steven Kelly

*The New Bagehot Project* - an initiative by the Yale Program on Financial Stability

*Forward Guidance: Something Old and Something New: Two Potential, Beneficial Discount Window Facilities* by Bill Nelson

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:01:02) – The Yale Program on Financial Stability and Steven’s Role

(00:07:04) – Building a Resilient Regulatory Framework

(00:12:45) – Addressing Issues in the Discount Window

(00:21:37) – Responding to Criticism of Liquidity Regulations

(00:27:22) – Fixing the Challenge of Reporting Requirements

(00:33:29) – Restarting the Term Auction Facility and Committed Liquidity Facilities

(00:37:24) – Addressing the Issue with FHLBs

(00:45:26) – Additional Thoughts from the Atlanta Fed Conference Panel

(00:50:59) – Could Increased Use of the Discount Window Cause a Shift in the Fed’s Operating System?

(00:54:44) – Outro