POPULARITY
George Selgin is a senior fellow and director emeritus of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia. He is the author of numerous books, including ‘The Theory of Free Banking', ‘Floored! How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession' and ‘The Menace of Fiscal QE'. George is one of the founders, with Kevin Dowd and Lawrence H. White, of the Modern Free Banking School, which draws its inspiration from the writings of F. A. Hayek on denationalization of money and choice in currency. In this podcast, we discuss how marine biology helps you understand economics, how the Fed fundamentally changed after the Global Financial Crisis, understanding the Fed's abundant reserves policy, and much more. Follow us here for more amazing insights: https://macrohive.com/home-prime/ https://twitter.com/Macro_Hive https://www.linkedin.com/company/macro-hive
Michael & Jonathan are joined by George Selgin. The discussion focuses on what is money vs. currency, considerations for monetary policy, Bitcoin, and Central Bank Digital Currencies. ABOUT GEORGE SELGIN George Selgin is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute and Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Georgia. His research covers a broad range of topics within the field of monetary economics, including monetary history, macroeconomic theory, and the history of monetary thought. He is the author of The Theory of Free Banking (Rowman & Littlefield, 1988); Good Money: Birmingham Button Makers, the Royal Mint, and the Beginnings of Modern Coinage (University of Michigan Press, 2008); Money: Free & Unfree (The Cato Institute, 2017); Less Than Zero: The Case for a Falling Price Level in a Growing Economy (The Cato Institute, 2018) and, most recently, Floored! How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession (The Cato Institute, 2018). He also contributed a chapter to libertarianism.org's Visions of Liberty. Selgin is one of the founders, with Kevin Dowd and Lawrence H. White, of the Modern Free Banking School, which draws its inspiration from the writings of F. A. Hayek on denationalization of money and choice in currency. Selgin has written for numerous scholarly journals, including the British Numismatic Journal; the Economic Journal; the Economic History Review; the Journal of Economic Literature; and the Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking; and for popular outlets such as the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal, among others. Selgin holds a BA in economics and zoology from Drew University, and a PhD in economics from New York University. Follow George on Twitter @GeorgeSelgin ABOUT DIGITAL DOLLAR SUBSCRIBE TO THE EMAIL INBOX UPDATES! https://digitaldollar.substack.com For more information about our sponsor, visit https://10xts.com for digital asset compliance solutions for financial services and capital markets. Follow us on Twitter @GoDigitalDollar --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/digitaldollar/message
George Selgin is the director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia, and a returning guest to show. For this special live episode, George joins Macro Musings to talk about his new book, *Floored: How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession.* David and George also discuss the liquidity coverage ratio, the Fed’s transition from a corridor to a floor system, and the arguments for and against such an operating system. Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/02252019/floors-and-corridors George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato Institute profile: https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin Related Links: *The Fed Marches On* by George Selgin https://www.alt-m.org/2019/01/31/the-fed-marches-on/ *Balance Sheet News* blog post by Stephen Williamson http://newmonetarism.blogspot.com/2019/02/balance-sheet-news_21.html David Beckworth’s Twitter thread on the Fed’s decision to stick with a floor system: https://twitter.com/DavidBeckworth/status/1098956723501576192 David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth
In October 2008, as the U.S. economy plunged, the Federal Reserve began paying interest on banks' reserve balances. The resulting switch to a "floor system" of monetary control, in which changes in the interest rate on reserves, rather than reserve creation or destruction, became the Fed's chief tool for influencing economic activity, was to have far-reaching consequences--almost all of them regrettable.Besides intensifying the downturn by causing banks to hoard reserves, the floor system all but destroyed the market for unsecured interbank loans that had been banks' ordinary "first resort" source of last-minute liquidity. By depriving the Fed's asset purchases of the ability to stimulate investment and spending, it also compelled the Fed to compensate by purchasing assets on an unprecedented scale. All of this resulted in a substantial increase in the Fed's role in allocating scarce credit. Finally, by severing the ordinary connection between the stance of monetary policy and the extent of the Fed's asset holdings, the floor system risks turning the Fed's balance sheet into a fiscal-policy playground.Selgin’s book is the first comprehensive account of the Federal Reserve’s new post-crisis “floor” monetary policy operating system. Selgin will share his three-year research journey into this new experimental system, how the Fed stumbled into it, and its consequences for the economy — including how it could turn the Fed into a Trojan piggybank of fiscal profligacy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The Mercatus Center’s David Beckworth comes to Cato for a live recording of his popular Macro Musings podcast, interviewing George Selgin about his new book Floored!: How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession. Floored! is the first comprehensive account of the Federal Reserve’s new post-crisis “floor” monetary policy operating system. Marking his fourth Macro Musings episode, Selgin will share his three-year research journey into this new experimental system, how the Fed stumbled into it, and its consequences for the economy — including how it could turn the Fed into a Trojan piggybank of fiscal profligacy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The Mercatus Center’s David Beckworth comes to Cato for a live recording of his popular Macro Musings podcast, interviewing George Selgin about his new book Floored!: How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession. Floored! is the first comprehensive account of the Federal Reserve’s new post-crisis “floor” monetary policy operating system. Marking his fourth Macro Musings episode, Selgin will share his three-year research journey into this new experimental system, how the Fed stumbled into it, and its consequences for the economy — including how it could turn the Fed into a Trojan piggybank of fiscal profligacy.
Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve had a long-standing policy of maintaining a minimal footprint on the credit system. According to Selgin, the Fed use to be a “lean and mean” player in the credit system. However, on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis they made some changes to decades’ old policies that they believed would aid the financial instability of the country at the time. In retrospect, we can now deeply analyze where the Federal Reserve misstepped. What is the Federal Reserve? What are mandatory reserves? What is the chevron deference? What did emergency lending have to do with the 2008 financial crisis? Is the Fed more constrained than private banks?Further Reading:Floored!: How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession, written by George SelginAnniversary of a Fed Blunder, written by George SelginInterest on Excess Reserves: The Hobie Cat Effect, written by George SelginThe Fed’s Recent Defense of Interest on Reserves, written by George SelginRelated Content:How the Federal Reserve Works, Free Thoughts PodcastThe Gold Standard Won’t Be Coming Back, Free Thoughts Podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.