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Despite its long-held place in history as the lynchpin of America's recovery from the Great Depression, what if the New Deal did more to hinder the country's recovery than help it? George Selgin is a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia and former director of the Center on Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute. His books like, False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery and Floored!: How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession, examine macroeconomic theories through the lens of key moments in monetary history. In this conversation, Greg and George dive deep into the inner workings of The Great Depression, covering the biggest misconceptions surrounding the New Deal's role in ending the crisis, why many of President Roosevelt's policies were counterproductive, and how pre-existing, international factors impacted the U.S.'s recovery.*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:The myth of New Deal wisdom47:17: The thing that people have to remember when they are inclined to think, oh, you know, we need to look back at the New Deal and all the wonderful things they did to end the Depression. They knew so much, you know, they had all these experiments. No. We know a lot more about how to fight recessions and depressions than they did because we know that fiscal and monetary stimulus are our best hopes. And those were two things that the Roosevelt administration did not put much, if any, emphasis upon. And that, of course, just hearing that should give a lot of people second thoughts about how helpful the New Deal was. They did a lot of stuff, but they did not do the main thing we rely on now. The main things, they did not promote monetary stimulus, and they did not promote fiscal stimulus except somewhat, reluctantly.Keynes vs. the New Dealers59:39: I certainly believe that if Keynes's advice had been followed instead of what the New Dealers did, that the Depression would have ended much sooner than it did in the United States. The downside of "bold experimentation"35:56: Roosevelt made two statements that were probably the least, the two main unambiguous things he said, one of which turned out to be a very accurate description of what his administration would end up doing. And the other one of which would be a very inaccurate statement. This is all in the course of the campaign. The accurate statement was when he said that his administration planned to go about addressing the Depression through bold experimentation. And that is absolutely true. There was a lot of trial and error. And the problem is, as I say in my book, you know, the problem with bold experiments is they often fail.On war clouds and gold flows45:41: What keeps gold flowing in for the rest of the decade, and more and more of it as time goes on, is Hitler's rise to power and the, the gatherings war clouds that eventually have many, many Europeans thinking, I do not think this is place, this place is safe for our gold. And as long as they could, taking it and shipping it to the United States, where now after the suspension of the gold standard and the devaluation, the treasury alone is buying all the gold.Show Links:Recommended Resources:John Maynard KeynesFranklin D. RooseveltHerbert Hoover Henry Ford Alexander J. Field James Bradford DeLong Guest Profile:Faculty Profile at University of Georgia Professional Profile at the Cato InstituteProfessional Profile on LinkedInProfile on XGuest Work:False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 Floored!: How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great RecessionMoney: Free and Unfree Less Than Zero: The Case for a Falling Price Level in a Growing EconomyThe Menace of Fiscal QE Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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.