Podcasts about selgin

Join us on Madison's Notes as we sit down with George Selgin, senior fellow and director emeritus of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia. In this insightful conversation, Selgin unpacks the myths and realities of FDR's New Deal through the lens of his book, False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 (University of Chicago Press, 2025). While the New Deal is often celebrated as a bold and successful response to the Great Depression, Selgin argues that many of its policies actually prolonged economic suffering—with unemployment remaining staggeringly high years later. Drawing on extensive historical and economic analysis, he separates the New Deal's successes from its failures, examines the distinct roles of fiscal and monetary policy, and reveals the overlooked factor that truly ended the Great Depression (hint: it wasn't just WWII). This episode challenges conventional narratives and offers crucial lessons for navigating future economic crises. Tune in for a nuanced discussion on why we must assess policy decisions carefully—learning from the past to build a more resilient future. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Join us on Madison's Notes as we sit down with George Selgin, senior fellow and director emeritus of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia. In this insightful conversation, Selgin unpacks the myths and realities of FDR's New Deal through the lens of his book, False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 (University of Chicago Press, 2025). While the New Deal is often celebrated as a bold and successful response to the Great Depression, Selgin argues that many of its policies actually prolonged economic suffering—with unemployment remaining staggeringly high years later. Drawing on extensive historical and economic analysis, he separates the New Deal's successes from its failures, examines the distinct roles of fiscal and monetary policy, and reveals the overlooked factor that truly ended the Great Depression (hint: it wasn't just WWII). This episode challenges conventional narratives and offers crucial lessons for navigating future economic crises. Tune in for a nuanced discussion on why we must assess policy decisions carefully—learning from the past to build a more resilient future. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

Join us on Madison's Notes as we sit down with George Selgin, senior fellow and director emeritus of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia. In this insightful conversation, Selgin unpacks the myths and realities of FDR's New Deal through the lens of his book, False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 (University of Chicago Press, 2025). While the New Deal is often celebrated as a bold and successful response to the Great Depression, Selgin argues that many of its policies actually prolonged economic suffering—with unemployment remaining staggeringly high years later. Drawing on extensive historical and economic analysis, he separates the New Deal's successes from its failures, examines the distinct roles of fiscal and monetary policy, and reveals the overlooked factor that truly ended the Great Depression (hint: it wasn't just WWII). This episode challenges conventional narratives and offers crucial lessons for navigating future economic crises. Tune in for a nuanced discussion on why we must assess policy decisions carefully—learning from the past to build a more resilient future. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

Join us on Madison's Notes as we sit down with George Selgin, senior fellow and director emeritus of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia. In this insightful conversation, Selgin unpacks the myths and realities of FDR's New Deal through the lens of his book, False […]

Join us on Madison's Notes as we sit down with George Selgin, senior fellow and director emeritus of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia. In this insightful conversation, Selgin unpacks the myths and realities of FDR's New Deal through the lens of his book, False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 (University of Chicago Press, 2025). While the New Deal is often celebrated as a bold and successful response to the Great Depression, Selgin argues that many of its policies actually prolonged economic suffering—with unemployment remaining staggeringly high years later. Drawing on extensive historical and economic analysis, he separates the New Deal's successes from its failures, examines the distinct roles of fiscal and monetary policy, and reveals the overlooked factor that truly ended the Great Depression (hint: it wasn't just WWII). This episode challenges conventional narratives and offers crucial lessons for navigating future economic crises. Tune in for a nuanced discussion on why we must assess policy decisions carefully—learning from the past to build a more resilient future. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In BMS ep. 322, Bob criticized a recent interview of George Selgin regarding the lack of historical examples of 100% reserve banking. In this episode, Bob responses to George's pushback (on Twitter) and also Larry White's in-print response to Rothbard's old critique of the Scottish "free banking" episode.Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:What started this fiasco: BMS ep. 322, "Selgin vs. Selgin."Rothbard's critique of Larry White on the Scottish episode (starts p. 859). White's response (chap. 3).John Cochrane on The Narrow Bank. Selgin's contrarian take.Selgin on the history of 100% reserve banks.Block and Barnett on maturity mismatching.Murphy's journal article critiquing the Selgin/White view of fractional reserve free banking. Murphy's book Understanding Money Mechanics.Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

Bob responds to a recent interview where George Selgin says the historical record proves that fractional reserve banking is a market outcome. Bob gives two separate reasons, and ironically plays different Selgin clips to validate each of them.Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:Selgin's interview on free banking. His debate with Murphy at the Soho Forum. And his recent interview with David Beckworth on Custodia.Murphy interviews Selgin on banks as credit intermediaries.John Cochrane on The Narrow Bank.Murphy's journal article critiquing the Selgin/White view of fractional reserve free banking.Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The 2022 recipients of the Nobel (Memorial) Prize in Economics were Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond, and Philip Dybvig, for their work on understanding the role of banks in financial crises. Bob explains what they did and then comments critically, giving the superior Austrian take. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Bob's discussion of the Nobel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nabKJEaZRRc (with Jeff Deist) on the Human Action podcast. The YouTube compilation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmqvibv4UU ("Bernanke was wrong.") Selgin on Diamond-Dybvig (https://www.alt-m.org/2020/12/17/modeling-the-legend-or-the-trouble-with-diamond-and-dybvig-part-1/ (part 1) and https://www.alt-m.org/2020/12/18/modeling-the-legend-or-the-trouble-with-diamond-and-dybvig-part-ii/ (part 2)). McCulloch and Yu's https://www.jstor.org/stable/41953363?seq=1 (critique) of Diamond-Dybvig. The Olin School of Business https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5GUrBs7Zoek (interview) with Dybvig. https://mises.org/library/more-quibbles-problems-theory-and-history-fractional-reserve-free-banking (Bob's article "More Than Quibbles...") on fractional reserve banking. Block and Barnett on the broader issue of https://philpapers.org/rec/BARTDD (maturity mismatch). http://bobmurphyshow.com/contribute (Help support) the Bob Murphy Show. The audio production for this episode was provided by http://podsworth.com/ (Podsworth Media).

George Selgin is a senior fellow and director emeritus of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute. He is also the most frequent guest on Macro Musings, now appearing for his 12th time. In this episode, George and David identify and discuss their top three articles from the past few weeks related to macroeconomics and monetary policy. Specifically, George and Selgin discuss Lael Brainard's recent speech defending the Fed's prospects of issuing central bank digital currency, Janet Yellen's concession about the path that inflation has taken, the governmental accounting of Federal Reserve losses and whether they amount to a net taxpayer burden, why the Dollar remains firm as the dominant currency in global markets, how an orthodox corridor system defaults into a floor system during times of crisis, and much more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   George's Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George's Cato profile   David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox!   Related Links:   *No, Fed, Unrealized Losses are Real Losses for Taxpayers* by Bill Nelson   *Preparing for the Financial System of the Future* speech by Lael Brainard at the 2022 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum   *What if the Federal Reserve Books Losses Because of its Quantitative Easing?* by Willam B. English and Donald Kohn    *From Burns to Powell*, a Macro Musings podcast episode with Guest Donald Kohn and host David Beckworth   *Treasury Secretary Concedes She Was Wrong on 'Path That Inflation Would Take'* By Kevin Liptak and Paul LeBlanc   *How Monetary Policy Got Behind The Curve And How To Get Back: A Policy Conference* Hoover Institution, Stanford University   *Jack Dorsey is Wrong. The Dollar is Still a Global Reserve Currency* by Mark Copelovitch   *A Model of Credit, Money, Interest, and Prices* by Saki Bigio and Yuliy Sannikov

Using a recent Paul Krugman column as the jumping off point, the Mises Institute Academic Vice President Joe Salerno explains and defends Austrian business cycle theory. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: The YouTube version of this interviewBob's response to Krugman's NYT pieceJoe Salerno's 2012 QJAE article responding to ABCT criticsJoe Salerno's previous appearance on the Bob Murphy Show ep. 16Bob's critique of Selgin on Canadian fractional reserve banking ​For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Using a recent Paul Krugman column as the jumping off point, the Mises Institute Academic Vice President Joe Salerno explains and defends Austrian business cycle theory. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: The YouTube version of this interviewBob's response to Krugman's NYT pieceJoe Salerno's 2012 QJAE article responding to ABCT criticsJoe Salerno's previous appearance on the Bob Murphy Show ep. 16Bob's critique of Selgin on Canadian fractional reserve banking ​For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Using a recent Paul Krugman column as the jumping off point, the Mises Institute Academic Vice President Joe Salerno explains and defends Austrian business cycle theory. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: The https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgGFi9vtEK8 (YouTube version) of this interview. https://mises.org/wire/rebutting-paul-krugman-austrian-pandemic (Bob's response) to Krugman's NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/opinion/covid-recession-austrian-school-hayek.html (piece). Joe https://mises.org/library/reformulation-austrian-business-cycle-theory-light-financial-crisis-0 (Salerno's 2012 QJAE article) responding to ABCT critics. Joe Salerno's previous appearance on the https://www.bobmurphyshow.com/episodes/ep-16-joe-salerno-on-economic-calculation-fractional-reserve/ (Bob Murphy Show ep. 16.) https://youtu.be/3nG2G9uH218?t=372 (Bob's critique of Selgin) on Canadian fractional reserve banking. http://bobmurphyshow.com/contribute (Help support) the Bob Murphy Show. The audio production for this episode was provided by http://podsworth.com/ (Podsworth Media).

George Selgin, director of the Center of Monetary Alternatives at the Cato Institute joins the show to discuss Bitcoin, Free Banking, and stablecoins. In this episode:  Why George refers to Bitcoin as a synthetic commodity money Why George was excited by the possibility for synthetic commodity money What conditions would have to hold for Bitcoin to be considered money Why money is a spectrum rather than binary Are stablecoins prone to bank runs? Is Tether's melange of underlying collateral sufficient? How should stablecoins be regulated? Why are regulators looking into stablecoins today? Comparing stablecoins to Money Market Mutual Funds Why money market funds broke the buck in 08 Are stablecoins as systemic as money market funds? George's objections to Gorton and Zhang's paper on free banking and stablecoins George's definition of free banking Was the 1830s-60s period in the U.S. a period of genuine free banking? The actual causes of bank failures in the pre-Civil War period Why 'unit banking' was so fragile What lessons can be taken from Canada's experience with free banking in that era Why the history of Free Banking is a red herring in the stablecoin debate George's recommendations for a primer on free banking George's reflections on Hal Finney's reference to his work Why bank failures are often the consequence of regulation Content mentioned in this episode:  Selgin, Synthetic Commodity Money  The Alt-M Blog Selgin, Money Free and Unfree White, Free Banking in Britain Selgin, The Theory of Free Banking Dowd, The Experience of Free Banking Gorton and Zhang, Taming Wildcat Stablecoins Sponsor notes:  This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto.

Stablecoins are suddenly all over the news, with their explosive growth posing all sorts of questions for investors and regulators alike. This episode is sponsored by Unique One Network, Mimo and Quantstamp.To discuss, co-hosts Michael Casey and Sheila Warren are joined this week by Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti, a Wyoming-based digital assets bank, and George Selgin, director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute.We start with a striking fact: the supply of the top 10 stablecoins pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar is up fourfold from the beginning of the year, at $109 billion. That's more than three times the combined value of PayPal and Venmo's outstanding customer accounts at the end of last quarter. This spectacular growth is encouraging stablecoin issuers to play it big. Circle, the issuer of the highly successful dollar-pegged token USDC, is going public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Tether, the controversial issuer of USDT, has settled a lawsuit with the New York attorney general's office and is providing regular updates on its token's reserve backing. It is also now branching out into other markets, including a euro-backed stablecoin. And Paxos is expanding a digital asset servicing agreement with PayPal that's sure to bring opportunities for PAX and Binance's BUSD, the two stablecoins it manages, to play a back-end role in a growing market of consumer crypto transactions. Regulators are getting nervous. Federal Reserve officials are worrying about potential systemic risk from economy-wide exposure to de facto dollar substitutes that may not be sufficiently backed by reserves to stand up the value investors expect them to hold. And anti-money laundering enforcement agents are worried that these tokens will facilitate illicit transactions among criminals. So, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen convening a high-powered meeting of the most important financial regulators this week to discuss the topic, it seemed like an opportune time to dive into the outlook for stablecoins and the evolving regulatory framework.Will regulators strike the right balance by using smart disclosure and management rules to give customers and investors confidence to use stablecoins? Or will they adopt a draconian, restrictive posture that kills off the sector's huge innovation potential? Long and Selgin are ideally placed to discuss these issues. Both are steeped in crypto knowledge, the structure of the banking system and regulation. Long's company, Avanti, is issuing its own digital dollar token, the Avit, for which it is seeking support from the Federal Reserve. Selgin, a monetary historian, is finding that his expertise in the United States' free-banking era of the 19th century is proving especially relevant to the outlook for stablecoins in the 21st century.-Unique One Network is an interoperable Platform for DeFi enabled NFT Marketplaces, in a variety of sectors, built on Polkadot Parity Substrate. Unique One Network's cross chain NFT hub facilitates transfers between a variety of blockchains and ecosystems, unleashing the power of NFTs with myriad innovative capabilities. Find out more at Unique One Network.-Mimo is home of the world's #1 euro-algorithmically pegged token minted at an interest rate of just 2%. Lock in your crypto assets, access their liquidity, and stabilize your portfolio by hedging against inflating coins. Open a Vault and experience the power of Mimo today at mimo.capital.-Quantstamp is the leader of blockchain security, having secured over 100 billion USD worth of digital assets. Visit quantstamp.com to learn why top DeFi projects like Maker, Compound and BarnBridge trust Quantstamp to secure the financial infrastructure of tomorrow. Learn more at quantstamp.com/blog.-Image credit: Panuwat Sikham/iStock/Getty Images Plus, modified by CoindeskSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stablecoins are suddenly all over the news, with their explosive growth posing all sorts of questions for investors and regulators alike. This episode is sponsored by Unique One Network, Mimo and Quantstamp.To discuss, co-hosts Michael Casey and Sheila Warren are joined this week by Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti, a Wyoming-based digital assets bank, and George Selgin, director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute.We start with a striking fact: the supply of the top 10 stablecoins pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar is up fourfold from the beginning of the year, at $109 billion. That's more than three times the combined value of PayPal and Venmo's outstanding customer accounts at the end of last quarter. This spectacular growth is encouraging stablecoin issuers to play it big. Circle, the issuer of the highly successful dollar-pegged token USDC, is going public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Tether, the controversial issuer of USDT, has settled a lawsuit with the New York attorney general's office and is providing regular updates on its token's reserve backing. It is also now branching out into other markets, including a euro-backed stablecoin. And Paxos is expanding a digital asset servicing agreement with PayPal that's sure to bring opportunities for PAX and Binance's BUSD, the two stablecoins it manages, to play a back-end role in a growing market of consumer crypto transactions. Regulators are getting nervous. Federal Reserve officials are worrying about potential systemic risk from economy-wide exposure to de facto dollar substitutes that may not be sufficiently backed by reserves to stand up the value investors expect them to hold. And anti-money laundering enforcement agents are worried that these tokens will facilitate illicit transactions among criminals. So, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen convening a high-powered meeting of the most important financial regulators this week to discuss the topic, it seemed like an opportune time to dive into the outlook for stablecoins and the evolving regulatory framework.Will regulators strike the right balance by using smart disclosure and management rules to give customers and investors confidence to use stablecoins? Or will they adopt a draconian, restrictive posture that kills off the sector's huge innovation potential? Long and Selgin are ideally placed to discuss these issues. Both are steeped in crypto knowledge, the structure of the banking system and regulation. Long's company, Avanti, is issuing its own digital dollar token, the Avit, for which it is seeking support from the Federal Reserve. Selgin, a monetary historian, is finding that his expertise in the United States' free-banking era of the 19th century is proving especially relevant to the outlook for stablecoins in the 21st century.-Unique One Network is an interoperable Platform for DeFi enabled NFT Marketplaces, in a variety of sectors, built on Polkadot Parity Substrate. Unique One Network's cross chain NFT hub facilitates transfers between a variety of blockchains and ecosystems, unleashing the power of NFTs with myriad innovative capabilities. Find out more at Unique One Network.-Mimo is home of the world's #1 euro-algorithmically pegged token minted at an interest rate of just 2%. Lock in your crypto assets, access their liquidity, and stabilize your portfolio by hedging against inflating coins. Open a Vault and experience the power of Mimo today at mimo.capital.-Quantstamp is the leader of blockchain security, having secured over 100 billion USD worth of digital assets. Visit quantstamp.com to learn why top DeFi projects like Maker, Compound and BarnBridge trust Quantstamp to secure the financial infrastructure of tomorrow. Learn more at quantstamp.com/blog.-Image credit: Panuwat Sikham/iStock/Getty Images Plus, modified by CoindeskSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  The appearance of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin is part of a much bigger trend—the re-emergence of private money as a competitor to state-issued currencies like the dollar, euro, yen or pound. That’s the central argument of Professor George Selgin, our guest on the latest New Money Review podcast and a specialist in monetary history. Selgin, who is director of the centre for monetary and financial alternatives at the Cato Institute and a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia, is a supporter of Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek’s proposal that money should be denationalised. According to Selgin, privately issued money has a long and successful history, as well as providing the foundation for a more stable financial system. “We need to appreciate the extent to which desirable and beneficial monetary institutions can develop without any involvement of the state, and have done so in the past,” he says in the podcast. “We owe most of our good monetary innovations to the private market. Of course, we owe some bad ones too. But on balance, we would probably be a lot worse off if we hadn’t taken advantage of private market institutions’ contributions to exchange.” “When you look closely at the history of money, more often than not it’s been the case that when things have gone awry, it’s been because of misguided interference with the development of these private monetary arrangements,” says Selgin. Listen to the podcast to hear Selgin and New Money Review editor Paul Amery discuss: What's driving the resurgence of interest in private money? Do free banking systems or central bank-based systems handle financial crises better? Should governments have responded to the coronavirus pandemic with fiscal or monetary policy? Fintechs and why the US lags in monetary innovation The prospects for bitcoin as a future monetary standard Sign up here for the New Money Review newsletter  

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

This newsletter is really a public policy thought-letter. While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought-letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. It seeks to answer just one question: how do I think about a particular public policy problem/solution?Welcome to the mid-week edition in which we write essays on a public policy theme. The usual public policy review comes out on weekends.PS: If you enjoy listening instead of reading, we have this edition available as an audio narration courtesy the good folks at Ad-Auris. If you have any feedback, please send it to us. Listen in podcast app- RSJThe Chairman of US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, in his speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium signalled a significant shift in its approach to tackling inflation. He had his reasons:“The persistent undershoot of inflation from our 2 percent longer-run objective is a cause for concern. Many find it counterintuitive that the Fed would want to push up inflation. After all, low and stable inflation is essential for a well-functioning economy…. However, inflation that is persistently too low can pose serious risks to the economy. Inflation that runs below its desired level can lead to an unwelcome fall in longer-term inflation expectations, which, in turn, can pull actual inflation even lower, resulting in an adverse cycle of ever-lower inflation and inflation expectations.”Fed’s Average Inflation Targeting RegimeThis isn’t a surprise. An ‘ever-lower’ inflation expectation would lead to a lower interest rate. The perennial undershooting of inflation target in the US over the last quarter century has meant short-term interest rates approaching zero. Once you reach that there’s limited room for any rate cuts to boost investments, increase employment and stabilise the economy during a downturn. The experience of Japan and many EU countries that have negative interest rates is instructive here. Clearly, there is no appetite for negative rates among US lawmakers and public. This led Powell and its policymaking body FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) to draft the revised statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy. The Fed will now follow the policy of ‘average inflation targeting’ with the goal set at 2 per cent. In an average targeting regime the Fed will allow inflation to run above 2 per cent for some time in order to ‘make up’ a period of inflation below 2 per cent. Powell explained:“We have also made important changes with regard to the price-stability side of our mandate. Our longer-run goal continues to be an inflation rate of 2 percent. Our statement emphasizes that our actions to achieve both sides of our dual mandate will be most effective if longer-term inflation expectations remain well anchored at 2 percent.”“…our new statement indicates that we will seek to achieve inflation that averages 2 percent over time. Therefore, following periods when inflation has been running below 2 percent, appropriate monetary policy will likely aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time.”Powers And Goals Of Central BanksI was struck by a couple of different thoughts when I read his speech. First is a political philosophy question. What is the basis for the absolute power that a central bank like the Federal Reserve has to set goals for the economy in a democracy? What are the checks and balances to this power? For instance, apart from the FOMC who else was involved in questioning or validating the change in regime? Or was it just an arbitrary consensus of some experts (elites?) who aren’t answerable to anyone? Second, is a technical question. Isn’t the way the central banks set the inflation rate targets good old central planning at work? Instead of letting markets determine the price based on supply, demand, and labour (or factor) productivity, the central bank interferes to keep prices ‘stable’. Isn’t this a distortion of market mechanism? There are more specific questions. Where did it get the 2 per cent target from? Also, consider the scenario when actual inflation is different from 2 per cent. What’s the duration for which the Fed will wait till it acts? And how quickly will it want the average to be restored? At a theoretical level, what’s the basis for the Fed arriving at an average inflation targeting goal? What should be the goal of a central bank?Is Central Banking A Liberal Concept?These are compelling arguments and I thought it would be useful to use them to discuss two quite different concepts in a single edition of this newsletter. These are:The notion of separation of powers (or checks and balances) in a state that’s necessary to protect liberty of its citizensWhat goals should central banks pursue in a free market economy?The separation or control of powers between various arms of the state first appeared in the works of the pioneers of political philosophy in England – Locke and Bolingbroke. However, the most compelling and specific argument for the division of powers was laid out by the French lawyer, Baron de Montesquieu, in Chapter 6 of his book De l’Esprit des Loix (The Spirit of the Laws, 1748) which is widely regarded as one of the greatest texts on political philosophy. He begins this chapter with:“In every government there are three sorts of power, the legislative; the executive in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive in regard to matters that depend on the civil law.”  Montesquieu has no illusions about human nature when it wields power. His view is that the only counter to power is power. This is a prerequisite for individual liberty. For him, liberty means the freedom from being harmed by others. "Constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it. …it is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power"   This danger of abuse of power can only be controlled through a separation of power between different institutions and people, and a system of checks and balances. That’s the only guarantee against tyranny. This was his profound insight. As he wrote:“When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty. . . . There would be an end to everything, were the same man, or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, that of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and of trying the causes of individuals.”This wasn’t enough. Montesquieu went a step further. Apart from separating powers in hands of different bodies and people and setting them up ‘against’ one another, he also suggested each of these arms of the state should have some powers in their mandate to control other arms. That is, they have both negative and positive checks over others. Checks And BalancesMontesquieu hadn’t contended with autonomous or regulatory institutions like central banks during his time. The notion of a central bank as a lender of last resort while being responsible for price stability and employment is only about 100-150 years old. What are the checks and balances on it? There are two questions here? Who checks the actions of the central bank? And is there a feedback loop to its actions? The second question is easier to answer. The outcome of its actions is controlled by the market and the economy. This is what Powell meant when he mentioned the Fed has been ‘undershooting the inflation target’. The Fed aimed its actions to achieve an inflation target. The broader economy curbed its power in achieving it. But what about the checks on its actions? Well, there are checks and balances internal to the central bank like a Board of Governors or FOMC (or its equivalent). However, these are nominated members with limited powers and there’s no external agency that has a positive check in controlling the actions of the central bank. Once the executive nominates the policy committee and the chairman (or governor) of the central bank, it hands over the keys of monetary policy to them. There’s merit to illiberal argument when it comes to actions of the central banks.  Target Of Central BanksWe come to the question of what goals should the central bank be targeting? Over the years the central banks around the world have taken on responsibility for price stability, economic growth, and employment. But there is no shortage of people demanding more – from income equality to paying off college debts of students and ‘green new deal’. As the central banks around the world went for significant balance sheet expansion after the global financial crisis (GFC) with no corresponding rise in inflation, there has been greater clamour for monetary policy (therefore, central banks) to serve fiscal goals. This keenness to hand over more responsibility is a tad difficult to swallow when you consider the ‘illiberal’ argument. So, how should we think of goals of a central bank? Let’s first take its role in price stability or inflation management. This is widely considered to be its primary goal. But we come back to the ‘central planning’ argument. How much sense does it make to control price when you want to manage the economy? George Selgin, currently at Cato Institute, in his book Less Than Zero: The Case for Falling Price in a Growing Economy(1998) framed this issue well:“Using monetary policy to stabilise the price level is not at all like making the weather more predictable, as James Buchanan and Kevin Dowd have claimed. Stabilising the price level is more like making barometric readings predictable, while leaving the weather itself as uncertain as ever: price level movements allowed under a productivity norm are merely nominal indicators of underlying changes in productivity.”Selgin instead bats for a ‘productivity norm’ which will achieve the same result as that of ‘zero inflation’ regime without interfering with the price mechanism. He writes:“Instead, the price level should be allowed to vary to reflect changes in goods' unit costs of production. I call a pattern of general price level adjustments corresponding to such a rule for individual price changes a 'productivity norm'. Under a productivity norm, changes in velocity would be prevented (as under zero inflation) from influencing the price level through offsetting adjustments in the supply of money. But adverse 'supply shocks' like wars and harvest failures would be allowed to manifest themselves in higher output prices, while permanent improvements in productivity would be allowed to lower prices permanently.”For Selgin rising prices during adverse supply shocks (like we are going through in a pandemic) would be better than zero inflation.If it isn’t a target inflation rate, what should be the goal of central bank? This is a question that’s relevant for India as the term of the first monetary policy committee (MPC) ends. Should we follow the average inflation targeting regime like the Fed or should we continue with the flexible inflation target (FIT) regime (4 per cent with +/- 2 per cent range)? Or should we accept managing price isn’t feasible and look for other options?  V. Ananta Nageswaran writing in the Mint makes two key points the goals central banks should set for themselves. First, central banks through monetary policy have failed to raise inflation rates in developed economies by influencing short-term interest rates (a point Graeme Wheeler, the governor of Reserve Bank of NZ had argued for). Second, they don’t have the tools to influence nominal GDP growth. So, they should aim to control credit growth and through it the ‘overheating’ of the economy: “Further, central banks’ failure to raise the inflation rate in the last ten to twelve years (US, UK and Europe) and in the last three decades (Japan) are powerful proofs against Wheeler’s claim with respect to the inflation rate. At the same time, they are powerless to influence economic growth too. So, the mitigation for the ill-effects and consequences of any inflation-targeting central bank is not to add economic growth as an objective but to hold them responsible for what they can actually control. That does not include inflation or economic growth. That is only credit growth—of both bank and non-bank varieties. They can control that through monetary and regulatory policies.”I would tend to agree. Credit growth management isn’t distorting the signal that is price. It is also something that’s in control of the central bank through credit policy. As Nageswaran writes:“The RBI should define overheating more broadly than only through inflation. Apart from the inflation rate, overheating manifests itself in trade deficit and in asset (financial and non-financial) price bubbles. Hence, managing credit growth through monetary policy and regulatory measures could not only rein in inflation but also other imbalances, of both real and financial variety. Thus, an ‘overheating’ mandate will also ensure financial stability.”To conclude, the nature of the central bank as an institution gives it autonomy and powers that aren’t ‘liberal’. However, a better choice of goals for it than inflation rate targets and the feedback loop from the economy about its actions will nudge it towards a more ’liberal’ space. HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Podcast] George Selgin on Average Inflation Targeting in Macro Musings with David Beckworth.[Podcast] Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Montesquieu in the legendary BBC programme In Our Time. Get on the email list at publicpolicy.substack.com

Today on the Brief: Better news in the jobless claims this week A new bitcoin adoption cycle? A check in on Lebanon Our main conversation is with Dr. George Selgin.  Dr. Selgin is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives as well as Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Georgia.  In this eye-opening conversation, he and NLW go deep on the history, present and future of central banks, including: Why the Scottish and Canadian banking systems in the 19th century that central banks aren’t a prerequisite for stability Why the USA’s “free banking” system wasn’t free at all Why the instability in the late 19th century US banking system was caused by regulation, not the lack of a Fed Why the Fed’s first decades were a disaster Why the Fed gets more power when it underperforms  The problems with the Fed’s response to 2008 What lessons the Fed could have but didn’t learn between the Great Financial Crisis and COVID-19  Find our guest online Website: Alt-M.org Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin

The Director of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives gives an eye-opening, 200-year history of today’s most powerful economic institution.This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.Today on the Brief:Better news in the jobless claims this weekA new bitcoin adoption cycle?Checking on LebanonOur main conversation is with Dr. George Selgin. Dr. Selgin is a Senior Fellow and director of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives as well as Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Georgia. In this eye-opening conversation, he and NLW go deep on the history, present and future of central banks, including:Why the Scottish and Canadian banking systems in the 19th century show that central banks aren’t a prerequisite for stabilityWhy the U.S. “free banking” system wasn’t free at allWhy the instability in the late 19th century U.S. banking system was caused by regulation, not the lack of a Federal ReserveWhy the Fed’s first decades were a disasterWhy the Fed gets more power when it underperforms The problems with the Fed’s response to 2008What lessons the Fed could have learned (but didn’t) between the Great Financial Crisis and COVID-19 Find our guest online:Website: Alt-M.orgTwitter: @GeorgeSelgin

Show support appreciated: 35iDYDYqRdN2x6KGcpdV2W1Hy3AjGje9oL Matthew & Fernando interview monetary economist George Selgin. We cover Dr. Selgin's latest views on money and Bitcoin, including how the Libra theoretically fits into the mix. It's always very interesting to hear George's perspective on old monetary topics and new, and we go through a few of them, such as what a reserve currency is, what inflation and deflation is (both good and bad), and what the goals of monetary policy have traditionally been, as well as George's view on improvements. Even though a fan of Bitcoin (Dr. Selgin was on the original cypherpunk mailing list), George has expressed some concerns with Bitcoin's characteristics, as these characteristics in his view relate to potential money (to become a generally accepted medium of exchange), and we cover some of them here. Listen on to learn more. Links for more info: https://twitter.com/GeorgeSelgin https://www.alt-m.org https://www.alt-m.org/author/selgin/ Show Sponsor: cryptovoices.com/tradesmithoffer Hosts: Matthew Mežinskis, Fernando Ulrich Music: New Friend Music newfriendmusic.com/ Site: cryptovoices.com/ Podcast & Information Cryptoeconomics & Liberty Thanks for listening! Show content is not investment advice in any way.

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.

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.

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.

Show support appreciated: 35iDYDYqRdN2x6KGcpdV2W1Hy3AjGje9oL Matthew & Fernando interview Saifedean Ammous, economics professor and author of the new book, The Bitcoin Standard. We discuss Saif's background and why he decided to write "the book we all wanted to have written" covering Bitcoin, banking, and economics. Saif explains the importance of Bitcoin's supply schedule and the difficulty adjustment; the anatomy of monetary demand versus monetary supply; the proper comparison of Bitcoin to the current international payment system (as opposed to purchasing coffee on-chain); and a Bitcoin standard. We discuss the competitive landscape of mining and centralization risks. Also, what does it really mean to say Bitcoin is a medium of exchange? Saif gives his view on Dr. Selgin and White's position on fiduciary media, and concludes on what it might actually look like if Bitcoin "fails" in the banking world. Links for more info: https://twitter.com/saifedean http://saifedean.com/ https://thesaifhouse.wordpress.com/ https://thesaifhouse.wordpress.com/book/ Hosts: Matthew Mežinskis, Fernando Ulrich Music: New Friend Music newfriendmusic.com/ Site: cryptovoices.com/ Podcast & Information Cryptoeconomics & Liberty Thanks for listening! Show content is not investment advice in any way.

George Selgin joins us again on Free Thoughts for a conversation about the origins and role of the Federal Reserve.What is the Federal Reserve? What does it do, and what authority does it have? Why was the Fed created, and what was it’s role in the 2008 financial crisis?Show Notes and Further ReadingHere is Selgin’s newest study on the founding of the Federal Reserve.Here are our previous Free Thoughts episodes with Selgin:The Story of Money in the United StatesThe Gold Standard Won’t Be Coming Back See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Show support appreciated: 35iDYDYqRdN2x6KGcpdV2W1Hy3AjGje9oL Matthew and Fernando interview Dr. George Selgin of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute. Dr. Selgin relays a variety of interesting and pertinent information regarding money's origins, its use-cases, its store of value, its regulation among central banking, and how Bitcoin fits into the picture. Links to topics discussed in show: https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin https://www.alt-m.org/author/selgin/ Hosts: Matthew Mežinskis, Fernando Ulrich Music: New Friend Music newfriendmusic.com/ Site: cryptovoices.com/ Podcast & Information Cryptoeconomics & Liberty Thanks for listening!

In this memoir, Peter Selgin outlines the beginning of his passion for writing. As the child of an inventor and a twin, Peter always felt he had to compete for his parents’ attention. At the beginning of eighth grade, Peter meets a young teacher who took him under his wing: the two spend hours at the teacher’s cottage, drinking tea, playing chess and discussing books. They become inseparable – until the teacher resigns. Although they meet occasionally and correspond constantly, it is only after the teacher’s death that Peter learns he had completely invented his own past. At home, Peter realizes his father has done the same – as, after a fashion, so do we all.

Gorge 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. A co-founder of the Modern Free Banking School, Selgin is an economic researcher and theorist, whose work on money and regulation touches upon matters of coinage, species, and government regulation of money and banks. He joins me for this very special episode of the CoinWeek Podcast to talk about the gold standard, free silver, and America’s busted banking system. This episode of the CoinWeek Podcast is brought to you by PCGS. The standard in the rare coin grading industry. Visit www.pcgs.com to learn more. CoinWeek is the #1 website online for news and information about numismatics. CoinWeek has also won the NLG Award for best numismatic website 4 years running! Take your hobby the next level! Be sure to share this video with your friends and be sure to check out all CoinWeek has to offer by visiting us at www.coinweek.com. Copyright ©2017 CoinWeek, LLC.

George Selgin, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, makes the case that central banks, rather than focusing on the price level or inflation rate, should instead allow inflation to reflect changes in productivity growth. According to this productivity norm, deflation can actually be a good thing if it reflects improved productivity. Selgin examines the Great Deflation of the late 1800s and dispels some of the popular myths surrounding that period. He also discusses what the Fed got wrong in the lead-up to the recent financial crisis. David’s blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/ David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidBeckworth Georg Selgin’s Cato archive: http://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin George Selgin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/georgeselgin Links from today’s show: http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/upldbook98pdf.pdf https://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/sr/sr331.pdf http://voxeu.org/article/historical-look-deflation http://hope.dukejournals.org/content/27/4/705.full.pdf+html (subscription required)

Did Ben Bernanke and the Fed save the U.S. economy from disaster in 2008 or did the Fed make things worse? Why did the Fed reward banks that kept reserves rather than releasing funds into the economy? George Selgin of the Cato Institute tries to answer these questions and more in this conversation with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Selgin argues that the Fed made critical mistakes both before and after the collapse of Lehman Brothers by lending to insolvent banks as well as by paying interest on reserves held at the Fed by member banks.

George Selgin, of the University of Georgia, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about whether the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 has been a boon or a bust for the U.S. economy. Drawing on a recent paper by William Lastrapes and Lawrence White recently released by the Cato Institute, "Has the Fed Been a Failure?" Selgin argues that the Fed has done poorly at two missions often deemed to justify a central bank: lender of last resort and smoother of the business cycle. Selgin makes the case that avoiding bank runs and bank panics does not require a central bank and that contrary to received wisdom, it is hard to argue that the Fed has smoothed the business cycle. Additional topics discussed include whether the Fed has the information to do its jobs well, the role of the Fed in moral hazard, and the potential for the gold standard to outperform the Fed.

George Selgin, of the University of Georgia, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about whether the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 has been a boon or a bust for the U.S. economy. Drawing on a recent paper by William Lastrapes and Lawrence White recently released by the Cato Institute, "Has the Fed Been a Failure?" Selgin argues that the Fed has done poorly at two missions often deemed to justify a central bank: lender of last resort and smoother of the business cycle. Selgin makes the case that avoiding bank runs and bank panics does not require a central bank and that contrary to received wisdom, it is hard to argue that the Fed has smoothed the business cycle. Additional topics discussed include whether the Fed has the information to do its jobs well, the role of the Fed in moral hazard, and the potential for the gold standard to outperform the Fed.

In this episode of Two Beers With Steve I speak one on one with Prof. George Selgin, Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia's Terry School of Business. We begin our discussion with definitions of what is money and what constitutes money before we begin exploring George Selgin's theory of Free Banking. Free Banking, in a quick one sentence description, is a completely deregulated banking system, free of a central bank and the FDIC, where private banks make loans and issue their own money. In this interview Prof. Selgin describes the problems of our current system and offers a possible solution, the Free Banking system. It is becoming increasingly obvious to me, Steve, that the Federal Reserve is not the answer to the problem, but that it is the problem. More about Prof. George Selgin Good Money Book by George Selgin. Good Money tells the fascinating story of British manufacturers' challenge to the Crown's monopoly on coinage  

George Selgin of West Virginia University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about free banking, where government treats banks as no different from other firms in the economy. Rather than rely on government guarantees to protect depositors (coupled with regulation), banks would compete with each other in offering security and return on deposits. Selgin draws on historical episodes of free banking, particularly in Scotland, to show that such a world need not be unduly hazardous or filled with bank runs. He also talks about Gresham's Law and an episode in British history when banks successfully issued their own currency.

George Selgin of West Virginia University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about free banking, where government treats banks as no different from other firms in the economy. Rather than rely on government guarantees to protect depositors (coupled with regulation), banks would compete with each other in offering security and return on deposits. Selgin draws on historical episodes of free banking, particularly in Scotland, to show that such a world need not be unduly hazardous or filled with bank runs. He also talks about Gresham's Law and an episode in British history when banks successfully issued their own currency.