Macro Musings with David Beckworth

John Rolle is governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas and is the second sitting central bank governor to appear on Macro Musings. In his first appearance on the show, John joins the program to discuss what it's like to manage a central bank in a small open economy with a fixed exchange rate, the economic vulnerabilities of a tourism-dependent economy, the SandDollar, the future of digital payments and financial resilience, 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 September 8th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:02 - Central Bank of the Bahamas
00:18:02 - The Economy of the Bahamas
00:24:56 - Financial Stability in the Bahamas
00:39:29 - Dollar-Based Stablecoins in the Bahamas
00:42:50 - Tokenized Deposits in the Bahamas
00:44:14 - Future of the Financial System and Economy in the Bahamas
00:49:41 - Small Open Economy Central Banks
00:52:04 - Outro

George Selgin was a senior fellow and director emeritus at the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia. George returns to the show to discuss the New Deal's record on economic recovery, the Fed's balance sheet and operating system, the Main Street Lending Program, and the history of banking crises, 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 July 28th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:35 - George's Book on the New Deal
00:03:31 - Fed's Balance Sheet Policy Task Force
00:25:59 - The Fed's Main Street Lending Program
00:32:58 - Myths and Fallacies
00:54:06 - Outro

Erik Thedéen is governor of Sweden's Riksbank, the world's oldest central bank, Chairman of the Executive Board, and the first sitting central bank governor to appear on Macro Musings. In his first appearance on the show, Erik joins to discuss the history and operation of the Riksbank, the lessons learned from QE, the future of digital payments, 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 September 4th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:41 - Erik's Career
00:03:03 - History of the Riksbank
00:13:04 - Riksbank's Inflation Target
00:15:28 - Riksbank's Operating Framework
00:25:09 - Riksbank's Experiences with QE
00:30:26 - Deposit Facility at Riksbank
00:39:31 - Digital Payments
00:47:27 - Dollar-Based Stablecoins and Sweden
00:50:09 - Tokenization
00:52:37 - Outro

Ellen Correia Golay is a lead Treasury advisor in the markets group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Ellen returns to the program to discuss the lessons of the March 2020 "dash for cash," how all-to-all trading and other market structure reforms could strengthen Treasury market liquidity and resilience, the rise of principal trading firms, and the future of the Fed's standing repo operations, 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 August 19th, 2026
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:20 - Ellen's Career and Responsibilities
00:09:29 - The Treasury Market
00:17:15 - All-to-All Trading
00:25:19 - Treasury Market Liquidity
00:32:59 - Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee
00:39:28 - Central Clearing
00:44:51 - Ellen's Policy Wishes
00:46:20 - Outro

Nellie Liang is a former Treasury and Federal Reserve official and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. In Nellie's first appearance on the show, she discusses the future of stablecoins following the GENIUS Act, what stablecoins mean for private money and illicit finance, Fed master accounts, the global role of the dollar, 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 August 18th, 2026
Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:23 - Nellie's Career 00:05:48 - The GENIUS Act 00:11:31 - Stablecoins as Private Money 00:27:32 - Fed Master Accounts 00:29:53 - Dollar as Global Reserve Currency 00:35:42 - Stablecoins and US Debt 00:46:49 - Nellie's Policy Recommendations 00:50:11 - Outro