David Wilcox is a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and is the Director of Economic Research at Bloomberg Economics. Previously, David served for many years on the staff of the Federal Reserve Board, as deputy director from 2001 to 2011 and as director from 2011 to 2018 of the Division of Research and Statistics. In the latter role, he functioned as the chief economist of the division, a senior advisor to three successive chairs of the board, and the division leader for strategic direction as well as chief manager. David joins Macro Musings to talk about a recent article he wrote titled, *The Cost of the US Going Over the Fiscal Cliff is Trauma, Then Unending Pain.* David and David also discuss the debt ceiling issue more broadly, including the severity and timing of a technical default, the two big economic shocks that would result from a default, the possible solutions to pursue in the face of the this debacle, and more.   Transcript for the episode can be found here.   David Wilcox’s Twitter: @D_W_Wilcox David Wilcox’s PIIE profile   David Beckworth’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings   Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here!   Related Links:   *The Cost of US Going Over Fiscal Cliff Is Trauma Then Unending Pain* by David Wilcox   *Fiscal Policy Under Low Interest Rates* by Olivier Blanchard   *Mint the Coin? Buy Back Bonds? 7 ‘Gimmicks’ for Dodging the Debt Limit* by Jeff Stein