In this episode, I talk with David Beckworth. David is the host of one of my favourite economics podcasts, Macro Musings. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a former international economist at the US Treasury. He is the author of Boom and Bust Banking: The Causes and Cures of the Great Recession. His research focuses on monetary policy, and he has advised congressional staffers on policy. In this podcast we discuss: 1. What did the Fed do right and wrong in its COVID response 2. How the Fed is losing independence 3. The advantages of price level and average inflation rate targeting 4. Why nominal GDP/income targeting is the best approach 5. What has caused the 30y decline in US rates 6. How the Fed should be reformed 7. Books that influenced David: Secrets of the Temple and Less Than Zero