My latest Macro Musings podcast is with Narayana Kocherlakota. Narayana is a professor of economics at the University of Rochester. He has published widely in economics, including in the areas of money and the payment system, business cycles, financial economics, public finance, and dynamic contracts. He also writes regularly for Bloomberg View.
Formerly, Narayana was the president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve bank, where he served between 2009 and 2015. He joined me to talk about his time at the Fed and his current views on Fed policy.
This was a fascinating conversation throughout and a must-listen episode for all Fed watchers. The first part of our conversation covered what it was like being a regional Fed president. This included, among other things, how he stayed informed, how he managed the Minneapolis Fed, and how he prepared for FOMC meetings.
We then moved onto the the FOMC and the dynamics of the meeting itself. The preparation, the room, the seating, the order of business, and the rules of engagement are all important part of the FOMC decision-making process, but also are little known to outsiders. Narayana fills us in on the details as we discuss these and other issues--including whether FOMC members are more guarded in what they say because transcripts will be released--surrounding the FOMC meeting.
Our conversation next turned to the actual conduct of monetary policy since the crisis. What role did the Fed policy play in the recovery? Could it have done more? If so, was a more aggressive monetary policy even possible? Also, to what extent did public pressure play on shaping Fed policy versus the internal thinking of FOMC members themselves.
Finally, we discuss ways to improve Fed policy and whether the supply side of the economy is endogenous, in part, to demand pressures. This was a great conversation.
You can listen to the podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, or your favorite podcast app. You can also listen via the embedded player above. And remember to subscribe since more shows are coming.
Related Links:
Narayana Kocherlakota's home page
Narayana Kocherlakota's twitter account
Narayana Kocherlakota's Bloomberg articles
Related Links:
Narayana Kocherlakota's home page
Narayana Kocherlakota's twitter account
Narayana Kocherlakota's Bloomberg articles
This was far too short of an interview. As one of today's most power & progressive voices in monetary policy, I can't believe the interview wasn't expanded with increased in-depth questions for Kocherlakota..... far too much was left on the table.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with rtd that a longer interview would have been very desirable (e.g. the reasons for his transformation from hawk to dove would have made for a great topic, as this is arguably quite rare in macro), I also thought that the episode was nevertheless absolutely fascinating - once again. Thanks a lot for all the work you put in, David!
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