Scott Sumner on Monetary Policy Confusion in Our Current Policy Debates
Mon Feb 02 2026
Scott Sumner is the Ralph G. Hawtrey Chair Emeritus of Monetary Policy and the founder of the Monetary Policy Program at Mercatus. Scott returns to the show, to discuss his life post Mercatus, nominal GDP counterfactuals of the pandemic and the Great Financial Crisis, the role of QE in inflation, the fears about Fed independence, and much more.
Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links.
Recorded on January 15th, 2025
Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth
Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings
Check out our Macro Musings merch!
Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel
Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:34 - Scott's Life Post Mercatus
00:05:28 - Nominal GDP Targeting
00:19:53 - Quantitative Easing
00:38:28 - Fed Framework Review
00:42:36 - Fed Independence
01:04:33 - Outro
More
Scott Sumner is the Ralph G. Hawtrey Chair Emeritus of Monetary Policy and the founder of the Monetary Policy Program at Mercatus. Scott returns to the show, to discuss his life post Mercatus, nominal GDP counterfactuals of the pandemic and the Great Financial Crisis, the role of QE in inflation, the fears about Fed independence, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links. Recorded on January 15th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:34 - Scott's Life Post Mercatus 00:05:28 - Nominal GDP Targeting 00:19:53 - Quantitative Easing 00:38:28 - Fed Framework Review 00:42:36 - Fed Independence 01:04:33 - Outro