Barry Eichengreen is well known author, economist, and economic historian from the University of California, Berkeley. In Barry's first appearance on the show he discusses a career in untangling the world's monetary history, the origins of his new book Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto, the first uses on currencies in the 7th Century BC, the unexpected start of the dollar, how we landed on the central bank model, the dollar's rise to global reserve currency, which if any currencies as poised to take on the dollar, and much more.

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Recorded on May 27th, 2026

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Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:17 - Barry's Books

00:10:14 - Money Beyond Borders

00:17:17 - Lydia and Greece

00:20:46 - Renaissance of Credits

00:23:36 - Spanish Silver

00:28:26 - The Emergence of Central Banks

00:38:11 - British Empire vs. Roman Empire

00:43:34 - Dollar as One of the Dominant Reserve Currencies

00:56:29 - Outro

Yesha Yadav is a professor of law, the Milton R. Underwood Chair, the Associate Dean & Robert Belton Director of Culture & Community, and the Co-Faculty Director, Master of Laws (LL.M) Program at the Vanderbilt University Law School. Chris Odinet is a professor of law, Mosbacher Research Fellow, and Affiliate Professor of Finance at Texas A&M University School of Law. Andrea Tosato is professor of law at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Yesha, Chris, and Andrea join the show to discuss their avenues into stablecoin regulation, their four-part definition of moneyness (nature of the claim, safety, discharge capacity, and negotiability), how Tether and Circle stack up to these definitions, the stablecoin bankruptcy conundrum, the progress the GENIUS Act made on closing legal loopholes, their prescriptions for policymakers, 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 May 20th, 2026

Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus

Follow David on X: @DavidBeckworth

Follow Chris on X: @ChisOdinet

Follow Andrea on X: @Andrea_Tosato

Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings

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Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:26 - Career Backgrounds of Chris, Yesha, and Andrea

00:02:35 - Background on the Paper

00:06:52 - Structure of Money

00:17:33 - Moneyness: Nature of the Claim

00:22:37 - Moneyness: Safety

00:23:45 - Moneyness: Discharge Capacity

00:30:50 - Moneyness: Negotiability

00:31:55 - How Stablecoins Currently Hold Up in Moneyness

00:58:18 - Recommendations to Policymakers

01:10:51 - Outro

Jeffrey Lacker is the former president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank and is a senior affiliated scholar at the Mercatus Center. Jeff returns to the show to discuss the history of the Fed Treasury Accord, the state of fiscal dominance, his five proposals for a new Fed Treasury Accord, his calls for reform around the discount window, a memorial to his friend and colleague Charlie Plosser, 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 May 20th, 2026

Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus

Follow David on X: @DavidBeckworth

Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings

Check out our Macro Musings merch!

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:56 - Fed Treasury Accord

00:18:26 - Fiscal Dominance

00:22:05 - Jeff's Five Proposals

00:49:05 - Charlie Plosser

00:55:49 - Outro