David Beckworth
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Senior Research Fellow
David Beckworth is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and director of the Mercatus Center’s monetary policy program. His primary research focuses on the targets, tools, operating system, and governance of the Federal Reserve, and has included work on the US Treasury market, the safe asset shortage, and dollar dominance. He has advised congressional staffers and Fed officials on monetary policy and has been cited by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Economist.
Beckworth is also the host of Macro Musings, a weekly podcast on macroeconomics, where, since 2016, he has interviewed hundreds of experts, including regional presidents of the Federal Reserve, Nobel laureates, and leading academics from around the world. He is the author of Boom and Bust Banking: The Causes and Cures of the Great Recession (Independent Institute, 2012). Formerly an international economist at the US Department of the Treasury, he earned his PhD in economics from the University of Georgia.
Latest Work
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- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Ellen Correia Golay on All-to-All Trading and Treasury Market Liquidity
How can market structure reforms make the Treasury market more resilient?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Nellie Liang on Stablecoins After GENIUS, Private Money, and the Global Dollar
Will stablecoins strengthen the dollar’s international role?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Stephen Miran on Regulatory Dominance, Shrinking the Fed’s Balance Sheet, and the Return of Monetarism
Could Divisia money have helped the Fed spot inflation sooner?
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Fed Has No Going Back | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Donald Kohn on the Fed’s Past, Present, and Future
What can today's Fed learn from the Greenspan era?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Ben Harris on AI, Fiscal Sustainability, and the Resilience of the U.S. Economy
Can faster growth fix America's debt problem?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Bill Nelson on Shrinking the Fed’s Balance Sheet and Reviving Interbank Markets
Is the Fed falling behind other central banks?
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Digital Currency Road Less Traveled | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Gianluca Benigno on Central Bank Balance Sheets, Stablecoins, and Nonlinear Inflation
What can the Swiss National Bank teach the Fed?
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Barry Eichengreen, Paul Blustein, and Brendan Greeley on Dollar Dominance
Will a grandfather’s love change if his grandkids grow up to love crypto?
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
How Much Did Macroeconomic Policy Matter? A New Decomposition of the US Inflation Surge of 2021–22
Inflation surged as demand ran hot—NGDP trends offer a tool for prevention -
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Reliability of the Nominal GDP Expectations Gap
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Fate of FAIT: Salvaging the Fed’s Framework
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Research Papers Research Papers
Facts, Fears, and Functionality of NGDP Level Targeting
A Guide to a Popular Framework for Monetary Policy -
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Books Books
Reflections on Allan H. Meltzer’s Contributions to Monetary Economics and Public Policy
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Research Papers Research Papers
The Great Divorce
The Fed’s Move to a Floor System and the Implications for Bank Portfolios -
- | Low Interest Rates and the Economy: A Mercatus Colloquium Low Interest Rates and the Economy: A Mercatus Colloquium
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Research Papers Research Papers
The Fall and Future Rise of Interest Rates
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
Nominal GDP Targeting and the Taylor Rule on an Even Playing Field
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Monetary Policy Origins of the Eurozone Crisis
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- | Financial Markets Financial Markets
- | Research Papers Research Papers
Inflation Targeting: A Monetary Policy Regime Whose Time Has Come and Gone
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Measuring Macroeconomic Policy: the NGDP Gap
The NGDP gap is a benchmark measure created by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. It helps assess whether macroeconomic policy is expansionary or contractionary. -
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Fed’s 2024–25 Framework Review: Optimizing the Dual Mandate Through Nominal GDP Level Targeting
As the Federal Reserve considers how to implement its dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment, it should adopt—or approach—nominal GDP level targeting as a benchmark framework. -
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q1 2024
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q4 2023
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q3 2023
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q2 2023
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q1 2023
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q4 2022
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q3 2022
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Ellen Correia Golay on All-to-All Trading and Treasury Market Liquidity
How can market structure reforms make the Treasury market more resilient?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Nellie Liang on Stablecoins After GENIUS, Private Money, and the Global Dollar
Will stablecoins strengthen the dollar’s international role?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Stephen Miran on Regulatory Dominance, Shrinking the Fed’s Balance Sheet, and the Return of Monetarism
Could Divisia money have helped the Fed spot inflation sooner?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Donald Kohn on the Fed’s Past, Present, and Future
What can today's Fed learn from the Greenspan era?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Ben Harris on AI, Fiscal Sustainability, and the Resilience of the U.S. Economy
Can faster growth fix America's debt problem?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Bill Nelson on Shrinking the Fed’s Balance Sheet and Reviving Interbank Markets
Is the Fed falling behind other central banks?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Gianluca Benigno on Central Bank Balance Sheets, Stablecoins, and Nonlinear Inflation
What can the Swiss National Bank teach the Fed?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Barry Eichengreen, Paul Blustein, and Brendan Greeley on Dollar Dominance
Will a grandfather’s love change if his grandkids grow up to love crypto?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
David Wessel on the Fed’s Current Inflection Point
Is the FOMC really just like high school?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Sam Lyman on the Digital Payments Race Between the US and China
What does it mean when President Trump says he wants the US to become a crypto superpower?
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Comments on Docket No. OP-1877, Request for Information and Comment on Reserve Bank Payment Account Prototype
How the Fed can implement the RBPA in an efficient manner that supports liquidity under stress
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Fed Has No Going Back | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Digital Currency Road Less Traveled | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Lean, Mean, and Norwegian | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Missing the Forest for the Trees | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Kevin Warsh and the Future of the Fed | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Battle Over Fed Master Accounts | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Nominal Anchor Still Holds | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Currency Swap Lines, Financial Statecraft, and Dollar Dominance | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
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- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
From Conversations to Community: Macro Musings in Action | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Fed’s Overton Window Is Shifting | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Ellen Correia Golay on All-to-All Trading and Treasury Market Liquidity
How can market structure reforms make the Treasury market more resilient?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Nellie Liang on Stablecoins After GENIUS, Private Money, and the Global Dollar
Will stablecoins strengthen the dollar’s international role?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Stephen Miran on Regulatory Dominance, Shrinking the Fed’s Balance Sheet, and the Return of Monetarism
Could Divisia money have helped the Fed spot inflation sooner?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Fed Has No Going Back | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Donald Kohn on the Fed’s Past, Present, and Future
What can today's Fed learn from the Greenspan era?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Ben Harris on AI, Fiscal Sustainability, and the Resilience of the U.S. Economy
Can faster growth fix America's debt problem?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Bill Nelson on Shrinking the Fed’s Balance Sheet and Reviving Interbank Markets
Is the Fed falling behind other central banks?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Digital Currency Road Less Traveled | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Gianluca Benigno on Central Bank Balance Sheets, Stablecoins, and Nonlinear Inflation
What can the Swiss National Bank teach the Fed?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Barry Eichengreen, Paul Blustein, and Brendan Greeley on Dollar Dominance
Will a grandfather’s love change if his grandkids grow up to love crypto?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
How Much Did Macroeconomic Policy Matter? A New Decomposition of the US Inflation Surge of 2021–22
Inflation surged as demand ran hot—NGDP trends offer a tool for prevention -
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Reliability of the Nominal GDP Expectations Gap
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Fate of FAIT: Salvaging the Fed’s Framework
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Research Papers Research Papers
Facts, Fears, and Functionality of NGDP Level Targeting
A Guide to a Popular Framework for Monetary Policy -
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Books Books
Reflections on Allan H. Meltzer’s Contributions to Monetary Economics and Public Policy
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Research Papers Research Papers
The Great Divorce
The Fed’s Move to a Floor System and the Implications for Bank Portfolios -
- | Low Interest Rates and the Economy: A Mercatus Colloquium Low Interest Rates and the Economy: A Mercatus Colloquium
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Research Papers Research Papers
The Fall and Future Rise of Interest Rates
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
Nominal GDP Targeting and the Taylor Rule on an Even Playing Field
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Monetary Policy Origins of the Eurozone Crisis
-
- | Financial Markets Financial Markets
- | Research Papers Research Papers
Inflation Targeting: A Monetary Policy Regime Whose Time Has Come and Gone
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Measuring Macroeconomic Policy: the NGDP Gap
The NGDP gap is a benchmark measure created by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. It helps assess whether macroeconomic policy is expansionary or contractionary. -
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Fed’s 2024–25 Framework Review: Optimizing the Dual Mandate Through Nominal GDP Level Targeting
As the Federal Reserve considers how to implement its dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment, it should adopt—or approach—nominal GDP level targeting as a benchmark framework. -
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q1 2024
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q4 2023
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q3 2023
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q2 2023
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q1 2023
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q4 2022
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Neutral Level of NGDP and the NGDP Gap: Q3 2022
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Ellen Correia Golay on All-to-All Trading and Treasury Market Liquidity
How can market structure reforms make the Treasury market more resilient?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Nellie Liang on Stablecoins After GENIUS, Private Money, and the Global Dollar
Will stablecoins strengthen the dollar’s international role?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Stephen Miran on Regulatory Dominance, Shrinking the Fed’s Balance Sheet, and the Return of Monetarism
Could Divisia money have helped the Fed spot inflation sooner?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Donald Kohn on the Fed’s Past, Present, and Future
What can today's Fed learn from the Greenspan era?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Ben Harris on AI, Fiscal Sustainability, and the Resilience of the U.S. Economy
Can faster growth fix America's debt problem?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Bill Nelson on Shrinking the Fed’s Balance Sheet and Reviving Interbank Markets
Is the Fed falling behind other central banks?
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Gianluca Benigno on Central Bank Balance Sheets, Stablecoins, and Nonlinear Inflation
What can the Swiss National Bank teach the Fed?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Barry Eichengreen, Paul Blustein, and Brendan Greeley on Dollar Dominance
Will a grandfather’s love change if his grandkids grow up to love crypto?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
David Wessel on the Fed’s Current Inflection Point
Is the FOMC really just like high school?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
- | Macro Musings Macro Musings
Sam Lyman on the Digital Payments Race Between the US and China
What does it mean when President Trump says he wants the US to become a crypto superpower?
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Comments on Docket No. OP-1877, Request for Information and Comment on Reserve Bank Payment Account Prototype
How the Fed can implement the RBPA in an efficient manner that supports liquidity under stress
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Fed Has No Going Back | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Digital Currency Road Less Traveled | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Lean, Mean, and Norwegian | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Missing the Forest for the Trees | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Kevin Warsh and the Future of the Fed | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Battle Over Fed Master Accounts | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Nominal Anchor Still Holds | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Currency Swap Lines, Financial Statecraft, and Dollar Dominance | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
From Conversations to Community: Macro Musings in Action | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Fed’s Overton Window Is Shifting | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus