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I gave the UCSD economic roundtable lecture Friday June 11 on inflation and the future of the Fed. It summarizes quickly a number of themes from previous Grumpy writings, and if you enjoy videos you might find it fun. Youtube link  in case the above embed does not work.  I happened on the New York Fed website , proclaiming on its landing page that it is now "...dedicated to understanding and finding solutions to the numerous forms of inequality that communities of color experience and working with communities in our District to address deep-seated inequities,"  in case you want documentation that the Federal Reserve is taking on inequality and racial issues.  Slides available here . 

 I did a few fun video conversations last week.  This is a conversation with Ryan Bourne, Megan McArdle, and Alex Tabarrok on economics and the year of covid. Direct link  if the above embed doesn't work.  The conversation  is occasioned by the publication of Ryan's excellent book Economics in One Virus .  I am often asked for recommendations of general readable economics books. (i.e. no equations.) This is a gem.  Then I had a nice conversation with Mike Hartmann at The Giving Review , link here with transcript , (slightly edited, please refer to that if you want to quote me. The above is just a screenshot, you have to go to the link).  We explored my view that the US should eliminate the whole non-profit business, most of all the tax deductibility of contributions to non-profits, but also (less importantly) the non-profit corporate form. While many non-profits do a lot of good (my employer!) the system has become obscenely perverted, mostly as...

Conversation with Tyler podcast interview. Perhaps predictably, the most challenging interview / podcast I've ever done. Video here   and embed below  Update: My comments on efficient markets and active management provoked a lot of email.  I mentioned Jonathan Berk, and should have mentioned his coauthors Rick Green and Jules Van Binsbergen, on how active management can persist even though investors don't make any money on it. The basic idea is really clever:  A manager has 5% alpha skill on $10 milllion, i.e. he can earn $500k, but the skill does not scale. So he earns 5%, charges 1% fee, investors get 4%.  Investors see his great performance and rush in.  Now he has $50 million assets under management. He still earns $500k. He charges 1% fee, and investors get zero alpha. It’s equilibrium – if investors leave,  alpha to investors goes up again, and they return. Investors are earning the same zero alpha they get on the index so why not. And that’s ab...

The Fiscal Theory of the Price Level  is a book I'm writing on that topic. It now has a full draft, here .  Comments, typos, suggestions, complaints, parts you find too easy, part you find too hard, things you think are wrong, parts you find repetitive, parts you find need better connection, things I should add, things I should delete are all most welcome!  I also did a 2 hour video mini-course on FTPL for the Becker-Friedman Institute last summer, with slides/notes here.   Update: The video link is now fixed (2/1/2012)

About a month ago, Russ Roberts and I had a great conversation about virus, vaccine, and tests for the Econ Talk podcast, and the free market approach. It's out now, here for the podcast,  or embedded below  and here video on YouTube . The podcast link already has some excellent comments.