George Selgin on Repo Market Stress, Fed Balance Sheet Volatility, and a Standing Repo Facility

George Selgin is the director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and is a returning guest to the Macro Musings podcast. He joins the show today as part of a two week special on the Fed and repo markets, as he helps us take a look at recent repo market stress from the Fed’s perspective. Specifically, David and George discuss the basics of the Fed’s balance sheet, the problematic nature of the Treasury General Account and foreign repo pools, and how George would tweak standing repo facility proposals to more directly address balance sheet volatility.    Transcript for the episode: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/podcasts/12162019/george-selgin-repo-market-stress-fed-balance-sheet-volatility-and-standing   George’s Twitter: @GeorgeSelgin George’s Cato profile: https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin   Related Links:   *Stop the Presses! Or, How the Fed Can Avoid Reserve Shortages without Bulking-Up, Part 1* by George Selgin https://www.alt-m.org/2019/11/12/dtop-the-presses-or-how-the-fed-can-avoid-reserve-shortages-without-bulking-up-part-1/   *Stop the Presses! Or, How the Fed Can Avoid Reserve Shortages without Bulking-Up, Part 2* by George Selgin https://www.alt-m.org/2019/11/14/stop-the-presses-or-how-the-fed-can-avoid-reserve-shortages-without-bulking-up-part-2/   David’s Twitter thread on George’s proposal: https://twitter.com/DavidBeckworth/status/1202364853480017920   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth