Ben Harris served in numerous high-ranking roles as a public sector economist and is now the vice president and director of economic studies at the Brooking Institution. In Ben’s first appearance on the show, he discusses the fiscal health of the US government, including the rising primary deficient, the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill, the proposition of stablecoins and AI as a solution to our debt, his love of basketball and much more.

Check out the transcript for this week’s episode, now with links.

Recorded on June 18th, 2025

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Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:01 - Ben’s Career

00:05:18 - Fiscal Health of the United States

00:07:57 - Big Beautiful Bill

00:12:15 - Debts and Deficits

00:14:47 - Costs and Risks of the Rising US Debt

00:37:05 - Stablecoins as a Potential Solution to US Debt

00:41:49 - Debt Ceiling

00:50:02 - AI and the Economy

00:54:58 - Outro

Ben Harris on the Fiscal Health of the US Government

Macro Musings with David Beckworth