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George Hall is a professor of economics at Brandeis University and formerly worked as an economist at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank. George returns to the show to discuss the current fiscal status of the US, how the Big Beautiful Bill will impact the fiscal outlook going forward, the history of running deficits in the US, and much more.

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

Recorded on June 24th, 2025

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Timestamps

00:00:00 - Bumper

00:00:29 - Intro

00:01:55 - Current US Fiscal Status

00:05:45 - What Is Inflation?

00:10:18 - Fiscal Consequences of the US War with COVID

00:23:21 - World War COVID

00:25:05 - Before and After War

00:34:02 - Financing with Inflation

00:38:47 - World War II Period vs. Today

00:38:47 - World War II Period vs. Today

00:44:19 - Who Bears the Fed’s Losses?

00:47:14 - How to Foot the Big, Beautiful Bill

00:52:10 - Outro

George Hall on the Fiscal Consequences of the US War on COVID

Macro Musings with David Beckworth