George Hall is a professor of economics at Brandeis University, and was formerly an economist at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank. George has written widely on the history of U.S. public finance, and he joins Macro Musings to talk about the history of the U.S. national debt, including the most recent surge resulting from the pandemic. David and George also discuss how a government goes about funding itself, two different models of expenditure financing, the Revolutionary War and Civil War as case studies, and more. Transcript for the episode can be found here. George's Twitter: @George_J_Hall George's Brandeis profile David Beckworth's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Follow us on Twitter: @Macro_Musings Click here for the latest Macro Musings episodes sent straight to your inbox! Check out our new Macro Musings merch here! Related Links: *Financing Big US Federal Expenditures Surges: COVID-19 and Earlier US Wars* by George Hall and Thomas Sargent *Debt and Taxes in Eight U.S. Wars and Two Insurrections* by George Hall and Thomas Sargent *Three World Wars: Fiscal-monetary Consequences* by George Hall and Thomas Sargent

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.