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Wiliam White was interviewed by Ed D’Agostino of Mauldin Economics on  August 2, 2024. The conversation was centered around White’s view that a combination of negative supply shocks, and the need for massive expenditures to confront national security, environmental and other requirements, would in the end have to squeeze consumer expenditures. Higher interest rates would be part of the process for doing this. Transitioning to an Age of Scarcity will create formidable political challenges to the democratic order. The interview itself, and the transcript, are attached below.

https://youtu.be/d2GG2u7agsE

Chris Sheridan, host of FS Insiders Podcast, recently interviewed William White about his most recent INET Working Paper. White reviewed the various shortcomings of the current framework; not least, how it has contributed to ever bigger credit bubbles and and ever higher stocks of both public and private debt. In spite of these developments, central banks showed no willingness to reassess either the framework itself or the set of false beliefs on which it rested. White expressed the hope that the conduct of monetary policy could be improved while maintaining the current institutional structure. However, he felt that it was also appropriate to assess seriously alternative and more radical options like the introduction of a “narrow money” regime. The widespread introduction of central bank digital currencies might facilitate such a change

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4z8kmp8g1je5nrxeto75l/Bill-White-FSN-Interview.mp3?rlkey=cmj8y4g6fwjr6nxy1v6ziyk02&dl=0

MNI Market News posted on 3 March a podcast with William White, conducted by Greg Quinn of the Ottawa bureau. White listed a variety of reasons for expecting future aggregate supply to be constrained, and for future investment needs to strengthen. This implied a sustained need for higher real and nominal interest rates, raising fears of both financial instability and fiscal unsustainability. White suggested that fiscal restraint, directed primarily to reduce consumption, could aid in the battle against inflation and would also help ensure longer run fiscal sustainability.

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbW5pZmVkc3BlYWs/episode/ZGE4NGQzY2UtYjlkNy0xMWVkLWI2NDAtMGYzZGMzZWZkMDY5?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjA6Nu8jsD9AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

An interview given by William White to Mark Dittli of “The Market” was posted on 23 February. Faced with secular forces likely to lead to a more inflationary future, central banks should raise nominal rates to allow real rates to adjust upwards. However, high levels of both private and public debt (encouraged by earlier monetary easing) imply that higher rates bring significant risks of financial  instability as well as the unsustainability of public finances. White suggests measures to help avoid these risks, but they imply pain for consumers. Political authorities might rather choose policies of “financial repression”. After World War II inflation rose, but interest rates were held down and the real burden of debtors  was reduced over a number of years at the expense of savers. In todays world, the political implications of such redistributive policies could be important.

https://themarket.ch/interview/william-white-financial-markets-could-get-a-terrible-reckoning-ld.8478