Lender of Last Resort

About this episode

Michael Lewis explores the role of the Federal Reserve in the 2008 financial crisis with economist Emi Nakamura.

When Michael Lewis wrote The Big Short, there was an extra character in the story: The Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the US, which bought up bad debt on the balance sheets of big Wall Street banks and trading firms. To better understand the Fed’s role in the financial crisis of 2008, Michael turns to UC Berkeley economics professor Emi Nakamura . And in the process, we get a master class in how currency works, and why there’s still some gold in the vaults of the Fed. For more, check out Emi Nakamura’s Macro Policy Lab . Order The Big Short audiobook, now narrated by Michael Lewis, on  Audible , Spotify , pushkin.fm/bigshort or wherever you get audiobooks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Guest: Emi Nakamura

Topics covered

• financial crisis
• Federal Reserve
• economics
• currency
• The Big Short

Keywords

• Federal Reserve
• financial crisis
• 2008
• economics
• currency
• The Big Short

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Federal Reserve System, UC Berkeley, Audible, Spotify, pushkin.fm

Products: The Big Short audiobook

Books & works: The Big Short

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