Ruth Judson on Chasing Dollars Around the World

Ruth Judson on Chasing Dollars Around the World

From Macro Musings with David Beckworth by Mercatus Center at George Mason University

March 30, 2026 · 51 min · Episode 536

About this episode

Ruth Judson discusses her career at the Federal Reserve and various topics related to currency and monetary policy.

Ruth Judson is a monetary economist, economic historian, and veteran of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. In Ruth's first appearance on the show she discusses her career at the Fed, field trips tracking counterfeit dollars around the global, how we know how much currency is held overseas, why money doesn't matter anymore, the problem with cashless societies, how to understand TIC data, the promise of dollar backed stablecoins, and much more. Watch the full length video on our new YouTube Channel! Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links. Recorded on March 4th, 2026 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:13 - Ruth at the Fed 00:08:09 - Currency 00:31:29 - Counterfeits 00:39:00 - TIC Data and Safe Assets 00:44:18 - Dollar-Based Stablecoins 00:49:55 - Outro

People in this episode

Host: David Beckworth

Guest: Ruth Judson

Topics covered

  • monetary economics
  • counterfeit currency
  • cashless societies
  • TIC data
  • stablecoins

Keywords

  • monetary economist
  • counterfeit dollars
  • currency overseas
  • cashless societies
  • dollar backed stablecoins

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Federal Reserve Board of Governors

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