2nd Month Anniversary of 'Notes on the Crises"
Thank You so Much for Your Support

Hello Reader,
Yesterday was the 2nd month anniversary of this newsletter “Notes on the Crises”. I wanted to take out a moment to thank you all for your support, in whatever capacity you’ve been providing support, and review the media this substack has gotten over the past month and praise it's gotten on twitter. This month has really been the month of interviews for me. I was thrilled to begin the month by speaking to Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal on “How The Crisis Pushed The Fed Into New Territory” on their Bloomberg podcast Odd Lots.The description of the episode was also extremely generous:
Amid this crisis, Nathan Tankus, a researcher at the Modern Money Network, has emerged as one of the foremost experts on what the Fed has done, and what it’s capable of doing, through his widely read newsletter
A week later I was interviewed and quoted in a Washington Post story on the Federal Reserve interventions in the final paragraph of the story:
The weaker restrictions on recipients of the Fed’s lending program may be partly justified, said Nathan Tankus, research director at the Modern Money Network, which studies monetary policy. The corporate bonds that the Fed is purchasing from companies can be resold, whereas direct loans establish an agreement between the company and the government that makes the asset less valuable to the central bank, he said.
“Purchases of debt are a slightly more arm’s-length transaction than the loan, which is forming a bilateral relationship,” Tankus said. “But this is really just the fig leaf the Fed can use to justify lifting the restrictions.”
On May 1st Yakov Feygin and Dominik Leusder generously cited me in an essay on “The Class Politics of The Dollar System” in a publication of the think tank the Jain Family Institute. On May 11 I got the chance to be on economist David Beckworth’s podcast “Macro Musings” talking about authorizing the Federal Reserve to issue its own securities, the crisis and monetary policy more generally. That was an especially fun experience for me and I’m thrilled there’s a full transcript! To round out the month, economist Brad DeLong praised my series on the Federal Reserve’s Coronavirus actions on the Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s blog:
Yet all who are not experts deep in the weeds do not understand what he and his central bank have done and are doing. In order to find out, you need to be following the thoughtful and patient Nathan Tankus.
That same day I was interviewed on Sam Seder’s long-running podcast “The Majority Report” on “Pandemic Monetary Policy”. It’s been quite a busy month! I’ve also written 13 posts in the past month, which, while not the pace of my first month, is still quite frequent. Here’s the praise I’ve been getting on twitter for what I’ve been writing (though I’m sure I’ve missed some of it):
You really genuinely love to see it. Congrats on the success @NathanTankus https://t.co/S3J41st0zn
— Magnus Macro (@MagnusMacro) April 20, 2020
.@NathanTankus is an absolute *MUST* follow during this crisis. His posts are so, so good.
— Mark Paul (@MarkVinPaul) April 21, 2020
The ? is, "**how** that government support should come and whether we need to preserve pre-existing social relations exactly as they appeared pre-crisis."https://t.co/1cdLbxst9W
.@nathantankus really taking his monetary policy explainers to the next level. Just read this first paragraph here. https://t.co/hG3OBKmFvo pic.twitter.com/YXlE2VseJp
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) April 21, 2020
Very useful "explainer" series from @NathanTankus on monetary policyhttps://t.co/XlQAdqsjbn
— Michael McCarthy (@its_mccarthy) April 21, 2020
https://t.co/RdFTrXvuIy @NathanTankus, this is wonderful. I try to do something like this when I teach the intro to econ 2 class and more in the money and banking class. But this is much better, clearer and useful for teaching. Part of the readings next year!
— Arjun Jayadev (@arjun_jayadev) April 23, 2020
We also talked about how Nathan knows so much about how the Fed works, which is evident if you read his newsletter, which everyone should subscribe to. https://t.co/Vry5ixyToO
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) April 23, 2020
This is a very good piece and explanation how important part the collateral policy is in the monetary policy frame work. Borrowers need some combination of personal creditworthiness and collateral-worthy assets to get loans. https://t.co/X7VQmp8dhY
— Johanna Högfeldt (@HogfeldtJohanna) April 23, 2020
Edifying interview w @NathanTankus. I expected to learn about monetary policy (and did!) but I also appreciated the discussion about pedagogy and how Nathan got interested in finance to begin with. https://t.co/omcGROVlmD
— Astra Taylor (@astradisastra) April 23, 2020
Do not miss this great Odd Lots podcast with @NathanTankus. Crucial for anyone interested in monetary policy and banking operations. From Minsky to the role of law, it's all here. https://t.co/lW7iqYTTX4
— Karina Patrício (@KPatricio1) April 24, 2020
Typically adept reframing from @NathanTankus — "[A] central bank which decides to accept a wider variety of items as collateral on better terms is choosing to loosen its monetary policy stance." https://t.co/eNpbouUegg
— Myles Udland (@MylesUdland) April 26, 2020
When I started working on Payments, I knew next to nothing about Economics/Finance/Money/Banking/Monetary Policy. Been reading up to fill this gap since.
— Pankaj Gupta (@pankaj) April 28, 2020
These days, learning a lot of #MonetaryPolicy101 from @NathanTankus. Brilliant parable in this post about Payment Systems. https://t.co/9LQctVP6Vt
These posts continue to be a great resource for people trying to understand what the Fed is up to. https://t.co/gmDtyGSRBx
— Bharat Ramamurti (@BharatRamamurti) May 3, 2020
Confused about all the talk of equities, asset swaps, and open market operations? Take a look at this monetary policy 101 guide from @NathanTankus to help you understand!https://t.co/lkbQqnQttt
— Rethinking Economics (@rethinkecon) May 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/DavidpStein/status/1257324173178748930
Doh I meant @NathanTankus who I know from way back, I mean last week, thanks to https://t.co/piEULHvSTA. But seriously, great newsletter from a gifted explainer whom I trust because he's on board with @RashidaTlaib's efforts to use fiscal policy to save our lives.
— Madeleine Elfenbein (@maddy_e) May 5, 2020
Great piece from @NathanTankus about what banks really do https://t.co/r0kaSPvmtJ
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) May 6, 2020
This is a really helpful explanation of repurchase (repo) agreements and the relationship between what central banks will accept as collateral and how tight or loose credit / monetary policy is (from @NathanTankus) https://t.co/ZlMBif2UkW
— Evan Schwartz (@_emschwartz) May 6, 2020
While I have some concerns, core idea here merits attention.
— Kate Judge (@ProfKateJudge) May 7, 2020
In sum: Uncapped (but not condition-free) programs protecting payroll, munis and DIP financing + 2008 facilities = greater simplicity, accountability, and efficacy than current interventions. https://t.co/EfyeP7l4nV
One of the most @NathanTankus tweets ever is busting out U5 as the key measure for the purpose of accurate historical comparison https://t.co/WYGQOKuIcd
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) May 8, 2020
This is a must-read from @nathantankus that's particularly relevant in light of fintech companies wanting to get more into banking, and bank companies that wanted to get more into consumer payment apps and things like that. https://t.co/SPWFnZ0gXX
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) May 13, 2020
Interested in finance? Reading this? @NathanTankus is conveying a world of "heterodox" (i.e., real) knowledge in this series and, meanwhile, blowing us away. https://t.co/6COJFFZ1Ho
— David M. P. Freund (@MpeterF) May 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/sanjuktampaul/status/1260620929031450626
https://twitter.com/UnlearnEcon/status/1260631054442016771
Was thinking that Nathan could publish these notes in a book later on.
— Big Government Advocate (@bluser12) May 13, 2020
But a textbook would be nice too!
Great post with more to come
— Katharina Pistor (@KatharinaPistor) May 13, 2020
I know already who won’t like the idea of separating payment systems from credit... https://t.co/6J5lpNDzRR
Nathan blogging out what will become the standard law-and-money textbook, piece by piece. Hope you're paying attention! https://t.co/GImcwlyziV
— Luke Herrine (@LDHerrine) May 13, 2020
These are REALLY good and approachable for a subject that is very intricate, without losing on the nuance. Looking very much forward to the next posts. https://t.co/sF816VRtpL
— Pedro Schilling (@pschillingc) May 13, 2020
Really enjoyed this @NathanTankus history of how and why banks to charge to process payments, how the Fed unified a bunch of small rural banks into a monetary system, and why it shouldn't cost anyone money just to use or access their own money.https://t.co/M0h8x8jJvi #fintech
— Nik (@NikMilanovic) May 13, 2020
If you're looking to get a better understanding of the basics of monetary policy, I've found the Monetary Policy 101 series by @NathanTankus to be incredibly useful. Part 1 here: Purchase and Sale Policy https://t.co/4nJVED4wx5
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) May 14, 2020
This crisis has very urgent and concrete concerns, but I really enjoy @NathanTankus' work emphasizing how important it is right now to change what we think of as possible in our financial system https://t.co/T8fJwRjbqx pic.twitter.com/JFKxPF0z9g
— Myles Udland (@MylesUdland) May 14, 2020
This is kind of a mind-blowing idea... https://t.co/vE0SjtnJ4Q
— Jeff Manuel (@jeffmanuel) May 14, 2020
There is no better time for your students to learn about monetary economics. Do them a favor, skip the textbooks (its summer anyway). Get them to subscribe to @NathanTankus feed at https://t.co/rtFgcwbYjM
— Rishabh Kumar (@Kumar_EconIneq) May 15, 2020
Excellent primer on the payment system: https://t.co/TYc1QKafDp. "Separating payment processing from credit creation could serve to greatly reduce the power of banks and to highlight the inherently political and public nature of their debt monetization role." @NathanTankus
— Maria C. Schweinberger (@mariacacilia) May 15, 2020
Payments 101. Read @NathanTankus https://t.co/7OX56CWX75
— B. Dan Berger (@BDanBerger) May 20, 2020
People, you should subscribe to this series.(I have) It's really a masterclass of explanation.
— Arjun Jayadev (@arjun_jayadev) May 20, 2020
There’s a larger and larger crowd of people saying my work is extremely worthwhile and deserves continued support. I hope readers of this newsletter agree. I’ve continued to get paid subscriptions and can comfortably treat this newsletter as a full time job. If I keep on getting paid subscriptions I’ll be able to produce this substack indefinitely, but at a higher quality. If I get enough paid subscriptions, I’ll start a podcast to go along with the writing I do here. Please consider taking out a paid subscription if you haven’t as it really is direct support from readers which makes this kind of in-depth and detail-oriented writing- and education- possible. Thanks again.
Stay Safe!
Nathan Tankus
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