Mickey Levy
Mickey Levy is an economist and visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. He previously served as chief economist at Bank of America and is a longtime member of the Shadow Open Market Committee, focusing on monetary policy and the U.S. economy.
Monetary Policy Moved From Monetarism to Inflation Targeting
Mickey Levy argues that the Federal Reserve should treat money growth as an important warning signal, not as a mechanical target. Drawing on his work with the Shadow Open Market Committee, founded in 1973, he says the group was right to link excess money growth to inflation in the 1970s but later overreached as the relationship between money and spending became less reliable. In conversation with Jon Hartley, Levy applies that distinction to the pandemic-era surge in inflation and the Fed’s balance sheet, while Hartley highlights how inflation targeting has helped anchor expectations.
Central Banks Face Accountability Tests Across Independence, Reserves, and Stability Policy
At a Hoover Institution conference on central-bank independence, Marvin Barth, Darrell Duffie and Christina Skinner each framed the next phase of monetary and financial policy as an accountability problem. Barth argued that the Federal Reserve’s policy failures and lack of humility have weakened its political legitimacy; Duffie said shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet depends on changing reserve demand and payment mechanics, not simply selling assets; and Skinner argued that financial stability policy should weigh growth and economic security rather than treating every visible risk reduction as a net gain.