Simply Put

The prosperity promised by railroads in the 1800s caused unprecedented investment in the United States that eventually led to the Panic of 1873, the steepest downturn in the US up to that point. The amount of capital being spent on AI today has some wondering if we are likewise in the midst of a bubble about to burst. But as the American experience with railroads shows, a technology can live up to all its hype and still cause a messy and painful adjustment along the way. In this episode, we talk with Robin Wigglesworth, editor of the FT’s Alphaville blog, about the frenzied investment that financed 19th century railroads, the amount of debt being issued by AI firms, and what the railroad boom (and bust) can teach us about the AI buildout’s potential winners and losers. For a chance to obtain a FREE copy of Robin’s new book, A Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World, email [email protected] with your name and address by September 25. Simply Put: Expert perspectives on the trends influencing fixed income, banking, and the macro landscape, hosted by FHN Financial’s Macro Strategist, Will Compernolle. Tune in to better understand what’s moving the markets and what to keep an eye on in the weeks and months ahead. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

As the pandemic-era shocks of federal stimulus and domestic migration fade, some states are looking for new taxes to increase revenue while others consider tax cuts to address affordability concerns. Proposed reforms for property taxes in Florida, income taxes in Illinois, and a wealth tax in California show how the differences in states’ tax environments are widening even further. In this episode, we talk with Katherine Loughead, Vice President of State Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation, about states’ fiscal positions in the post-pandemic economy, three significant changes to state taxes that could be in the pipeline, and rules of thumb for ideal tax policy design. Simply Put: Expert perspectives on the trends influencing fixed income, banking, and the macro landscape, hosted by FHN Financial’s Macro Strategist, Will Compernolle. Tune in to better understand what’s moving the markets and what to keep an eye on in the weeks and months ahead. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The recent increase in Treasury’s buyback operations will remove long-term USTs from the market using new short-term debt or cash from the Treasury General Account. Secretary Bessent believes the buybacks will help bring long-term yields closer to what he deems fundamentals. The move comes weeks after Treasury officials intervened to support the yen, in part from worries that Japan would otherwise sell Treasuries to buy up its currency. In this special edition of Simply Put, we talk with Brad Setser, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, about what motivated the increase in Treasury’s buyback operations, why the US helped strengthen the yen, and whether these interventions will have lasting impacts on the Treasury market. Simply Put: Expert perspectives on the trends influencing fixed income, banking, and the macro landscape, hosted by FHN Financial’s Macro Strategist, Will Compernolle. Tune in to better understand what’s moving the markets and what to keep an eye on in the weeks and months ahead. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The speed and magnitude of AI implementation at the firm level will help determine its overall impact on growth, productivity, and employment. Survey evidence shows CFOs’ approach to AI integration varies based on how they assess the risks and potential benefits of the innovative technology. In this episode, we talk with John Graham, Professor of Finance at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, about what’s driving CFOs’ decisions on AI spend, the impact on productivity and employment thus far, and parallels with the late-1990s desktop computer revolution. Simply Put: Expert perspectives on the trends influencing fixed income, banking, and the macro landscape, hosted by FHN Financial’s Macro Strategist, Will Compernolle. Tune in to better understand what’s moving the markets and what to keep an eye on in the weeks and months ahead. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chair Warsh has communicated very little at his first two press conferences, aiming to increase policy flexibility and free markets to “play the ball, not the referee.” This is a marked change from his predecessors who viewed frequent communication as a form of transparency and helpful guidance. Some of Warsh’s desired reforms, however, are subject to FOMC approval and cannot be implemented unilaterally. In this episode, we talk with Narayana Kocherlakota, former President of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, about how the Fed approached communication through the GFC, the process for reforming FOMC procedures, and the optimal balance between monetary policy flexibility and guidance. Simply Put: Expert perspectives on the trends influencing fixed income, banking, and the macro landscape, hosted by FHN Financial’s Macro Strategist, Will Compernolle. Tune in to better understand what’s moving the markets and what to keep an eye on in the weeks and months ahead. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.