Basil Halperin on Macroeconomic Policy in an Age of Transformative AI

Basil Halperin is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Virginia. In Basil's first appearance on the show he discusses the famous but flawed Citrini essay, why Silicon Valley's growth expectations aren't showing up yet in interest rates, the impact of Less Than Zero by George Selgin, what the true frictions in the economy are, the differences between Calvo and menu-cost pricing, the impact of transformational AI on emerging economies and the housing market, and much more.

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Recorded on March 27th, 2026

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Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:20 - Global Intelligence Crisis

00:07:04 - Transformative AI and Interest Rates

00:21:05 - Optimal Monetary Policy Under Menu Costs

00:48:13 - Transformative AI and its Macro Implications

00:55:41 - Outro