What John H. Cochrane thinks about government
Economist at the Hoover Institution, previously at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, and the author of the fiscal theory of the price level. Writes at The Grumpy Economist.
Everything they publish, on ppll ↗
John H. Cochrane did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
3 dated positions, 2025 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what John H. Cochrane has said — not written or endorsed by them.
The shading behind a date shows how recently it was said: full within a month, empty after three years.
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Their wordsThe tradeoff between cost of borrowing and how much interest rate risk taxpayers shoulder should be squarely on the shoulders of the politically-accountable Treasury not the independent Fed.
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Their wordsSimplifying a bit, the Treasury should introduce a fixed-coupon perpetuity and a fixed-value floating-rate perpetuity. These should gradually make up the bulk of government debt.
- 17 months earlier
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Their wordsIn sum, spurred on by the federal government (in many ways), the US borrowed a huge amount from foreigners at very low rates, and went on a consumption binge. Sooner or later we have to pay it back, or we go though the wrenching adjustment of a debt crisis.
↗Tariffs, saving, and investmentgrumpy-economist.com 3rd of 6 in this piece
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