Topic: Currency

A CBDC Would Not Be Money in the Sense Used in the Constitution

“A CBDC is not money because it is not a physical-bearer instrument, but rather by its very nature is trackable and cancellable, like a check or credit card payment.” ~ Robert E. Wright

De-dollarization Has Begun.

“The dollar, in some shape or form, will likely be around for a long time. Perhaps very long. But by weaponizing dollar dominance and permitting expanding mandates to disorient US monetary policy, the dollar’s fate as the lingua franca of world commerce over the long haul may already be sealed.” ~ Peter C. Earle

The Gold Standard: Retrospect and Prospect

The Tragedy of the Monetary Commons

“While relatively well-functioning governments have managed to find mechanisms that mitigate the problem, it seems unlikely that Argentina and Brazil will be able to prevent a tragedy of the monetary commons given their history of money and fiscal mischief.” ~ Bryan Cutsinger

The Political History of Money

“In The Currency of Politics, Stefan Eich has written a valuable and very interesting review of specific monetary debates in their historical settings during centuries of thought about the nature of money as it is entwined with politics.” ~ Alex J. Pollock

King Dollar’s Uncertain Throne

“With continuing dollar appreciation the likelihood of trade tensions and protectionism increase, as do the possibilities of organized labor agitation. King Dollar is secure for now, but as in all palaces – intrigues persist.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Modeling the Money Supply

“We have to be very careful about generalizing across money and banking regimes. Many features of one system don’t translate to others. Depending on the ‘rules of the game,’ the supply of money responds to the price of money in very different ways.” ~ Alexander William Salter

How Common Has Private Currency Been?

“Private banknotes can still be found in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, and Macau, where they have not yet been banned or taxed out of existence.” ~ Lawrence H. White

Paul Krugman and the “Ersatz” Theory of Private Currencies

“Private paper currencies, including notes issued by ordinary commercial banks without the benefit of official guarantees, have never been driven to extinction by the mere presence of official alternatives.” ~ George Selgin

The US-China Currency Rivalry: Choosing Sides

“Whether China’s currency will shave off a sizable portion of the dollar’s global usage is yet to be seen. Still, there is no doubt that the world is entering a new monetary rebalancing.” ~ Ethan Yang & Dorothy Chan

The Other Side

“The fine arts improve our lives. They uplift the spirit, and can help alleviate the problems intrinsic to material and monetary life. But a desire for beauty and elevation should not be conflated with the desire for money.” ~ Robert Edward Gordon

A Marvelous, Humanitarian Substance

“Adjustments of money prices are the easiest and most obvious way of causing each other to overlook goods’ and services’ non-monetary aspects that would otherwise reduce the amount of mutually advantageous exchange that occurs.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux