Mish said “Quarles really shines with his statement “Gold will always glitter, but novelty, by definition, fades,””
Quarles also said “gold, however, which has industrial uses and aesthetic attributes quite apart from its vestigial financial role”.
Gold only has a vestigial financial role as he said and that explains why I have little use for it. There are other stores of value and inflation hedges that are better albeit less pretty.
Captain Ahab
2 years ago
Does anyone seriously think that a Fed-issued CBDC will be available to you at zero transaction cost and with interest paid on the balance? Can you say ‘no interest forever’? However, you won’t have a choice–the Fed will always have control, with NO competition! Bitcoin has no role in this new paradigm.
The result will be a monumental slush fund, the entire nation’s monetary wealth available for the Fed’s use/abuse at NO COST. Every transaction will be charged a fee. Every transaction will be monitored. Wake up and inhale the coffee!
Rbm
2 years ago
Slightly off topic. El Salvador seems to be in the process of adopting bit coin as a national currency. Keep hearing reports on the benefits to the people of that nation. To me it seems a way to legally wash dirty money to dollars.
kiers
2 years ago
Another feature in favor: CBDC will allow free of cost card transactions (no network interchange fees like visa mastercard amex).
Another feature against: CBDC will allow untold fiscal corruption from a government that already doesn’t publish fiscal deficits using GAAP accounting to window dress it’s numbers. Who will audit the electrons? Who will verify “the sum” balance? Can you trust it?
True! It’s a really sweet-ish deal for high transaction users!
Eddie_T
2 years ago
“If use of the stablecoin became widespread enough—create stability risk if it is invested in multiple currency denominations; if it is a fractional rather than full reserve; if the stablecoin holder does not have a clear claim on the underlying asset; or if the pool is invested in instruments other than the most liquid possible, principally central bank reserves and short-term sovereign bonds. All of these factors create “run risk” —the possibility that some triggering event could cause a large number of stablecoin holders to exchange their coins all at once for other assets and that the stablecoin system would not be able to meet such demands while maintaining a reasonably stable value. ?
Hello. This is Tether in a nutshell.
This was offered up as an argument against CBDC’s…..I think it makes the argument for them….or at least for there to be more strict regulations on stablecoins.
I think the central bankers are hoping for Tether to implode…..which will be what takes down Bitcoin. Tether is the digital dollar of crypto, not bitcoin. But I would not want to have a lot of my wealth stored overnight in either one.
They keep downplaying the loss of privacy. If it’s sovereign and it’s blockchain, then there will be no privacy for end users. Money laundering is a convenient excuse…the real advantage would be collecting all the current unpaid tax. It’s probably close to a half trillion a year.
Nice thoughts..Good ole Tether..keeping this kid outta crypto. Tax collection is a huge issue, the power to shut off access to an entities capital is another. CBDC’s are coming, just a matter of when.
I’m all for that tax getting collected. I pay mine.
Maximus_Minimus
2 years ago
Generally, it would be a good idea if used as a vehicle for transfer of funds between banks in different countries.
However, beware the consequences of good intentions, they universally get corrupted down the road, e.g. if it becomes an insurance scheme for unlimited cash deposits.
The FED should address the issue of runaway debt, and price stability, including real estate, before embarking on new initiatives.
Doug78
2 years ago
Lots of food for thought. The Fed shouldn’t take over the banks’ roles. That is a no go in our world. The Fed is searching a reason to have a CBDC because other countries are doing it but is not convinced on what its characteristics would be. It’s something to follow and there doesn’t seem to be a need to have one right now.