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Reflections on welfare and political economy aspects of a central bank digital currency

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  • Alex Cukierman

Abstract

The point of departure of this short paper is that, in order to preserve the effectiveness of monetary policy in a world increasingly flooded by private digital currencies, central banks (CBs) will eventually have to issue their own digital currencies. The paper presents two proposals for the implementation of such a currency: A moderate proposal in which only the banking sector continues to have access to deposits at the CB and a radical one in which the entire private sector is allowed to hold digital currency deposits at the CB. The paper contrasts the implications of those two polar paths to a CBDC for the funding of banks, the allocation of credit to the economy, for welfare and for political feasibility. One section of the paper shows that the radical implementation may pave the way toward a narrow banking system and dramatically reduce the need for deposit insurance in the long run. The paper evaluates the relative merits of issuing a currency on a blockchain using a permissionless distributed ledger technology in comparison to a centralized (permissioned) blockchain ledger operated by the CB and concludes that the latter dominates the former in more than one dimension.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Cukierman, 2020. "Reflections on welfare and political economy aspects of a central bank digital currency," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(S1), pages 114-125, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:88:y:2020:i:s1:p:114-125
    DOI: 10.1111/manc.12333
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Agur, Itai & Ari, Anil & Dell’Ariccia, Giovanni, 2022. "Designing central bank digital currencies," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 62-79.
    2. Wang, Yizhi & Lucey, Brian M. & Vigne, Samuel A. & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2022. "The Effects of Central Bank Digital Currencies News on Financial Markets," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Wang, Yi-Ran & Ma, Chao-Qun & Ren, Yi-Shuai, 2022. "A model for CBDC audits based on blockchain technology: Learning from the DCEP," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Xin, Baogui & Jiang, Kai, 2023. "Central bank digital currency and the effectiveness of negative interest rate policy: A DSGE analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Li, Fangmin & Yang, Tianle & Du, Min & Huang, Miao, 2023. "The development fit index of digital currency electronic payment between China and the one belt one road countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Patel, Ritesh & Migliavacca, Milena & Oriani, Marco E., 2022. "Blockchain in banking and finance: A bibliometric review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    7. Hoang, Yen Hai & Ngo, Vu Minh & Bich Vu, Ngoc, 2023. "Central bank digital currency: A systematic literature review using text mining approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    8. Ozili, Peterson K, 2023. "Central bank digital currency, poverty reduction and the United Nations sustainable development goals," MPRA Paper 117000, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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