Comments on “Digital Money: Private versus Public”

Prof. Danny Quah, Dean of LKYSPP at NUS, praised the depth of Prof. Brunnermeier’s work, which addresses the fundamentals of money. He reiterated that having a uniform currency is efficient, as in Eichengreen (Chapter 3). Also, the state has the authority to preserve its fiat currency’s official position, as described in Rogoff (Chapter 2). Thus, it is difficult for private digital currencies to compete with the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Prof. Quah drew the audience’s attention to the potential implications of greater utilization of digital payment platforms in general. First, he posited that greater utilization of digital payments leads to information management issues. Digitization as the means of payment and store of value calls for strong cyber-security protection. At the same time, there could be tension between the rights to privacy and anonymity and authorities’ rights to information for legitimate purposes and public policy formation purposes. Digitalization also lowers information and access barriers, potentially raising financial inclusivity, e.g., in poor rural areas. Data integration can lead to effective dashboards that lower transaction costs, e.g., in matching buyers and sellers, and predictive rather than reactive public policymaking…