At the moment, only America seems to understand the basic truth - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. CBDCs don't address any issues that EU suffers from on a structural level, but instead meddle with a system that has already lost a ton of trust - Euro's position as a reserve currency continues to slip from its heyday in early 2000s, while the dollar marches on unchallenged. Introducing "Eurocoin" at this stage will build little investor confidence.
A digital currency scares the hell out of me. I’m probably in the minority because we live in a more rural area and work in animal husbandry and livestock production. We still transact regularly with cash and so do many of our customers. Even the young ones. Maybe it’s because I’m learning more on Substack than I could anywhere else but sure seems like the world is a hotter mess than in the past! Love your work, thank you. Makes for a great listen while working.
the thought of a CBDC is terrifying to me as history shows governments will always seek to expand their power at their citizens' expense regardless of the situation or driving force. To think that anything they are doing is benign is willful blindness.
However, the irony is that if they go down this road, and it certainly appears they will be doing so from what I have read elsewhere as well, it will simply result in alternative media of transactions around Europe. I would expect a greater proportion of the economy to turn "black" as people reject the idea of the CBDC. I don't know what will take the place of euro notes, assuming the national central banks force them to be turned in, but it will be something. there would be no irony greater than something like cigarettes becoming the currency of choice for small purchases between individuals.
Ultimately, I expect that the first step for CBDC's will be to go to negative interest rates for balances in your account above a certain amount, maybe EUR 1000 or 2000. after that, they will simply take it away if you don't spend it.
I am thankful that President Trump has categorically refused the US government to even consider these things.
Nice article. One only has to look at what the US and EU bureaucrats did to speech on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The common refrain for the Useful Idiots about others being banned, blocked, and throttled-down was “it is a private company and they can decide who gets heard.” Ok, fair, but not when those third parties are being nudged (no, threatened) by the government. Or we can look at the Canadian truckers who had their bank accounts frozen for organizing an actual peaceful protest. Government, like cancer, will do whatever is required to spread and survive. The government's role in CBDC formulation, implementation, and manipulation would, in my opinion, fall along the same lines as the above examples.
The ECB's "private service providers" payments make me think of Europe's "trusted flaggers" who are supposed to moderate social media content ... of course, without any agenda of their own 😒.
At the moment, only America seems to understand the basic truth - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. CBDCs don't address any issues that EU suffers from on a structural level, but instead meddle with a system that has already lost a ton of trust - Euro's position as a reserve currency continues to slip from its heyday in early 2000s, while the dollar marches on unchallenged. Introducing "Eurocoin" at this stage will build little investor confidence.
💯
A digital currency scares the hell out of me. I’m probably in the minority because we live in a more rural area and work in animal husbandry and livestock production. We still transact regularly with cash and so do many of our customers. Even the young ones. Maybe it’s because I’m learning more on Substack than I could anywhere else but sure seems like the world is a hotter mess than in the past! Love your work, thank you. Makes for a great listen while working.
Thank you! And yes, it's scary indeed.
the thought of a CBDC is terrifying to me as history shows governments will always seek to expand their power at their citizens' expense regardless of the situation or driving force. To think that anything they are doing is benign is willful blindness.
However, the irony is that if they go down this road, and it certainly appears they will be doing so from what I have read elsewhere as well, it will simply result in alternative media of transactions around Europe. I would expect a greater proportion of the economy to turn "black" as people reject the idea of the CBDC. I don't know what will take the place of euro notes, assuming the national central banks force them to be turned in, but it will be something. there would be no irony greater than something like cigarettes becoming the currency of choice for small purchases between individuals.
Ultimately, I expect that the first step for CBDC's will be to go to negative interest rates for balances in your account above a certain amount, maybe EUR 1000 or 2000. after that, they will simply take it away if you don't spend it.
I am thankful that President Trump has categorically refused the US government to even consider these things.
The prospect of going all digital is truly crazy considering what happened in Spain.
Exactly, how well does the CBDC work with the power out?
As usual, Andy is directly over the target.
Nice article. One only has to look at what the US and EU bureaucrats did to speech on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The common refrain for the Useful Idiots about others being banned, blocked, and throttled-down was “it is a private company and they can decide who gets heard.” Ok, fair, but not when those third parties are being nudged (no, threatened) by the government. Or we can look at the Canadian truckers who had their bank accounts frozen for organizing an actual peaceful protest. Government, like cancer, will do whatever is required to spread and survive. The government's role in CBDC formulation, implementation, and manipulation would, in my opinion, fall along the same lines as the above examples.
Keep up the amazing work, Brawl.
Thank you! The Canadian trucker protest is a perfect example of what can happen.
The ECB's "private service providers" payments make me think of Europe's "trusted flaggers" who are supposed to moderate social media content ... of course, without any agenda of their own 😒.
It’s all for “our democracy”!