Privatizing Cash: Currency and Public Goods in Sweden
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Gustav Peebles
Abstract
Across the world, national currencies—public goods that emerged out of a previous era of currency proliferation—are now competing with private alternatives. As paper and coins fall into disuse, the seigniorage that helps to fund the circulation and regulation of currency diminishes, while their capacity to bind together states and citizens decreases in equal measure. The Swedish central bank’s response to these threats, which includes issuing the world’s first national digital currency, charts a course that all central banks must consider in the near future.
Acknowledgements
An early draft of this article was presented at the 2019 SASE conference in New York City, USA, at a panel organized by Dr. Yuri Biondi. I thank him for bringing our group together, and for the sharp and insightful comments he has contributed to this paper. I would also like to thank Dr. Horacio Ortiz, who has also provided both aid and critique as the paper has come to fruition. Equal thanks are due to the anonymous peer reviewers, who kindly pointed out potential new directions and potential shortcomings. Finally, Lea Coffineau has offered much appreciated research support.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Futures of Money – Monies of the Future. Introduction
- Stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies and US Dollar Hegemony
- Privatizing Cash: Currency and Public Goods in Sweden
- Distributed Ledger Technology and the Future of Money and Banking
- Digital Payments in China: Some Questions for a Pragmatist Anthropology of Money
- Potential Implications of Retail Central Bank Digital Currency for Banking Systems Identified in the Literature and by Central Banks
- Reviewers: 2020-2023
- Reviewers: 2020–2023
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Futures of Money – Monies of the Future. Introduction
- Stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies and US Dollar Hegemony
- Privatizing Cash: Currency and Public Goods in Sweden
- Distributed Ledger Technology and the Future of Money and Banking
- Digital Payments in China: Some Questions for a Pragmatist Anthropology of Money
- Potential Implications of Retail Central Bank Digital Currency for Banking Systems Identified in the Literature and by Central Banks
- Reviewers: 2020-2023
- Reviewers: 2020–2023
