Central Bank Digital Currencies a'comin'?

George Rebane

The powers that be have quietly initiated the process to change all fiat monies into central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).  Plenary sessions among the G7 have demonstrated that most countries are ready to change their money into ‘programmable crypto currencies’.  The US and UK are leaders of this movement as the means to enlarge the power of governments and control the inevitable destruction of their circulating fiat monies.

To understand how CBDCs work, consider that when implemented, we will all have personal accounts with our country’s central bank (e.g. our Fed) which will then enable control of the amounts, dispensing, and programming the use of the new nationalized crypto currency.  This essentially follows what Red China is doing now (‘the Chinese model’).  The totalitarian gorilla in the room is the programmability of CBDCs.

Depending on TBD laws, regulations, and power-motivated propensities, your particular CBDCs can be programmed to enable and/or deny you, on a day-to-day basis, the freedom to use the money as you will.  Say, that the government doesn’t want you to consume a certain product (e.g. fatty foods) because you are overweight.  It can then make your CBDCs unable to pay for such prohibited products and services.  The same can be said for travel restrictions – the government, or even the permitted airline, can make it so that you cannot purchase tickets that take you to a destination proscribed for you personally.

In essence, CBDCs will then no longer be money in the sense that today’s money is fungible as a store of value, unit of account, and medium of exchange.  Your particular CBDCs will then become the equivalent of government-controlled vouchers purposed dynamically for what your employer or a state agency grants you privileges.  Are you beginning to get the picture?  (more here, here, here, and here)

PS. The astute reader will realize that programmable CBDCs can totally collapse the ‘property side’ of the Bastiat Triangle, thereby also collapsing the ‘security’ and ‘liberty’ sides. Can everyone imagine work-around black markets and barter economies? 

Comments

[Scott O]

If our neighbor to the south doesn't go along with the new digitized moolah, look for the Mexican Peso to start being used in SoCal, Ariz, Texas.
I can see this whole plan eventually put in place, but the current gen of boomers will need to be aged-out or dead before it can happen.
Barter just won't work for most transactions in the modern world. I can do some welding and our neighbors have chickens, but some other way will need to be found. Now you know that the 'scary' part will be totally denied by the govt and anyone resisting or decrying our Brave New World will be simply labeled as a 'tax dodger' or a Luddite.

[George Rebane]

ScottO 1237pm - Scott, would you please expand on why you see that kind of use for the peso then. Isn't that kinda like 'Save your Confederate money boys, cuz the South shall rise again!'?

[Scott O]

Naw - it would just be that they were used to using it before they left and why not keep using it?
And it would still be legal coin of the realm in an area just to the south where it would continue to be backed by the govt there.
I'm being a bit tongue in cheek, but these days - who knows?