How to ENCOURAGE GLOBAL ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: the CASE for PRIVATE CURRENCIES on the INTERNET
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Curious About Cryptocurrencies? Investors Need to Make Sure They Separate “Investing” from “Speculation” by Don Mcarthur, CFA®
Curious About Cryptocurrencies? Investors Need to Make Sure They Separate “Investing” from “Speculation” By Don McArthur, CFA® Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have received plenty of media coverage lately, and it is natural for investors to wonder about them. Even celebrities have become associated with Bitcoin publicity through social media. Interest has piqued to a point where there are even Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that invest in Bitcoin, giving investors the means to invest in the Futures market. After having performed in-depth research on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, our position at Commerce Trust Company is that they should not currently play a role in client portfolios. As part of that research, Commerce Senior Vice President and Investment Analyst Don McArthur, CFA, put together a primer on the topic of cryptocurrencies in general. In the following commentary, he explains why Bitcoin at this stage is more about speculating than investing in something with intrinsic value. He also touches on how Blockchain networking technology not only supports cryptocurrencies, but many other industrial applications as well. We thought you would enjoy this commentary as McArthur shares his thoughts in a mind-opening Q&A. Q . What is Bitcoin and how did it start? A. Bitcoin is one of hundreds of digital currencies, or cryptocurrency, based on Blockchain technology. As an early mover, Bitcoin is by far the largest digital currency. Bitcoin was launched in 2009 by a mysterious person (or persons) known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Unlike traditional currencies, which are issued by central banks, Bitcoin has no central monetary authority. -
Monetary Policy in a World of Cryptocurrencies∗
Monetary Policy in a World of Cryptocurrencies Pierpaolo Benigno University of Bern March 17, 2021 Abstract Can currency competition affect central banks’control of interest rates and prices? Yes, it can. In a two-currency world with competing cash (material or digital), the growth rate of the cryptocurrency sets an upper bound on the nominal interest rate and the attainable inflation rate, if the government cur- rency is to retain its role as medium of exchange. In any case, the government has full control of the inflation rate. With an interest-bearing digital currency, equilibria in which government currency loses medium-of-exchange property are ruled out. This benefit comes at the cost of relinquishing control over the inflation rate. I am grateful to Giorgio Primiceri for useful comments, Marco Bassetto for insightful discussion at the NBER Monetary Economics Meeting and Roger Meservey for professional editing. In recent years cryptocurrencies have attracted the attention of consumers, media and policymakers.1 Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies, not physically minted. Monetary history offers other examples of uncoined money. For centuries, since Charlemagne, an “imaginary” money existed but served only as unit of account and never as, unlike today’s cryptocurrencies, medium of exchange.2 Nor is the coexistence of multiple currencies within the borders of the same nation a recent phe- nomenon. Medieval Europe was characterized by the presence of multiple media of exchange of different metallic content.3 More recently, some nations contended with dollarization or eurization.4 However, the landscape in which digital currencies are now emerging is quite peculiar: they have appeared within nations dominated by a single fiat currency just as central banks have succeeded in controlling the value of their currencies and taming inflation. -
New Insights on Retail E-Commerce (July 26, 2017)
U.S. Department of Commerce Economics Newand Insights Statistics on Retail Administration E-Commerce Office of the Chief Economist New Insights on Retail E-Commerce Executive Summary The U.S. Census Bureau has been collecting data on retail sales since the 1950s and data on e-commerce retail sales since 1998. As the Internet has become ubiquitous, many retailers have created websites and even entire divisions devoted to fulfilling online orders. Many consumers have By turned to e-commerce as a matter of convenience or to increase the Jessica R. Nicholson variety of goods available to them. Whatever the reason, retail e- commerce sales have skyrocketed and the Internet will undoubtedly continue to influence how consumers shop, underscoring the need for good data to track this increasingly important economic activity. In June 2017, the Census Bureau released a new supplemental data table on retail e-commerce by type of retailer. The Census Bureau developed these estimates by re-categorizing e-commerce sales data from its ESA Issue Brief existing “electronic shopping” sales data according to the primary #04-17 business type of the retailer, such as clothing stores, food stores, or electronics stores. This report examines how the new estimates enhance our understanding of where consumers are shopping online and also provides an overview of trends in retail and e-commerce sales. Findings from this report include: E-commerce sales accounted for 7.2 percent of all retail sales in 2015, up dramatically from 0.2 percent in 1998. July 26, 2017 E-commerce sales have been growing nine times faster than traditional in-store sales since 1998. -
Complementary Currencies: Mutual Credit Currency Systems and the Challenge of Globalization
Complementary Currencies: Mutual Credit Currency Systems and the Challenge of Globalization Clare Lascelles1 Abstract Complementary currencies—currencies operating alongside the official currency—have taken many forms throughout the last century or so. While their existence has a rich history, complementary currencies are increasingly viewed as anachronistic in a world where the forces of globalization promote further integration between economies and societies. Even so, towns across the globe have recently witnessed the introduction of complementary currencies in their region, which connotes a renewed emphasis on local identity. This paper explores the rationale behind the modern-day adoption of complementary currencies in a globalized system. I. Introduction Coined money has two sides: heads and tails. ‘Heads’ represents the state authority that issued the coin, while ‘tails’ displays the value of the coin as a medium of exchange. This duality—the “product of social organization both from the top down (‘states’) and from the bottom up (‘markets’)”—reveals the coin as “both a token of authority and a commodity with a price” (Hart, 1986). Yet, even as side ‘heads’ reminds us of the central authority that underwrote the coin, currency can exist outside state control. Indeed, as globalization exerts pressure toward financial integration, complementary currencies—currencies existing alongside the official currency—have become common in small towns and regions. This paper examines the rationale behind complementary currencies, with a focus on mutual credit currency, and concludes that the modern-day adoption of complementary currencies can be attributed to the depersonalizing force of globalization. II. Literature Review Money is certainly not a topic unstudied. -
E-Commerce Integration and Economic Development: Evidence from China∗
E-Commerce Integration and Economic Development: Evidence from China∗ Victor Couture,y Benjamin Faber,z Yizhen Gu§ and Lizhi Liu{ July 2017 –Preliminary and incomplete– Abstract The number of people buying and selling products online in China has grown from practically zero in 2000 to more than 400 million by 2015. Most of this growth has occurred in cities. In this context, the Chinese government recently announced the expansion of e-commerce to the countryside as a policy priority with the objective to close the rural-urban economic divide. As part of this agenda, the government entered a partnership with a large Chinese e-commerce firm. The program invests in the necessary transport logistics to ship products to and sell prod- ucts from tens of thousands of villages that were largely unconnected to e-commerce. The firm also installs an e-commerce terminal at a central village location, where a terminal manager assists households in buying and selling products through the firm’s e-commerce platform. This paper combines a new collection of survey and transaction microdata with a randomized control trial (RCT) across villages that we implement in collaboration with the e-commerce firm. We use this empirical setting to provide evidence on the potential of e-commerce inte- gration to foster economic development in the countryside, the underlying channels and the distribution of the gains from e-commerce across households and villages. Keywords: E-commerce, trade integration, economic development, rural-urban divide JEL Classification: F63, O12, R13 ∗We are grateful to CEGA, the Clausen Center, the Haas School of Business, the Weiss Family Fund and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for providing funding for this study. -
Eliminating Barriers to Internal Commerce to Facilitate Intraregional Trade
Eliminating Barriers to Internal Commerce to Facilitate Intraregional Trade Olumide Taiwo and Nelipher Moyo, Brookings Africa Growth Initiative ncreased trade between African countries holds Roads account for 80 to 90 percent of all freight and promise for shared growth and development in passenger movement in Africa. Road density is an ef- the region. However, before African countries can fective proxy of how well connected areas of a country Ifully exploit the benefits associated with increased are. Africa has a road density of only 16.8 kilometers trade with each other, they must first address the bar- per 1,000 square kilometers, compared with 37 kilo- riers to the movement of goods and people within meters per 1,000 square kilometers in other low-in- their countries. It is difficult to imagine how Africa come regions (table 1). Likewise, rail density in Africa will be able to move goods from Cape Town to Cairo is only 2.8 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers— when it is unable to move goods from one city to an- much lower than the 3.4 kilometers per 1,000 square other within the same country. Take the case of Ke- kilometers in other low-income regions. Air travel nya: while parts of northern Kenya were experiencing within Africa continues to be more expensive per mile major food shortages in January 2011, farmers in the than intercontinental travel. Africa’s inland waterways Rift Valley had food surpluses and were imploring the present an excellent opportunity to connect cities and government to buy their excess crops before they went countries. -
The Macro-Economic Impact of E-Commerce in the EU Digital Single Market
INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES DIGITAL ECONOMY WORKING PAPER 2015/09 The Macro-economic Impact of e-Commerce in the EU Digital Single Market Melisande Cardona Nestor Duch-Brown Joseph Francois Bertin Martens Fan Yang 2015 The Macro-economic Impact of e-Commerce in the EU Digital Single Market This publication is a Working Paper by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. It results from the Digital Economy Research Programme at the JRC Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, which carries out economic research on information society and EU Digital Agenda policy issues, with a focus on growth, jobs and innovation in the Single Market. The Digital Economy Research Programme is co-financed by the Directorate General Communications Networks, Content and Technology It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policy-making process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication. JRC Science Hub https://ec.europa.eu/jrc JRC98272 ISSN 1831-9408 (online) © European Union, 2015 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. All images © European Union 2015 How to cite: Melisande Cardona, Nestor Duch-Brown, Joseph Francois, Bertin Martens, Fan Yang (2015). The Macro-economic Impact of e-Commerce in the EU Digital Single Market. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies Digital Economy Working Paper 2015/09. JRC98272 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction .............................................................................................. 4 2. Online trade in goods in the EU ................................................................... -
GLOSSARY of INTERNATIONAL TRADE TERMS 2016 Guide
CALIFORNIA FASHION ASSOCIATION 444 South Flower Street, 37th Floor · Los Angeles, CA 90071 ·ph. 213.688.6288 ·fax 213.688.6290 Email: [email protected] Website: www.californiafashionassociation.org GLOSSARY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE TERMS 2016 Guide Sponsored By: Prepared by: CALIFORNIA FASHION ASSOCIATION 444 South Flower Street, 37th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071 Phone: 213-688-6288, Fax: 213-688-6290 [email protected] | www.californiafashionassociation.org 1 CALIFORNIA FASHION ASSOCIATION 444 South Flower Street, 37th Floor · Los Angeles, CA 90071 ·ph. 213.688.6288 ·fax 213.688.6290 Email: [email protected] Website: www.californiafashionassociation.org THE VOICE OF THE CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY The California Fashion Association is the forum organized to address the issues of concern to our industry. Manufacturers, contractors, suppliers, educational institutions, allied associations and all apparel-related businesses benefit. Fashion is the largest manufacturing sector in Southern California. Nearly 13,548 firms are involved in fashion-related businesses in Los Angeles and Orange County; it is a $49.3-billion industry. The apparel and textile industry of the region employs approximately 128,148 people, directly and indirectly in Los Angeles and surrounding counties. The California Fashion Association is the clearinghouse for information and representation. We are a collective voice focused on the industry's continued growth, prosperity and competitive advantage, directed toward the promotion of global recognition for the "Created in California" -
What the Return of Private Currencies Could Mean for Central Banks by Susan E
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF KANSAS CITY | JUNE 30, 2021 Déjà Vu All Over Again: What the Return of Private Currencies Could Mean for Central Banks By Susan E. Zubradt and Jesse Leigh Maniff Private digital currencies, or “crypto-assets,” have surged in popularity recently, but they are not new to the payments landscape and may present familiar challenges for central banks. Although they have yet to fulfill the main functions of money, crypto-assets still have the potential to affect financial stability and the implementation of monetary policy. The recent revival of private digital currencies has captured the imagination of those who envision a world where value can be transferred as seamlessly as information. Many individuals across a range of industries, from government to payments to finance, wonder whether private digital currencies may somehow sideline fiat money—the government-issued money that, coupled with reserves at central bank accounts, underpins the global financial system. In this article, we review the history of private currencies, reevaluate whether present private digital currencies satisfy the functions of money, and discuss the implications that “crypto-assets”—whether considered money or not—may have for monetary policy and financial stability. Historical Perspective Private currencies based on commodities have existed for millennia. Since around the sixth century B.C.E, commodity money has been the predominate monetary system (Velde 1998). Metal coins were a useful early means of payment to facilitate everyday transactions. Over time, paper currency, issued by a private entity and backed by a commodity such as gold, became the norm for money in circulation. -
The Nature of Decentralized Virtual Currencies: Benefits, Risks and Regulations
MILE 14 Thesis | Fall 2014 The Nature of Decentralized Virtual Currencies: Benefits, Risks and Regulations. Paul du Plessis Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Kern Alexander 1 DECLARATION This master thesis has been written in partial fulfilment of the Master of International Law and Economics Programme at the World Trade Institute. The ideas and opinions expressed in this paper are made independently, represent my own views and are based on my own research. I confirm that this work is my own and has not been submitted for academic credit in any other subject or course. I have acknowledged all material and sources used in this paper. I understand that my thesis may be made available in the World Trade Institute library. 2 ABSTRACT Virtual currency schemes have proliferated in recent years and have become a focal point of media and regulators. The objective of this paper is to provide a description of the technical nature of Bitcoin and the reason for its existence. With an understanding of the basic workings of this new payment system, we can draw comparisons to fiat currency, analyze the associated risks and benefits, and effectively discusses the current regulatory framework. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. Introduction .............................................................................................. 4 2. The Evolution of Money .......................................................................... 6 2.1. Defining Money ................................................................................. 6 2.2. The Origin of Money ........................................................................ -
Digital Economy 2002
Digital Economy 2002 ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ADMINISTRATION Economics and Statistics Administration DIGITAL ECONOMY 2002 ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS ADMINISTRATION Office of Policy Development AUTHORS Chapter I ................................................................................................................................ Lee Price [email protected] George McKittrick [email protected] Chapter II..................................................................................................................... Patricia Buckley [email protected] Sabrina Montes [email protected] Chapter III ........................................................................................................................... David Henry [email protected] Donald Dalton [email protected] Chapter IV ................................................................................................................... Jesus Dumagan [email protected] Gurmukh Gill [email protected] Chapter V ....................................................................................................................... Sandra Cooke [email protected] Chapter VI .................................................................................................................... Dennis Pastore [email protected] Chapter VII ........................................................................................................ Jacqueline Savukinas [email protected] -
A Glossary of Fiscal Terms & Acronyms
AUGUST7,1998VOLUME13,NO .VII A Publication of the House Fiscal Analysis Department on Government Finance Issues A GLOSSARY OF FISCAL TERMS & ACRONYMS 1998 Revised Edition Abstract. This issue of Money Matters is a resource document containing terms and acronyms commonly used by and in legislative fiscal committees and in the discussion of state budget and tax issues. The first section contains terms and abbreviations used in all fiscal committees and divisions. The remaining sections contain terms for particular budget categories and accounts, organized according to fiscal subject areas. This edition has new sections containing economic development, family and early childhood, and housing terms and acronyms. The other sections are revised and updated to reflect changes in terminology, particularly the human services section. For further information, contact the Chief Fiscal Analyst or the fiscal analyst assigned to the respective House fiscal committee or division. A directory of House Fiscal Analysis Department personnel and their committee/division assignments for the 1998 legislative session appears on the next page. Originally issued January 1997 Revised August 1998 House Fiscal Analysis Department Staff Assignments — 1998 Session Committee/Division Fiscal Analyst Telephone Room Chief Fiscal Analyst Bill Marx 296-7176 373 Capital Investment John Walz 296-8236 376 EDIT— Economic Development Finance CJ Eisenbarth Hager 296-5813 428 EDIT— Housing Finance Cynthia Coronado 296-5384 361 Environment & Natural Resources Finance Jim Reinholdz 296-4119 370 Education — Higher Education Finance Doug Berg 296-5346 372 K-12 Education Finance Greg Crowe 296-7165 378 Family & Early Childhood Finance Cynthia Coronado 296-5384 361 Health & Human Services Finance Joe Flores 296-5483 385 Judiciary Finance Gary Karger 296-4181 383 State Government Finance Helen Roberts 296-4117 374 Transportation Finance John Walz 296-8236 376 Taxes — Income, sales, misc.