{"title":"So far, Central Bank Digital Currencies have failed","authors":"Kevin Dowd","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.12621","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article examines the experiences of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) implemented so far. To date, CBDCs have been implemented in two countries (Finland and Ecuador) where they have failed and been abandoned. They have also been implemented in three Caribbean cases and in China and Nigeria; these five cases are ongoing. These experiences can be summarised as a series of abandoned experiments, embarrassing flops and monumental exercises in policymaker hubris, one of which has already produced a major disaster. In each case where data exist to assess the situation, the public demand for CBDCs has been extremely low. Experience suggests that CBDCs do not offer tangible benefits which existing alternatives cannot already deliver. One might speculate that future CBDCs will fail for similar reasons.</p>","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"44 1","pages":"71-94"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecaf.12621","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecaf.12621","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article examines the experiences of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) implemented so far. To date, CBDCs have been implemented in two countries (Finland and Ecuador) where they have failed and been abandoned. They have also been implemented in three Caribbean cases and in China and Nigeria; these five cases are ongoing. These experiences can be summarised as a series of abandoned experiments, embarrassing flops and monumental exercises in policymaker hubris, one of which has already produced a major disaster. In each case where data exist to assess the situation, the public demand for CBDCs has been extremely low. Experience suggests that CBDCs do not offer tangible benefits which existing alternatives cannot already deliver. One might speculate that future CBDCs will fail for similar reasons.
期刊介绍:
Economic Affairs is a journal for those interested in the application of economic principles to practical affairs. It aims to stimulate debate on economic and social problems by asking its authors, while analysing complex issues, to make their analysis and conclusions accessible to a wide audience. Each issue has a theme on which the main articles focus, providing a succinct and up-to-date review of a particular field of applied economics. Themes in 2008 included: New Perspectives on the Economics and Politics of Ageing, Housing for the Poor: the Role of Government, The Economic Analysis of Institutions, and Healthcare: State Failure. Academics are also invited to submit additional articles on subjects related to the coverage of the journal. There is section of double blind refereed articles and a section for shorter pieces that are reviewed by our Editorial Board (Economic Viewpoints). Please contact the editor for full submission details for both sections.