From its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through the advent of coinage in ancient Greece and Rome and the invention of paper currency in medieval China, the progress of finance and money has been driven by technological developments. The great technological change of our age in relation to money centres on the creation of digital money and digital payment systems. Money in Crisis explains what the digital revolution in money is, why it matters and how its potential benefits can be realized...

The Great Financial Crisis, which started in 2007-08, was originally called the ‘sub-prime’ crisis because its origins could be traced to excessive lending in the real estate sector in the US, concentrated mostly in sunbelt states like Nevada, Florida and California. There were similar pockets of excess lending for housing in Europe, notably in Ireland and Spain. But a key difference emerged later: in Ireland and Spain, the local banking systems almost collapsed and the governments experie...

Following the agreement made by Prime Minister David Cameron with the EU on 18-19 February 2016, the day for the referendum for the UK to remain in or leave the EU is set for 23 June 2016. This will be the most important decision taken by the British people in half a century, and whose consequences will live on for another half century.The first edition of this book, published in March 2015, laid the foundations for any objective assessment of the workings of the EU and the UK’s pl...

A comprehensive and authoritative exploration of Bitcoin and its place in monetary historyWhen a pseudonymous programmer introduced "a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party" to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few people paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks....

A Comprehensive Overview of the Past, Present, and Future of MoneyBroken Money explores the history of money through the lens of technology. Politics can affect things temporarily and locally, but technology is what drives things forward globally and permanently. The book's goal is for the reader to walk away with a deep understanding of money and monetary history, both in terms of theoretical foundations and in terms of practical implications.From...

“A brilliant and lucid new book” (John Lanchester, New York Times Magazine) about why paper money and digital currencies lie at the heart of many of the world’s most difficult problems—and their solutionsIn The Curse of Cash, acclaimed economist and bestselling author Kenneth Rogoff explores the past, present, and future of currency, showing why, contrary to conventional economic wisdom, the regulation of paper bills—and now digital currencies—lie...

Technology is changing money: it has been transformed from physical objects to intangible information. With the arrival of smart cards, mobile phones and Bitcoin it has become easier than ever to create new forms of money. Crucially, money is also inextricably connected with our identities. Your card or phone is a security device that can identify you – and link information about you to your money. To see where these developments might be taking us, David Birch looks back over the history ...

In The Bitcoin Enlightenment, billionaire entrepreneur Ricardo B Salinas, who bought his first Bitcoin at $200, shares the hard-won monetary wisdom passed down through four generations of his family. Having survived Mexico's devastating hyperinflation of the 1980s, Salinas understands firsthand how fiat money destroys wealth, corrupts society, and enslaves entire populations.This groundbreaking book reveals:Why saving in dollars, euros, or any fiat currency guarantees pover...

The old world is ending and the new world order is taking shape. You may have heard that central banks around the world are slowly introducing their own digital currencies called CBDCs or Central Bank Digital Currencies.For the most part, they will tell you that these currencies are the same as paper money, except they exist only in a digital form. However, there is far more that you need to know about CBDCs than what your government will tell you.In this book, I do a deep ...

Our life depends on money. However, most people have no idea how money works, apart from using cash or their credit cards. The rest of the system is a big mystery. This book summarizes in simple words how money works. With the help of more than 30 illustrations and 250 references, it presents: – a short history of money, – the problems of the current financial system and its fragile architecture that lead huge banks to fail although they have so much money, – why nations have so much debt ...

A payment system encompasses a set of instruments and means generally acceptable in making payments; the institutional and organizational framework governing such payments, including prudential regulation; and the operating procedures and communications network used to initiate and transmit payment information from payer to payee and to settle payments. This book, by Omotunde E.G. Johnson, with Richard K. Abrams, Jean-Marc Destresse, Tony Lybek, Nicholas Roberts, and Mark Swinburne, identifie...

Infrastructure and its effects on economic growth, social welfare, and sustainability receive a great deal of attention today. There is widespread agreement that infrastructure is a key dimension of global development and that its impact reaches deep into the broader economy with important and multifaceted implications for social progress.At the same time, infrastructure finance is among the most complex and challenging areas in the global financial architecture. Ingo Walter, Profes...