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At the close of the Bank of England's consultation on the Digital Pound Barry interviews Danny Kruger MP, of the UK Parliament's Treasury Select Committee, who oversee the project, discussed the deep implications of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on financial stability and liberty.
While Danny expressed concerns about the potential negative effects, he acknowledged that he and his colleagues on the Treasury Select Committee were not experts on the topic and that there was a general perception that CBDCs were a natural evolution of the digital revolution.
Barry and Danny discussed the need for serious consideration at the legislative level regarding the introduction of a digital pound, as it could have implications for financial and economic stability. They also expressed concern about the lack of public engagement from the Bank of England's consultation and emphasized the importance of government and parliament's role in making decisions about the use of a digital pound.
Danny and Barry discussed the potential risks and dangers of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). They also discussed the need for greater attention and a new institution to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of CBDCs - the potential benefits of a digital money commissioner, with Danny saying "Yes, I do. I think that is a good suggestion, a digital commissioner of some sort"
Danny congratulated Barry on raising the debate and they talked about working together to continue raising the debate towards creating the needed structures and safeguards for the future.
Quotes include:
"China is going full ahead. That in itself should cause us to pause and think about what we're doing."
Q. James: “This seems to me something akin to rewriting part of a constitution, in the sense that it will live with us for generations to come. Do you feel that the Treasury Select Committee is… replete [with all it needs]? Kruger: No, not to approach the topic in that sense. No, definitely not. Nor should it be. I mean, if it's a constitutional question, that's not for the Treasury Select Committee. They're particularly focused on the Treasury's remit, which is to grow the economy, and to maintain  stability and so on.”
"We need to remain at the cutting edge of financial technology and market developments [but…]  “The UK should not adopt a digital currency simply because other nations are doing so."
"The case for a retail CBDC, in answer to your question, I don’t think has yet been made. It does have the sense of a solution looking for a problem."

“There's a financial stability question. And then the other [that’s] more obvious and pertinent is liberty. What does it mean for you and me if we are being encouraged, or at what points does it become required, to hold our wealth in this new form?  And what powers does government have to oversee these transactions?

“Obviously they [governments] make a strong case that they wouldn't assume that power. But once the technology exists you can see the way that a crisis comes along, as it did for the Canadian government when they were besieged in Ottawa by a lot of angry anti-COVID truckers, they reach for the levers that are available to them.”

These technical, technological, innovations are not neutral… By creating the thing, you put the country on a path to making use of it… But fundamentally it'll be for Parliament, not even government, [to decide] because Parliament would have to pass legislation for this… and I worry that we don't have the political culture and that we're not asking the right questions at the moment to ensure that that's what happens.

“You also need distribution and individual liberty. And it might be that, as you suggest, some sort of statutory commissioner who has some meaningful sort of agency in the world of information and financial information could be the necessary stabilising influence [providing] the sense of security that the system need

Summary
Jasmine and Barry discussed the Bank of England's consultation on creating a digital pound. Jasmine expressed her concerns about central bank digital currencies, stating that they allow for too much control and monitoring by the government. Barry and Jasmine discussed the differences between cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies, with Jasmine expressing concerns about the centralized nature of CBDCs and the potential for government control over people's finances. They also talked about the impact of taxation on small businesses and the extractive nature of the economy. Jasmine and Barry discussed the potential risks and benefits of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and how they have been implemented in different countries. They also talked about the possibility of abuse of power and loss of control for individuals once CBDCs become the only form of currency. Barry and Jasmine discussed the lack of media coverage on the restriction of access to cash in Nigeria and the potential dangers of CBDCs in terms of data privacy and inequality. They also expressed concern about the mainstream media's reluctance to report on alternative views and the need for more protests to protect individual freedoms. Barry and Jasmine discussed the potential implementation of CBDCs and the impact it could have on society. Jasmine suggested using cash, investing in gold and cryptocurrencies, and not keeping too much money in bank accounts. Barry and Jasmine discussed various alternative options to traditional banking and currency, including Tally Money, a gold-backed bank account and payment card. They also talked about potential collaborations in the future.  
Join us at the event:
The Great Digital Pound Debate: Do We Need It, Is it Safe or Is It Great?
Thu, Jun 1, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM BST

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Barry talks to David Palmer, Blockchain Lead at Vodaphone and 
Jamiel Sheikh, Founder & CEO of Chainhaus - a leading advisory, education, events and app studio about the rapid rise of DeFi and the advent of 'Central Bank Digital Currencies' in the week that the Bank of England announced its digital Pound project - closely following the digital Euro.

Jamiel Sheikh reveals the activities of central banks around the world and talks about the coming digital battles he sees to establish DeFi - decentralised finance.

In this fascinating conversation with David Palmer, a visionary, who is also the blockchain lead for Vodafone, we range widely across digital transformation, including the fact that we're all increasingly cyborgs living in a digital, as well as physical environment.
The potential to increase human joy and human creativity through digital transformation, based on blockchain and DeFi, and the future at not just government level, but at every level, including the future of democracy, and of finance.

So, today we interview. Finexos, the winners of the fair finance hackathon about their solution to the mountain of stress and distress already at a peak before the pandemic and the mental health crisis it is driving. And what can be done.
President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Dr Adrian James has predicted: "there is going to be a big surge – we refer to it as a tsunami – of mental illness as a result of the pandemic".
Meanwhile according to the FCA 26 million people in the UK showing signs of difficulty in terms of their finances - via an an analysis of bank accounts.
"So this is a massive problem. There's £450 billion of unsecured debt out there, where individuals in the UK are reliant on high interest revolving credit, just to meet day to day finances. So our challenge is to disrupt that circle of high interest, low disposable income - and so stress on the individual mental health." Says Steven Bone, chair of Finexos.
As he points out this situation fundamentally bad for society - as UK poverty and the poverty trap is growing driving poverty, financial stress and anxiety.
Pre pandemic over 20% of the UK population was in Poverty with 14.9 million consumers now behind on their bills and 5.7 million people in receipt of Universal Credit - many using food banks due to the cost of repaying debt. So our 'safety net' has been so shredded that many have no choice other than the high cost lenders.
We talk about the five years of development to create an innovative fintech platform that can help people not just by ensuring their finances become more controllable and intuitive, but that they have support and better alternatives too. And the new solutions coming in the first half of 2021 - not a moment too soon!
 
Watch the video interview at https://youtu.be/XTHrpDoGUko 
See HumaneEconomics.co for more and to join the linear-conference and network. 

What has gone wrong with capitalism?
It seems it has taken a wrong turn. But how? Staring at the scenes of the redundant workers leaving Lehman Brothers in 2008 – followed by all the subsequent carnage - started, for me, a decade of thinking and research and that's yet to complete -seeking Humane Economics.
Like millions of other people I knew then, in my gut, that something had gone wrong. That we're working harder and longer – yet increasingly ordinary people have trouble making ends meet, and many more live in fear that their jobs could disappear at any moment. The anger over the bank bailouts was palpable. And it's not going away.
My guest today is Les Leopold, his book Runaway Inequality was, for me, something of a revelation not only putting flesh onto the bones I have been discovering but giving scale to the enormity of the situation we find ourselves in post COVID.
Because he not only documents, from public sources, how this inequality has been growing since the 1980s, but how that it continues to accelerate to this day – and why. He also lays bare the mechanisms that explain why the assumption that market forces will reassert balance has proved to be wrong.
The mechanisms behind the accelerating inequalities that means that in that time the average CEO has moved from being able to own the equivalent of 45 homes, and his workers 1, to being able to own the equivalent of 829 – while his workers increasingly have little or no chance of own one.
That last statistic – the ‘Generation Rent’ one – is the most crucial one of course! Condemning a generation to a lifetime of housing and financial insecurity, given that, due to this process of financialisaton, rents continue to level-up consuming all available income, making saving near impossible.
The book explains not only why capitalism is out of balance but also will continue to accelerate inequality. Until we do something about it!
You can find his book at https://runawayinequality.org/buy-the-book/ 
Watch the video interview at https://youtu.be/HyVUqi1sFwA 
See HumaneEconomics.co for more and to join the linear-conference and network.