Smart Money

A new Cold War is underway. Whereas the first Cold War was dominated by the threat of nuclear conflict, the new front line is economic and financial, but still dominated by technology. Who controls its future will help decide the outcome of the geopolitical struggle between China and the US. Since the end of the Second World War, the US dollar has been the global reserve currency, which has ensured American dominance of the world economy. But no longer. More than a hundred countries are developing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), digital equivalents to cash that will utterly transform how we do business at home and abroad. China was the first country to recognise the potential of this new money. The West''s media focused on the new currency''s role in China''s surveillance state, creating widespread concern about all CBDCs. But they have largely overlooked a more important aspect of its existence: as a tool through which to ''de-dollarise'' the developing world at the speed of light. When China''s President Xi officially launched the digital yuan in February 2022, he also agreed a pact of ''limitless co-operation'' with Russia. Within days, Russia launched its war on Ukraine, secure in the knowledge it would be able to sell its oil in spite of US sanctions.Urgent, clear-eyed and ground-breaking, Sma Money shows us how CBDCs are going to impact all of our futures in ways that most of us have failed even to consider. If the West is to compete, it needs to act fast to develop its own global digital currencies that reflect the values of liberal democracies.>

Auteur

Brunello Rosa is a financial economist and geopolitical strategist who advises market participants, policy-makers and institutions. He is the CEO and head of research of Rosa & Roubini Associates, a visiting professor at City, University of London and Bocconi University in Italy. Casey Larsen is a British-Swiss writer and strategic communications consultant. Casey advises political and business leaders on geopolitics, technology and international affairs.

Texte du rabat

A second Cold War is underway. But whereas the Cold War of 1945-90 was dominated by the threat of nuclear conflict, the new front line will be economic. A race for the future of money has begun - and the outcome of who wins is the most significant geopolitical struggle in the new Cold War between China and the US.

For decades following the Second World War, the US dollar was the global reserve currency, with oil paid for in dollars and much international trade carried out in the US currency. But no longer. More than a hundred countries are developing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which are digital equivalents to cash rather than digital representations of cash, which means they are programmable, unlike normal money.

China was the first country to recognise the significance of this shift, creating the digital yuan. While the West's media focused on the new currency's role in China's surveillance state, it largely overlooked a more important aspect of its existence: as a potential alternative to the dollar. When China's President Xi officially launched the digital yuan in February 2022, he also agreed a pact of ?limitless co-operation' with Russia. Within days, Russia launched its war on Ukraine, secure in the knowledge it would be able to buy oil without paying in dollars.

Urgent, clear-eyed and ground-breaking, Brunello Rosa and Casey Larsen will show us how control over the supply of money is going to impact all of our futures. As Lenin once famously said, there are ?decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen'. The weeks are happening right now, and if the West is to claw back China's huge lead, it needs to act fast, and act now to ensure that global digital currencies are democratically controlled.