The future of money

Conference on Money Reform, Vollgeld and Cryptocurrencies

Ten years after the financial crisis, the start of Bitcoin and in the year of the swiss referendum on introducing Vollgeld, the German NGO Monetative e.V., the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center and the International Movement for Monetary Reform organize a conference on the crisis of the current monetary system. Besides the problems and possible modifications of the current monetary system, two radical reforms are discussed: Vollgeld and currency competition via cryptocurrencies. The conference takes place on the campus of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management on November 24.

Since the financial crisis and the invention of Bitcoin, economists have started to revisit discussions not only on regulatory interventions but also on the structure of the monetary and financial system itself. Supporters of sovereign money or “Vollgeld” criticise the money creation of commercial banks that systemically produces financial crises and advocate for a complete return of money creation into the hands of the public central bank. Supporters of currency competition and cryptocurrencies however see the public central bank as the weak spot in the current monetary system and advocate for a full denationalisation and privatisation of money. At the same time, economists and central banks are debating the issuance of digital cash which could be transferred via blockchain but could also significantly harm the ability of commercial banks to create money. The supporters of these controversial approaches meet at the conference and debate their feasibility. The conference will end with a panel discussion with representatives from the financial sector, NGOs and economists.

The conference hosts leading international economists from universities, central banks and financial institutions. The keynote speeches will be held by William White (Chief Economist of the OECD, former chief economist of the BIS), Professor Dr Thomas Mayer (Flossbach von Storch Research, former chief economist at Deutsche Bank), Dr Michael Kumhof (Bank of England, formerly at the IMF), Professor Dr Laurence J. Kotlikoff (Boston University, bestselling author) and Professor Dr Peter Bofinger (Würzburg University, member of the German Council of Economic Experts).

During the different sessions speakers include the former governor of the Spanish central bank, Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez, a leading researcher of the e-krona project at the Swedish central bank, Dr Carl Claussen, the designer of the Vollgeld-approach, Professor Dr Joseph Huber and the head of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, Professor Dr Philipp Sandner. The deputy chairman of the Finance Committee of the Green Party in Germany, Dr Gerhard Schick MdB, will attend the panel discussion with other conference participants.

The conference language is English. The conference includes catering. More information on the agenda, speakers and registration can be found on the website: http://conference2018.monetative.de/