The Wykehamist January 2020 Edition 1487 | Page 14

If the future of money is doubtlessly digital, it is equally apparent that it
must be truly global. The march of globalization continues and, as seen below,
trade (exports plus imports) as a share of GDP has risen considerably across the
world over the last three decades. For example, European trade increased from
40% to 80% during the period. This increasing trade is celebrated by Ricardian
economists, but the risks associated with volatile, unanticipated fluctuations in
exchange rates are clearly amplified.
A single global currency will solve this and many other issues, instantly
eliminate exchange rate volatility and ensure that no country can manipulate
foreign exchange markets to gain an unfair advantage. The Euro was a step
in this direction, but why has it gone no further in twenty years? It’s because
no country is willing to hand over the monopoly on the management of such
a system to another. Again, cryptocurrency offers a solution: it has no central
authority with near unbreakable encryption masking transactions as an inbuilt
feature.
The technology required for this new future is a long time coming, but the
early signs are here already. If the current trends continue, as seems inevitable,
it is only a matter of time before we will be living in a world of a global cryp-
tocurrency.
Trade Imports as a share of GDP per
nation, 1956 and 2016
Illumina, or Bonfire of the Vanities, Carson White (Coll)
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The wykehamist
The Future of Money
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