It s Not Paranoid to Worry about a Central Bank Digital Currency | Mises Wire
Krugman ridiculed the very notion that a CBDC might threaten civil liberties:
If this sounds crazy, that s because it is. I have no idea whether DeSantis believes any of it, or even knows what a central bank digital currency is or what it would do (more on that later). And it s possible that he s taking this stand out of general paranoia.
But Krugman doesn t actually think it s mere paranoia that explains DeSantis opposition to a Fed-issued CBDC. Instead, Krugman thinks big Republican donors are currently benefiting from using anonymous currency as a way to shield their nefarious schemes. As Krugman concludes his column:
[These considerations] tells us what DeSantis s attack on central bank digital currency would actually do. It wouldn t protect the rights of Floridians to buy gas or guns; instead, it would protect the ability of wiseguys to evade taxes, launder money, buy and sell illegal drugs, and engage in extortion.
But hey, I guess thinking that money laundering and extortion are bad things is just another example of the wokeness that DeSantis is trying to kill.
As usual, Krugman s smug attacks fall apart under scrutiny. For starters, my academic colleague Jonathan Newman pointed out that the Fed study Krugman linked to from his column, actually discussed the possible privacy dangers from a CBDC! As the Fed study put it:
In other words, it s not just Ron DeSantis who realizes a CBDC could abuse citizens privacy the Federal Reserve does too.
Beyond that, we have seen in recent history how monetary freedom can be violated in the pursuit of political objectives. For example, the Canadian government froze the funds of the Canadian truckers protesting Covid policies, and many Americans saw their donations likewise thwarted.
via mises.org
Robert Murphy.
If Herr Doktor Professor tells me I shouldn’t worry about something, then I really worry about it.