The Democratising Potential of a Digital Euro
A digital euro is on the horizon. This essay aims to look behind this rather technocratic discourse and seeks to identify what would make a digital euro truly unique and promising. I will argue that, if one accepts that there is no justification for excluding citizens from the benefits of digital central bank money, such allows us to democratise central banking, and to democratise finance. To arrive at that conclusion, I will firstly picture how a widely accessible digital euro could look like and how it relates to current configurations around central bank money. Secondly, I will discuss what problems a digital euro might help tackling. Thirdly, I will sketch how an enlarged access to central bank money can be followed up with changes that foresee a re-organisation of finance more broadly.
Nominated essay in the category master students of the Future Markets Consultation essay contest