Episode 4: Special Edition: Full Reserve Banking, “Narrowbanks” for Digital Currency and the China Model

The Bank of England’s Michael Kumhof will join us to discuss his work on Full Reserve banking and digital currency models. Shortly after the Great Recession of 2008, while working at the IMF, Michael published a groundbreaking research paper entitled The Chicago Plan Revisited, where he argued that had the US adopted a full reserve banking model, as proposed by the Chicago Plan during the Great Depression, the US would have seen both higher output, fewer recessions and lower levels of debt. Michael is also an expert on CBDCs and has published on the subject for the Bank of England. We will be asking Mr. Kumhof can we build a safer, lower-risk financial system built on digital currency? We will then be joined by the IMF’s Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli, who serves as Deputy Division Chief in the Monetary and Capital Markets Department. Tommaso has been a global thought leader on models of digital currency and stablecoins and their impact on the banking sector, regulatory frameworks and the international monetary system.  In particular, Tommaso and his IMF colleagues have proposed the creation of “narrow banks”, a new form of chartered national bank whose purpose would be to hold full reserve assets with central banks as part of a system of issuing stablecoins or central bank sponsored digital currency. We’ll explore these ideas, and ask if major G20 countries should be establishing ‘Digital Currency Banking Charters’ built on full reserve money. Finally, many of these ideas are being explored not just in the private sector with new global stablecoin arrangements such as Centre and Libra, but also very much in the public sector, where in China their new CDEP digital currency initiative introduces the world’s largest real full reserve banking model applied in the digital realm. We will be joined by noted Chinese economist and Associate Research Fellow for the People's Bank of China, Dr. Chuanwei David Zou, Chief Economist at Wanxiang Blockchain, who has published extensively on DCEP and brings deep expertise from the Chinese financial ecosystem.  What can we learn from this and what are the implications for how other leading reserve currencies will evolve their monetary forms? Be sure to tune-in and join us live on Tuesday May 26th at 9AM EDT, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.   About the show   The global economy is experiencing unprecedented challenges and change. Business leaders everywhere are grappling with how to transform their companies to become more digital, resilient and efficient. As we face this change, a new global movement is building around the promise of digital currencies and blockchains — forming a new architecture for the global economy and creating new opportunities for companies everywhere. The Money Movement explores and chronicles the issues and ideas driving this brave new world of digital money.   The Money Movement is brought to you by Circle. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through programmable internet commerce. Learn more about Circle Business Accounts and Platform APIs at circle.com.