Madison’s 18th century remark on the link between money and trust has lost none of its relevance in the 21st century. The issue of trust in money has resurfaced in the public debate on privately issued, stateless currencies, such as bitcoin, and their promise to serve as reliable substitutes for public money.
Today’s conference is neither the place nor the time for me to repeat my past statements on the shortcomings of cryptocurrencies1 and why they do not fulfil the basic tests of what constitutes “money”. Instead, I will today talk about Libra, Facebook’s newly announced private currency.