Money in the Twenty-First Century

How three modern forces have redefined what "money" means, who controls it, and what the future of finance looks like In Money in the Twenty-First Century, economist Richard Holden examines the virtues and risks of low interest rates, mobile money, and cryptocurrencies and explains how these three elemental forces will continue to play out—in our wallets, on the blockchain, and throughout major economies—in the decades to come. Holden weaves in the stories of three people who have exerted massive influence over the future of modern money: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin, and Raghuram Rajan, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. Moving from micro to macro, Holden investigates the infrastructure that permits digital transactions, the currencies that underpin them, the race for control of those currencies, shifts in policy and the international monetary system, and the impact on the politics of money in the digital age. This book debates whether governments can keep these tectonic powers under control. “Holden has an uncanny knack for writing about complex topics in a lucid, understandable way. He uncovers the reasons behind the recent spate of banking crises and explains where banking is likely to be headed in the era of digitalization. An edifying read for lay and expert alike.”—Bengt Holmström, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016 Nobel Laureate in Economics