Category Archives: Payment system

Randy Wray: Modern Monetary Theory – How I Came to MMT and What I Include in MMT

A short history of MMT and and overview of core principles.

Don Quijones: Multiple Online Banking Systems Go Down in the UK

Customers of three major UK banks were stymied by online banking problems Friday, when multiple systems crashed, limiting access to their accounts. Another installment in the ongoing war on cash.

The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire

How Britain’s system of offshore finance and tax havens developed and preserved the UK’s role as the largest player in international finance.

Don Quijones: Credit-Cardholders & Bank Customers Burned Again as New IT Chaos Breaks Out in the UK

Another IT outage in the UK serves as pushback to the war on cash, with even the ECB conceding it doesn’t foresee a totally cashless society, leaves those relying on credit cards alone to make payments vulnerable.

India: Demonetization Debacle

RBI annual report reaffirms demonetization had little impact on ferreting out black money; BJP majority blocks release of scathing parliamentary standing committee on finance report on the policy’s failure.

The “Petrodollar” Has No Bearing on Any Country’s Ability to Employ Its People Fully

Debunking the petrodollar myth.

The Mechanics of Cryptocurrency

An examination of cryptocurrency practicalities.

10 Down-to-Earth Things Powell Said about Cryptocurrencies

The Fed is perfectly content to have cryptocurrencies be the SEC’s problem.

Marshall Auerback: How Plan to Replace LIBOR Will Cement Fed’s Role as Global Central Banker

How proposals to replace LIBOR will strengthen the Fed’s position in global markets.

Bill Black: Bitcoin Frauds Keep Growing

Another area where bitcoin hype exceeds reality.

Don Quijones: Consumers Stubbornly Cling to Cash, after Multiple IT Fiascos & Payment Systems Outages

More consumer pushback in the war on cash: An industry dogged by non-believers who fret about privacy and fraud.

Cryptocurrencies Are Lousy Investments

A skeptical look at the prospects for cryptocurrencies.

The Battle for Money Has Begun

Why the current fights over money, banking, and Modern Monetary Theory look like new ways to achieve bad neoliberal ends.

A Hard Look at the Mini-BOT, the Parallel Currency Idea of Italy’s New Ruling Coalition

The mini-BOT has only been sketched out at a high level. How might it work and more important, would it succeed as a parallel currency?

Jim Chanos on Fraud: “Cryptocurrency Is a Security Speculation Game Masquerading as a Technological Breakthrough”

The legendary short seller Jim Chanos in a wide-ranging discussion of financial frauds, starting with cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin is the last thing he’d want to own in the event of a catastrophe.