CDBC can improve democracies or annihilate what little is left
There is no doubt that the CBDC is the last battleground between democracy and authoritarianism. Who will win the battle for the Central Bank Digital Currency?
The two great digital transformations of this beginning of the century that will define the near future of humanity are digital money (CBDC) and digital gold (crypto gold). These two technological revolutions could become the two great economic and social revolutions of the century. Together these two powerful transformations could take the financial mafia out of state control and restore economic order, which has been totally subverted by financial chaos. They will also be able to democratize the use of public money, giving society the necessary oversight power to eliminate corruption in government spheres.
For most people, CBDC will be more important than digital gold as it is the unit of value that will be used in national economies so that their citizens can buy the things they need using the digital money they will receive for their work. In the same way that governments will be able to track criminals’ illicit activities, they will be able to allow the population to scrutinize public money to avoid misuse, corruption and waste. This reciprocity in the transparency of the honest use of money by citizens as well politicians and public administrators will improve democracies and improve societies.
The great threat is still the neoliberals, as they see the CBDC as an instrument of oppression to control governments and populations. And neoliberals are not going to renounce the total control of money like they have today, as they control the central banks, and issue new money whenever they want, creating a financial mess based on issuing fiat money and forever debt. The neoliberal system does not aim at economic and social development. It is a system with the sole purpose of maintaining the power of a small elite over countries and populations.
Among the socioeconomic benefits arising from the CBDC and its correct use to reestablish economic order, we can highlight the drastic reduction in corruption, tax evasion, capital evasion and money laundering. Public investments can be better used, as they can be inspected by society to avoid deviations and misuse. Tax evasion can be completely curbed and the world can be freed from tax havens that protect tax evaders such as those in the “Pandora Papers”, who stole from their countries the money that could be used to improve the living conditions of its peoples. Organized crime money laundering can be curbed, facilitating the fight against illegal practices.
That’s how it will be in countries that operate in accordance with the economic order. But in countries that operate according to the financial order it will be completely different. Neoliberals will not give up control of the State and the economy of these countries. They will continue to impose the financial order to maintain the power of the small elite that controls all sectors of society. And the CBDC, unfortunately, will be an instrument of control and domination used by this small elite that already controls the Central Banks of these countries.
The consequences that the use of CBDC will bring to these countries under neoliberal rule will be tragic. Neoliberals will create fiat money at a much faster rate, as it is not necessary to print digital money. Economic inequality will continue to increase in these countries. The State, already controlled by the neoliberal elite, will increase its power and control over citizens. Countries like Brazil, where corruption is largely carried out with paper money, could benefit a lot from the CBDC, as the State and Society will be able to better inspect and control public money.
Today, electronic payment is already widely used in Brazil, and the population is already more used to and more confident in using the PIX system, which processes instant payments. This system, which has been in operation for almost a year, is fully operated by the Central Bank and has zero cost for all users. More than fifty million users in Brazil already use PIX daily and are already saving billions of Reais in fees annually. What Brazil needs now is to increase the use of the PIX and demonetize its economy to better fight corruption. In addition, allow scrutiny by society on the applications of public money.
India, since 2016, has been implementing its demonetization project to transcend to a cashless economy. According to some observers, this demonetization was already enough to curb corruption in sectors of the public service.
Russia is already advanced in the creation of its digital money, according to some preliminary information, it will adopt a fully decentralized p2p encrypted token for its digital currency transactions. If this Russian digital currency is backed by the gold standard, it will certainly be one of the currencies in global use.
The world today is no longer divided as it was in the Cold War, between communism and capitalism. Today the world is torn between the financial disorder of the neoliberal West and the economic order of the sovereign countries of Eurasia. Before long, the western world is in complete collapse due to the inflation of fiat money and the financial chaos arising from the corrupt neoliberal system.
This collapse of neoliberalism will require the immediate restoration of economic order in the West. A new Breton Woods to restore the gold standard should be the first step in restoring that order. The world will adopt the digital gold. If China does not accept Bitcoin as digital gold, a new digital gold will be created in a way that is universally accepted. We do not know what this digital gold will be like, but humanity already has the technology to make it the best way possible. Central Banks will be able to adopt the new gold standard by tying their CBDC’s to the new digital gold.
