Money in the New Technological Pardigm

Abstract

The falling use of cash and the proliferation of electronic networks of circulation of money have been in the center of the debate about the future of the monetary system. These developments are determining the institutional adjustment of money in the new technological paradigm. However, technological change may be even more challenging for our overall theoretical understanding of money. As I will argue, the claims about the possibility of a completely cashless society and about the end of money stem directly from the commodity theory. The declining importance of the state and the central bank, given the declining use of the state issued currency, raises important challenges for the state theory of money. These theoretical challenges and the impact of the new technological developments in the monetary system will be the focus of this paper.