Economist Paul Krugman Expresses Confusion Over DeSantis’ Resistance to CBDCs – Bitcoin News

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Economist Paul Krugman has questioned why Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis opposes a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a recent opinion editorial. Krugman suggested that DeSantis may be motivated by “general paranoia” and speculated that he could be influenced by individuals who fear a digital currency could hinder “un-woke activities such as tax evasion and money laundering.”

Krugman Attacks ‘Monetary Conspiracy Theory Types’ Over CBDC Opposition

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, who follows the Keynesian school of economics, wrote an opinion article questioning Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s opposition to a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Krugman pointed out that the U.S. does not yet have a CBDC and the Federal Reserve is still exploring the idea. He argued that if the Fed does create a CBDC, it is “highly unlikely that a state government would have the right to prohibit its use.” He also noted that the current financial system is already largely digital.

Krugman expressed his confusion about why people still use so much paper cash and speculated that the “vast hoard of Benjamins out there is held by people who want to avoid banks’ reporting requirements in order to hide activities like tax evasion, illegal purchases of drugs and weapons, extortion and so on.” He believes this practice is “increasingly annoying in a digital era.”

The economist argued that bitcoin (BTC) tried to become a cash-like digital currency, but he cited the Federal Reserve’s 2022 analysis of cryptocurrencies. According to the report, cryptos are volatile, making them vulnerable to loss, theft, and fraud. Krugman suggested that DeSantis’s opposition to CBDCs is not aimed at protecting the rights of Floridians, but rather, it would “protect the ability of criminals to evade taxes, launder money, buy and sell illegal drugs, and engage in extortion.”

Six days after Krugman’s opinion article was published, he recounted a story about a man who was in front of his wife in line at a coffee shop and was “ranting” about how CBDCs “are going to take away our freedom.” Krugman speculated that “DeSantis is probably tied in with a broader push by monetary conspiracy theory types. This has actually been a right-wing thing for a while, even if the theories keep getting crazier.”

What are your thoughts on the potential benefits and drawbacks of a central bank digital currency? Do you agree with Krugman or DeSantis? Share your insights on this subject in the comments section below.

Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.




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