The Fed ’s Questionable CBDC Campaign

Nicholas AnthonyIn a  series of Twitter threads posted onApril 12,April 21,April 27,May 2,May 9,May 16,May 24,May 30, andJune 6, the Federal Reserve tried to dispel some of the concerns that FedNow is a  central bank digital currency, or CBDC. To its credit, the Federal Reserve is largely correct thatFedNow and CBDCs are distinct issues. However, the Federal Reserve left out an important part of the story in the campaign: its authority to issue a  CBDC.Maybe the Federal Reserve ’s framing of the issue was simply an oversight rather than an intentional effort to mislead anyone. Yet considering it has been quoted in theWashington Post,AP News,Forbes,Central Banking, and other outlets, this framing should not be allowed to persist.The issue at hand is where the Federal Reserve said:Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee in March, Powell said a  central bank digital currency is “something we would certainly need congressional approval for.”This statement was an attempt to dispel concerns that one of the Federal Reserve ’s CBDC pilots could suddenly go into operation without any say from Congress. The problem, however, is that the quote supplied is only half of what Chair Powell told Congress.In his full response, Chair Powell said that a  retail CBDC would require authorizing legislation, but that might not be the case forother forms of CBDCs:That is absolutely the case as it relates to a  retail CBDC. There are potential forms of a wholesale CBDC...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs