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Digitization and the Evolution of Money as a Social Technology of Account

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  • Michael Peneder
Abstract
From Aristotle to Ricardo and Menger, economists have emphasised the function of money as a medium of exchange together with the intrinsic qualities that increase its saleability and credibility as a most liquid store of value. But the social institution of money co-evolves with technology. It is significant that the advent of digital cryptocurrencies was initiated by computer scientists and has taken economists completely by surprise. As a consequence, it also forces our profession to rethink the basic phenomenology of money. In accordance with the views of Wieser and Schumpeter, digitization brings to the fore its immaterial function as a standard of value and social technology of account, which increasingly absorbs that of a medium of exchange. The potential impact on economic policy is huge. The variety of different crypto coins has proven the technical feasibility of competing private currencies as proposed by Hayek. In the long term, however, there is reason to doubt the persistence of intense competition. One must fear that major digital platforms will extend their current dominance in multisided virtual market places to include digital payments and money. Central banks are increasingly anxious to preserve public sovereignty over the common unit of account and consider issuing their own digital fiat money. After the current era of intense creative experimentation, the potentially new spontaneous order of private crypto-currencies is likely to be supplanted by central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the design of which will depend on deliberate public choices and policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Peneder, 2021. "Digitization and the Evolution of Money as a Social Technology of Account," WIFO Working Papers 620, WIFO.
    • Handle: RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2021:i:620
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. An, Ling & Wang, Yaohua & Yan, Yan & Ma, Chao, 2024. "The role of emotional factors in the acceptance of digital currency: An extended study of a technology acceptance model," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    2. Bruna Bruno & Marisa Faggini, 2022. "The cashless man: do preferences matter?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(5), pages 1525-1544, November.
    3. Marco Lehmann-Waffenschmidt & Michael Peneder, 2022. "Evolutionary perspectives on economic policy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 3-7, January.
    4. Muhammad Zafar Yaqub & Abdullah Alsabban, 2023. "Industry-4.0-Enabled Digital Transformation: Prospects, Instruments, Challenges, and Implications for Business Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-33, May.
    5. Wang, Zhan-ao & Samuel, Ribeiro-Navarrete & Chen, Xiao-qian & Xu, Bing & Huang, Wei-lun, 2023. "Central bank digital currencies: Consumer data-driven sustainable operation management policy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    6. Carlos Alberto Durigan Junior & Mauro De Mesquita Spinola & Rodrigo Franco Gonc{c}alves & Fernando Jos'e Barbin Laurindo, 2024. "Central Bank Digital Currency: The Advent of its IT Governance in the financial markets," Papers 2407.07898, arXiv.org.
    7. Bhaskar, Ratikant & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Bansal, Shashank & Pandey, Dharen Kumar, 2022. "Central Bank Digital Currencies: Agendas for future research," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    8. Daniel Nientiedt, 2023. "Menger’s account of the origin of money as a case study in the evolution of institutions," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 205-215, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Austrian economics; Digitization; central bank digital currency (CBDC); crypto coins; currency competition; evolution of money; general ledger;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B26 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Financial Economics
    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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