Currency Policy and Technology (INAF-3247)

Instructor Info:

Overview:

This course will cover policy and technology of physical and digital currencies. Course material includes topics applying to physical currencies (e.g., inks and “papers”), some to digital currencies (e.g., encryption and blockchains), and some applying to both (e.g., privacy and financial inclusion). Our focus will be currencies as they are, or might be, issued by central banks but we will also discuss commercial currencies or payment systems. Policy discussions will include strategies for asset allocation, effective regulation, currency substitution (aka “dollarization”) and consequences of de-monetization. Technical topics include designing for security, techniques to deter crime, and technologies that enable effective use in commerce. Case studies will cover past and present practice in a variety of countries or cultures.

Within some boundaries, students will have fairly broad latitude to study the aspects of currency that interest them most.  This might be about security features of physical or digital currencies, the role of currency in banking and commerce, financial inclusion issues related to currency, and other topics. We will focus primarily on the factors related to currency and not venture very far into other topics like monetary policy, micro and macro economics, or "best practices" for FinTech startups. 

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