"Winner of the 2017 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers" "One of Financial Times (FT.com) Best Economics Books of 2016" "One of Bloomberg's Best Books of 2016" "Selected for Canada's Financial Post Best Personal Finance and Economics Books of 2016" "Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2016" Kenneth S. Rogoff, the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (Princeton). He appears frequently in the national media and writes a monthly newspaper column that is syndicated in more than fifty countries. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"A brilliant and lucid new book" (John Lanchester, New York Times Magazine) about why paper money and digital currencies lie at the heart of many of the world's most difficult problems-and their solutions
In The Curse of Cash, acclaimed economist and bestselling author Kenneth Rogoff explores the past, present, and future of currency, showing why, contrary to conventional economic wisdom, the regulation of paper bills-and now digital currencies-lies at the heart some of the world's most difficult problems, but also their potential solutions. When it comes to currency, history shows that the private sector often innovates but eventually the government regulates and appropriates. Using examples ranging from the history of standardized coinage to the development of paper money, Rogoff explains why the cryptocurrency boom will inevitably end with dominant digital currencies created and controlled by governments, regardless of what Bitcoin libertarians want. Advanced countries still urgently need to stem the global flood of large paper bills-the vast majority of which serve no legitimate purpose and only enable tax evasion and other crimes-but cryptocurrencies are like $100 bills on steroids.
The Curse of Cash is filled with revealing insights about many of the most pressing issues facing monetary policymakers, from quantitative easing to alternative inflation targeting regimes. It also explains in detail why, if low interest rates persist, the best way to reinvigorate monetary policy is to implement fully effective and unconstrained negative interest rates.
Provocative, engaging, and backed by compelling original arguments and evidence, The Curse of Cash has sparked widespread debate and its ideas have moved to the center of financial and policy discussions. "In a brilliant and lucid new book, The Curse of Cash, the Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff gives a fascinating and thorough account of the argument against cash."---John Lanchester, New York Times Magazine "An excellent book on the history and the origins of cash, which also goes into much depth on the issue of cash constraining monetary policy." "The great accomplishment of his book is that his arguments are convincing. . . . It's clear and coherent, and even if you disagree with him in the end, chances are you'll think a little bit differently about something of which most of us give no thought whatsoever."---Bethany McLean, Washington Post "[A] fascinating economic manifesto. . . . [The Curse of Cash] is an absorbing exploration of the uses, and misuses, of currency, and its intractability in controlling modern economies." "Economist Rogoff, the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, offers a detailed case for eliminating paper money. . . . For both the elimination of paper money and the employment of negative interest rates to combat deflationary recessions, Rogoff painstakingly presents both the advantages and the drawbacks. . . . Provocative." "In a witty new book, The Curse of Cash, economist Kenneth Rogoff argues the human race would be better off without paper money. He's onto something."---Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe "[The Curse of Cas
