Finally responded this morning to the Bank of England request for public engagement on their CBDC proposals. I urge others to do the same, if you are in the UK or not (link in the replied note).

My response:

Centrally controlled programmable money is a existential risk to everyone in the UK. While on the surface it may have the veneer of a useful tool the potential downsides are catastrophic. Firstly it gives far too much power and control to central planners and takes individual decision making out of the hands of the people. The Bank Of England are not an elected body by the people and have far more weight in manipulating individuals decisions than is safe or reasonable. This whole system design is ripe for abuse and is only safeguarded by the ‘hope’ that those is power do not misuse this power. This is a foolish oversight as the only way to have true checks on authoritative power are by giving the rights and sovereignty to the individuals.

Individual payment scores, programmed spending requirement and the ability to inflate or deflate the money supply at will just serves to create more mistrust and misinformation in a complex market system. It is foolish to think that centrally planned money will lead anywhere other than to hyperinflation and/or massive fiat debt bubbles. You can see this right now and it certainly isn’t because we don’t have a CBDC. It is because the levers of power have been misused.

Privacy both of transactions and individuals in general are critical to a well rounded, progressive and thoughtful nation. If we introduce a system akin to that which China uses, where the state may coercively control individuals finances then we run the risk to crashing into a authoritarian hell.

We’re British, we believe in free market economics, we believe privacy, democracy and the rights of all individuals equally. Not in top down state controlled monetary policy.

-End