The Economics of Cryptocurrencies

This talk will provide a glimpse into the world of cryptocurrencies and “FinTech.” Bitcoin is the earliest and largest crypto currency, and the speaker will describe how it came to be, what it is and what its broader implications might be. The innovations underlying Bitcoin have shaken up the world of finance and raise important public policy questions such as: 1) Why do we need (or want) cryptocurrencies? 2) Do we want Facebook to run our payment system and 3) What role does or should government regulation and the Fed in the evolving world of cryotocurrency and online finance? 

Geoffrey Woglom is Professor of Economics emeritus at Amherst College where he taught for over 40 years.  During his career he has been a consultant at the Federal Reserve Board and the International Monetary fund and held visiting positions at Harvard, Cambridge, LSE and Nanjing universities. 

Dr. Woglom is representing the National Economic Education Delegation, www.needelegation.org, a Marin-based nonprofit that unites the skills and knowledge of a vast network of professional economists to promote a nonpartisan understanding of the economics of policy issues in the United States.