Monetary Policy and International Finance (MPIF) Mini Class

Understanding Cryptocurrencies: Money, Inflation, and the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level

What is money? What causes inflation? These are some of the oldest questions in economics. Now, with the rise of blockchain and cryptocurrency, how do they interact with traditional money? Is crypto truly a “currency”? What role do central bank digital currencies play? And perhaps the biggest question: how should we think about “money” when nearly all transactions—credit cards, Apple Pay, Alipay—are electronic and rarely involve physical cash?

In this session, Professor Thomas Coleman, Senior Lecturer at the Harris School and faculty lead of the PKU-UChicago Summer School in Monetary Policy and International Finance (MPIF), will explore these issues, drawing on his 20+ years of experience in the finance industry alongside his expertise in cutting-edge academic research on money and inflation. While digital currencies and crypto are transforming payment systems, the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level, rooted in established principles of government debt, provides a framework for understanding the future of money.