The world is drowning in cash—and it’s making us poorer and less safe. Kenneth Rogoff, one of the world’s leading economists, makes a persuasive and fascinating case for an idea that until recently would have seemed outlandish: getting rid of most paper money.  As well as offering a plan for phasing out paper money he addresses the issues the transition will pose, ranging from fears about privacy and price stability to the need to provide subsidized debit cards for the poor.

Kenneth S. Rogoff, (@krogoff) 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. His new book is The Curse of Cash.

Wouter Den Haan is Professor of Economics at LSE and Co-Director of the Centre for Macroeconomics.

The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching.

The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.    

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEcash

Podcast and Video

A podcast and video of this event is available to download from The Curse of Cash