Considering the work of Krugman an others on Optimal Currency Areas (and taking the lessons of the Euro crisis into account) it looks like being able to depreciate currency in a stable way in a limited area is a useful tool. I would expect the current system to continue, with a slow transition towards fewer currencies as regions tie closer together (eg if N. and S. Korea unify they won’t keep separate currencies).
Even post scarcity there will still need to be a unit of account to prevent trolling, so I don’t see that replacing currencies.
Considering the work of Krugman an others on Optimal Currency Areas (and taking the lessons of the Euro crisis into account) it looks like being able to depreciate currency in a stable way in a limited area is a useful tool.
I would expect as the world becomes more economically integrated in the future, the size of the optimal currency area will grow. My take on this is that growing trade is basically inevitable and the current headwinds are mostly a result of China decoupling from the world economy and blowback from the poor handling of the 2008 financial crisis.
Even post scarcity there will still need to be a unit of account to prevent trolling, so I don’t see that replacing currencies.
I agree that there will still be some unit-of-account post-scarcity. However I think most people will simply never look at their bank-account in the same way that I never look at my water-bill (which is paid automatically and generally a small amount).
Considering the work of Krugman an others on Optimal Currency Areas (and taking the lessons of the Euro crisis into account) it looks like being able to depreciate currency in a stable way in a limited area is a useful tool. I would expect the current system to continue, with a slow transition towards fewer currencies as regions tie closer together (eg if N. and S. Korea unify they won’t keep separate currencies).
Even post scarcity there will still need to be a unit of account to prevent trolling, so I don’t see that replacing currencies.
I would expect as the world becomes more economically integrated in the future, the size of the optimal currency area will grow. My take on this is that growing trade is basically inevitable and the current headwinds are mostly a result of China decoupling from the world economy and blowback from the poor handling of the 2008 financial crisis.
I agree that there will still be some unit-of-account post-scarcity. However I think most people will simply never look at their bank-account in the same way that I never look at my water-bill (which is paid automatically and generally a small amount).