Track 13

Unit 10

Economics

The evolution of money

Page 100

Extend the topic

Part A

Mika, thanks for joining us to talk about the future of money. So, what does the future hold for us?

Well, Gray, I can sum it up in three words: digital, virtual and universal.

Okay, let’s take those one at a time. So how about digital?

The use of credit and debit cards will continue to grow and eventually will reach a place were cash, coins and paper money will be a thing of the past.

Although the credit and debit cards qualify as digital money, they aren’t virtual because they’re still physical objects.

And what would qualify as virtual money?

In the future, touchscreen interfaces will be absolutely everywhere, in every home and every store. When we want to buy something, the system will identify us by our voice, fingerprint or face.

We’ll then type in information about the transaction and make our purchase, no cash, no credit card, nothing physical. The transaction will take place completely over computer networks. That’s virtual.

Interesting. And how about the last one, universal?

Universal means that we’ll eventually use a single digital currency, not dollars, euros or yen. The ones and zeros found in computer code will become the world currency.

Although some national governments will resist the move away from having a national currency, having a universal currency will stimulate the world economy in ways that are difficult to imagine at present.

Okay, there you have it, digital virtual universal.

Thanks so much for being with us today.