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38th Annual Monetary Conference — Digital Currency: Risk or Promise?

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The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased the demand for cash and placed a spotlight on the promise of digital currency. But risks remain. Cato’s 38th Annual Monetary Conference will bring together leading experts to examine the risks and promise of central bank vs. private (centralized and decentralized) digital currencies.

10:00-10:10AM

WELCOMING REMARKS


James A. Dorn, Vice President for Monetary Studies, Cato Institute

10:10-10:50AM

A conversation with Jeb Hensarling, former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Phil Gramm, former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee

Moderated by John B. Taylor, Professor of Economics, Stanford University, and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

10:50AM-12:00PM

PANEL I: DIGITAL CURRENCY: STATE V. MARKET


Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor and Director, IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department
Neha Narula, Director, Digital Currency Initiative, MIT Media Lab
Lawrence H. White, Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Eswar Prasad, Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy, Cornell University

Moderated by Jeanna Smialek, Federal Reserve and Economics Reporter, New York Times

12:00-12:15PM

BREAK

12:15-1:00PM

PANEL II: DIGITAL CURRENCY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES


Jill Carlson, Cofounder, Open Money Initiatives
Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer, Human Rights Foundation
Martin Chorzempa, Research Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Moderated by Rachel Siegel, Federal Reserve and Economics Reporter, Washington Post

1:00-1:15PM

BREAK

1:15-2:00PM

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
TEN STABLECOIN PREDICTIONS AND THEIR MONETARY POLICY IMPLICATIONS


Caitlin Long, Founder and CEO, Avanti Financial Group

2:00-3:15PM

PANEL III: DIGITAL CURRENCY, COMPETITION, AND MONETARY POLICY


Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Professor of Economics, University of Pennsylvania
George Selgin, Director, Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, Cato Institute
David Andolfatto, Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Dong He, Deputy Director, IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department

Moderated by Nick Timiraos, Chief Economics Correspondent, Wall Street Journal

3:15-3:30PM

BREAK

3:30-4:30PM

PANEL IV: DIGITAL CURRENCY AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION


Michael J. Casey, Chief Content Officer, CoinDesk
Charles W. Calomiris, Chief Economist and Senior Deputy Comptroller for Economics, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Diego Zuluaga, Associate Director of Financial Regulation Studies, Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, Cato Institute

Moderated by Jen Wieczner, Senior Writer, Fortune Magazine

4:30-4:45PM

CLOSING REMARKS


John A. Allison, Chair, Executive Advisory Council, Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, Cato Institute

Funding from the George Edward Durell Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.