Post-crisis: zero interest rates, currency devaluation and cryptocurrencies
In the current context, where the objective of the central banks is their fight against deflation and sustainable economic growth, the value of money—that is, the interest rate—and the value of a currency—the exchange rate—play an essential role in making decisions about monetary policy.
The use of new technologies has led to growth in the size and complexity of financial markets. This expansion and transformation of finance has led to the frequent emergence of new financial products which demand a society capable of adequately understanding how these markets operate, in order to be better informed when making saving, investment and borrowing decisions.
Despite the fact that the education of society in financial matters is still a distant concept, technology is advancing and radical changes are being made to how we conduct transactions and guarantee the fulfilment of contracts through a new protocol called «blockchain», which may represent a new trading platform in the financial markets and in society in general.
This article presents a reading on the implications of an extremely loose monetary policy considering two basic instruments: extremely low interest rates and synchronised devaluation of currencies in different economies. Some of the reasons that explain the rise of digital currencies and their security system are also analysed.
ODS
Elisabet Ruiz DotrasPhD in Economic and Business Sciences from the University of Barcelona. Degree in Business Administration and Management from Pompeu Fabra University. Associate Lecturer of Economics and Business Studies at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), where she teaches the finance and financial markets subjects. In recent years she has combined teaching and research with academic management tasks for various degrees and financial asset valuation consultancy. Her research interests are related to financial literacy, the globalisation of financial markets and e-learning. She has completed research placements at UCLA and City University of Hong Kong. She has participated in several national projects, has designed and created courses on financial markets and is the author of various materials and articles on finance. She is a member of the DigiBiz research group.
