Atlanta Fed on a Theory of Financial Privacy

[Somebody]

No, it doesn't use the "B" word, but it is fun to see someone _define_
money as "a technology that allows consumer A to anonymously conduct
a transaction with firm B."  I am stirred to view the referenced literature
in which record-keeping and credit are related to currency.  One of the
most common counter-arguments to bearer transactions has been to
point out that the cost of centralized bookkeeping is falling and our
ability to scale it is rising (e.g. DTC, FederalReserve, NSCC, CREST.
These, the argument goes, handle huge centralized bookkeeping and
credit scorekeeping chores with a very low per item cost.)  In fact this
argument is mentioned in this tract.  The insight here is to note that
transactions carry a "privacy right" with them, iff they can be conducted
anonymously, and this can affect the bargaining process.  For the time
being, it remains an intellectual/academic exercise whether anonymous
e-money is the most cost effective solution, or whether privacy can
be economically grafted onto huge bookkeeping data processing systems.
To some of us the answer is intuitive, but I'm sure it will come down to
"bits on the wire" before we have very many believers.

"R. A. Hettinga" wrote:

> Lions and Tigers and Coasian Microeconomics, oh, my...
>
> http://www.frbatlanta.org/publica/work_papers/wp00/wp0022.pdf
>
> No mention of the "B" word, but, then, they're not supposed to, yet, right?
>
> :-)
>
> Cheers,
> RAH
>
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>                         Name: Theorytrxpriv.pdf
>    Theorytrxpriv.pdf    Type: Acrobat (application/pdf)
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> --
> -----------------
> R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
> "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
> [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
> experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'