While elites around the world – those in political power and in control of top financial institutions – are very much rallying around the plans to introduce central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), in Florida, the state’s governor has a different take on where things should be headed.
In fact, radically different – Governor Ron DeSantis thinks CBDCs should be banned.
Addressing a press conference from behind a podium that had the words “Big Brother’s Digital Dollar” attached to it, DeSantis repeated what critics of the CBDC push keep saying.
And that is, that the centralized form of digital money controlled by governments is basically a powerful surveillance tool, and that this, rather than any convenience it might offer, could be the key reason it is getting so much support from some high places.
But according to the Florida governor, who is rumored to be considering running for president, CBDCs are “all about surveilling Americans and controlling behavior of Americans.”
Should the Fed issue such a currency in the US, that will mean the federal government will acquire even more power. And what power the central authorities already have is not producing great effects for consumers, DeSantis suggested, mentioning high inflation, key policy rate hikes, and “pressure on banks.”
And with a CBDC, the government – which he essentially accuses of unscrupulous hunger for control over society in order to impose its agendas – would be given “a direct view of all consumer activities.”
In order to prevent this scenario playing out in Florida, the governor urged the state’s lawmakers to make sure the Uniform Commercial Code cannot be changed to adopt a US, or a foreign-issued CBDC.
According to DeSantis, Texas is already considering taking similar action, and he called on other states who hold similar positions to also use their Code to ban CBDCs.
DeSantis was unimpressed with what the Fed said would be benefits of a digital dollar, such as providing services to “the underbanked,” and also, “saving” the environment. But he did warn of how things are playing out in those countries that have already introduced this form of digital money, such as Bahamas, Nigeria, and China.
The latter, the governor said, uses the digital yuan “to monitor citizen behavior allowing for the surveillance of spending habits and to cut off access to goods and services.”
