Cash could be phased out within a decade, says Australian National University (ANU) professor, Rabee Tourky.
The rise of electronic currency will lead to the phasing out of physical cash in Australia, according to Tourky, director of the ANU research school of economics.
“One of the major economic issues we have now is the emergence of this great experiment with electronic cash, such as Bitcoin,” Tourky said.
“In 10 years’ time there won’t be any paper cash. The big question is, what’s going to replace it in Australia? Will it be Bitcoin? I don’t think so. More likely it will be ‘AusBit’, an Australian government issued digital cash.”
The move could herald a new era of digital money such as crypto-currency, which brings its own set of unique characteristics and challenges.
“It’s quite clear that the central bank in Australia is going to have to issue electronic cash,” Tourky said.
“It’s also going to have some issues that cash as we know it doesn’t have, such as privacy, anonymity and perhaps the emergence of anonymous markets. These are going to be big open questions in economics. It’s going to become a major issue for people studying money and banking.”
To keep ahead of a changing economic environment, the ANU College of Business and Economics has incorporated a course on digital cash into its first year money and banking unit.
“This is an established course which we’ve changed to include studying the theory behind digital cash,” Tourky said.
“ANU economics students typically go into leadership roles, either in government or in the banking sector. In four or five years time they are going to be faced with these issues.”
