IMF Chief Christine Lagarde Calls for Digital Currencies, But We Need to Go Further

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde demonstrates how a pen can pass off as a thumb — the same way a tech company can pass off as a financial services provider.

As the minister in charge of France’s economic policy in 2008, Christine Lagarde is no stranger to financial crises. During the 2008 Financial Crises, she described her encounter with her then U.S. counterpart, Treasury Secretary Henry “Hank” Paulson when news of the likely insolvency of Lehman Brothers, one of the world’s largest investment banks at the time, as,

“It’s like a tsunami was coming and we were discussing what bathing suit to wear.”

If anyone has the prescience to foresee financial developments it’s Lagarde.

Moving day was always emotional at the bank.

Lagarde’s speech at the Singapore Fintech Festival several days ago called on countries to issue their own digital currencies. Mind you, Lagarde called for a central bank administered and issued digital currency and not cryptocurrencies, stating specifically that a failure of states to do so could result in a situation where, “too much power could fall into the hands of a small number of private payment providers.”