'' SWIFT '' -DOLLAR- SWIRL : INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS ESSAY

SINCE Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of Group of 7 sanctions, the number of cross-border central bank digital currency projects has doubled.

Offering a way for commercial banks in different countries to send money to one another using the  same technology on which cryptocurrency is built.

The money can travel in seconds and avoid touching a U.S. bank. The most advanced project of this kind is mBridge, whose participants include China, Thailand, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and as of last year, Saudi Arabia.

Because the volumes transacted are still low [ reportedly only $22 million during a pilot in 2022 ] this project and similar endeavours in emerging markets, especially in the BRICS countries, are often dismissed.

That's the problem with thinking only about macroeconomics and not about national security.

Economists typically don't view money as a key lever of U.S. foreign policy; they see small workarounds as meaningless to the overall health of a currency.

A Federal Reserve study last year echoes what you often hear from U.S. officials in private :

" The Chinese renminbi is nowhere close to overtaking the dollar in international importance, '' it concluded.

This Essay Publishing continues. The World Students Society thanks Josh Upsky, who is the chair of  international economics at the Atlantic Council.