The Pandora Papers, Fed’s Leadership Crisis and the Future of Money

This week’s “Money Reimagined” episode is framed by some bombshell news developments that are adding fuel to a fire of mistrust in authority that’s been allowed to kindle into a raging threat to global financial institutions.

This episode is sponsored by Quantstamp.

Hosts Sheila Warren and Michael Casey are joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Michael S. Derby and crypto entrepreneur Maya Zhehavi to discuss two sets of revelations that go to the heart of these problems and what they imply for the crypto industry.

One is the Pandora Papers investigation, the results of which were released last week and which the blew the lid off an elaborate global system of obfuscation by which a very long list of rich, powerful political leaders, business people and celebrities have evaded trillions of dollars in taxes and avoided scrutiny of their questionable business activities.

The other revolves around some revelations about stock trading activity by Federal Reserve officials, which led to the resignation of the heads of two regional Fed banks and has put Chairman Jerome Powell’s renomination prospects in jeopardy.

The show dives into what has happened and what this means for confidence in the financial system and its stewards. How much does it matter that people feel as if the system is designed not for them, but for elites? Will these feed into faith in money itself? And, if so, what comes next? Is it bitcoin? Stablecoins? Central bank digital currencies that compete with each other?

Having a seasoned Fed reporter in the mix of guests, the conversation inevitably also dives into the outlook for a digital dollar and what objectives it would serve.

This episode was produced and edited by Michele Musso with announcements by Adam B. Levine. Our theme song is Shepard.