E-Money, Part 2

The introduction of the Euro is an example of progression in the classic economy toward an all-digital economy. On the first of January 2002, the Euro became the standard currency of the member countries of the European Union. The Euro was introduced because the barriers to trade created inefficiency and waste and current systems created less value in each of their monies. This affected European countries when conducting business with the remainder of the global marketplace. Standardization of the Euro as the single currency in 12 countries of the European Union reduced the cultural barriers to trading with one another and unified at least 12 separate markets. The unified European marketplace is making it easier for other major markets in the world to do business with them, as well. Despite earlier doubts, the Euro has gained market value to be nearly of the same value as the U.S. Dollar, the most compared-to currency in the world.

This introduction of the Euro has been indicative as a case study of what evolving several markets into a unified marketplace can do to an economic system. Unifying markets can be defined as unifying resources, however, there are the structural changes that need to take place including infrastructure, demand, and a single currency. The infrastructure, as noted earlier, exists in the current capacity of the Internet. Further redundancies, such as more “backbone servers” that operate the core of the Internet, are necessary; as is the need for more bandwidth increases and the standardization of the languages and protocols that transport data. The demand exists because of increased efficiency involved with international transactions, thus relieving some of any trade deficit or increasing any trade surplus: This effect alone would sell the governments of the world to the idea, keeping in mind that the U.S. Government accounts for roughly one third of all monetary transactions in our $10 trillion economy. The single currency in this new, all-digital system would be simple: The “credit.” If all national markets were to utilize this “credit,” it would decrease the amount of waste in the world today. A major problem that critics are likely to point out is the problem plaguing individual currencies today is inflation. The best way to arrange this is to mimic the way that the European Union dealt with introducing the Euro to member nations: Rules were enacted to impose a strict level of fluctuations on the Euro. These rules were strict, since countries who wished to participate in the euro and be a part of "Euroland" had to pass some economic tests referred to as convergence criteria:

• “The country's annual government budget deficit (the amount of money it owes) cannot exceed 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP, the total output of the economy).
• The total outstanding government debt (the cumulative total of each year's budget deficit) cannot exceed 60 percent of GDP.
• In order to push down inflation rates and encourage more stable prices, the country's rate of inflation must be within 1.5 percent of the three best performing EU countries.
• The average nominal long-term interest rate must be within 2 percent of the average rate in the three countries with the lowest inflation rates. (Interest rates are measured on the basis of long-term government bonds and/or comparable securities.)
• The country's exchange rates must stay within "normal" fluctuation margins of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) for at least two years. “ (Howstuffworks.com)

With such controls in place, it is likely that a universal “earth credit” would be an attainable standard.

Now that the theoretical groundwork has been laid, how is this somewhat evolutionary, somewhat revolutionary system going to change the way individuals and businesses buy and sell goods and services? Every time that a consumer purchases a good or service a small stream of credits will flow from one place (the consumer’s bank account) to another (the business’s merchant account) through cyberspace; every time that a business takes their margin of the profits gained from that sale to the consumer, and spends that on providing more, better items for the consumer, their account will see a decrease of funds while the business that they purchased the goods from sees an increase in their account. Imagining the endless flow of goods from their manufacturers to the consumers, and the endless flow of credits from them to the companies that serve them, a seamless flow develops between the consumer and the business. This shortens the metaphorical distance between the two, and makes the relationship that the business has with the consumer stronger. This will allow a better product for the consumer and better customer relationship management by the business. It will also allow for the business to better understand the consumers that it serves, and produce better products based on the changing needs of the consumer. By changing the system by which everyone makes their transactions with one another, everything is streamlined and people grow closer and understand one another better.

The forthcoming e-economy will change the way that the world does business in every respect. It will make money worth more, easier to purchase any item in any country, and make relations between businesses and consumers better, streamlined, and more beneficial to both parties. The true question of the e-economy, as I have implied earlier, is rather a question of when as to how: Already the amount of money that passes through “automated clearing houses,” or ACH transactions, each day numbers in the billions of dollars. Even though the governments of the world distribute most of this money, the government has always acted as a catalyst for change in a society.