BRIEFING The political motivations behind digital currency initiatives, when modesty prevents self-promotion, Mexico’s shadow workforce and a celebration of systems thinking all feature in this round-up of news and research from BGA schools. By Tim Banerjee Dhoul , Ellen Buchan and Colette Doyle THE LATEST NEWS FROM ACROSS BGA’S NETWORK Business
DIGITAL CURRENCIES BECOMING INSTRUMENTS OF POWER AND POLICY, STUDY SUGGESTS
tightly controlled systems, with digital currencies often used to enhance surveillance and control capital flows. By contrast, more democratically oriented countries tended to exercise greater caution on CBDCs, looking at issues of privacy, transparency and trust. The study also found that countries with higher levels of perceived corruption are more likely to consider digital currencies. “At first, that might seem backwards. But when you think about it, it starts to make sense,” reasoned Milad Armani Dehghani, a senior research fellow in fintech at NBS and lead author of the study. “Digital currencies give governments powerful tools to fight things like money laundering, tax evasion and illegal money flows.”
Dehghani referenced China’s e-CNY and Russia’s digital Ruble by way of example: “In these cases, CBDCs aren’t just about innovation. They’re about control, stability and bringing some order, though whether that’s a good thing or a little too much oversight really depends on how you look at it.” The research aims to help policy- makers understand the deeper implications of digital currencies. While CBDCs offer more security for governments pursuing economic transparency and freedom, there are issues around surveillance and privacy. “Whether you’re building the technology or shaping the regulations, the question isn’t just can they do this, but why are they doing it?” added NBS professor and study co-author Alex Brauneis. EB
SCHOOL Nottingham Business School Nottingham Trent University COUNTRY UK
uthoritarian regimes are the most likely to adopt digital forms of government-issued money,
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known as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), according to research led by Nottingham Business School (NBS). Across 68 countries, its analysis found that the centralised power structures found among more authoritarian governments allowed them to make quick decisions and implement
6 Business Impact • ISSUE 4 • 2025
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