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Monetary and Financial Sustainability in a Post COVID-19 World

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023) | Viewed by 30956

Special Issue Editors

Department of Applied Economics, History and Economic Institutions and Moral Philosophy, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28032-Vicálvaro Campus, Madrid, Spain
Interests: Public Policies; Monetary Theory; European Union; Business Cycle Theory; Libertarian Philosophy; Business Ethics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Applied Economics, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28032 Madrid, Spain
Interests: global economics and cross-cultural management; comparative and cultural studies; religion and economics; identity politics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Applied Economics, History and Economic Institutions and Moral Philosophy, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28032-Vicálvaro campus, Madrid, Spain
Interests: Monetary Policy, Monetary Theory; Business Cycle Theory; Currency and Financial Crisis
Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Granada, C/ Rector López Argüeta, s/n, 18071-Granada, Spain
Interests: Energy Security; Geostrategy of Energy Resources; Water; Russia; Libertarian Political Theory
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The situation of the world´s monetary and financial system is exceptional. Central banks are engaging in negative-interest-rate policies and quantitative easing. Government debts are at record highs. At the same time, the world is suffering the consequences of unprecedented lockdowns and the COVID-19 pandemic, which will require more financial engineering that will put the sustainability of the financial system at risk. The sustainability of the monetary and financial world is in question, and alternatives need to be explored. Major changes to the structure of the international monetary system may lie ahead. Christine Lagarde, when President of the IMF, declared that central banks should consider issuing their own digital currencies. At the same time, US President Donald Trump nominated Judy Shelton, a supporter of the gold standard, for the Federal Reserve’s board of governors. It is unclear how long the combination of fractional-reserve banking, a struggling and under-capitalized banking sector, an over-indebted private economy, a fiscally strained public sector, and the COVID-19 crisis will be sustainable. This Special Issue is dedicated to the sustainability issues related to our current monetary and financial system in a post COVID-19 world. Contributions to the Special Issue will examine the sustainability of government finances, the banking sector, the financial system at large, and price-stability policies, as well as alternative monetary systems, such as cryptocurrencies, and their sustainability. In this respect, it is important to examine the effects a monetary system may have on the environment in the form of business cycles, resource costs, and, particularly in the case of cryptocurrencies, energy costs. Contributions may also investigate the sustainability of monetary systems via case studies analyzing past crises and their social and cultural consequences. Articles may also approach the topic from an ethical point of view.

The following topics are addressed:

  • Sustainability of fractional reserve banking
  • Sustainability of unconventional monetary policies
  • Sustainability of the banking sector
  • Exit strategies from unconventional monetary policies
  • Reforms of the banking sector and the monetary system
  • Sustainability of price stability
  • Effects of a monetary system on the environment
  • Cryptocurrencies, energy and transaction costs
  • Sustainability of government finances
  • Comparison of alternative monetary systems
  • Comparison of resource costs of financial and monetary systems
  • The effects of government finances on the environment
  • Sustainability of financial capitalism
  • Conditions of a sustainable development and economic growth
  • The sustainability of the Eurosystem
  • Financial systems & tax havens
  • Ethics of money and banking

Prof. Dr. Philipp Bagus
Prof. Dr. Antonio Sánchez-Bayón
Prof. Dr. Miguel A. Alonso Neira
Prof. Dr. José Antonio Peña-Ramos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Monetary policy and economics
  • Business and financial cycles
  • Cryptocurrencies
  • Monetary sustainability
  • Currency competition
  • Energy costs
  • Transaction costs
  • Government finance
  • Banking sustainability
  • Debt sustainability
  • Sustainable development
  • Monetary economics
  • Digitalization
  • Financial economics
  • Sustainable economic growth
  • Eurosystem
  • Banking crisis
  • Financial crisis
  • Tax haven
  • Ethics

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 456 KiB  
Article
COVID-19 and Behavioral Factors of e-Payment Use: Evidence from Serbia
by Miloš Milosavljević, Milan Okanović, Slavica Cicvarić Kostić, Marija Jovanović and Milenko Radonić
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3188; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15043188 - 09 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1589
Abstract
Banknotes and coins are some of the most frequently traded items in the world. Their current use, however, is unsustainable, and many countries are trying to digitalize their payment systems. The recent pandemic has accelerated this transition. Building on the Theory of Unintended [...] Read more.
Banknotes and coins are some of the most frequently traded items in the world. Their current use, however, is unsustainable, and many countries are trying to digitalize their payment systems. The recent pandemic has accelerated this transition. Building on the Theory of Unintended Consequences, the aim of this article is to examine the influence of some pandemic-specific factors (in specific, hand sanitization, conspiracy theory mentality, and financial acumen) on the current and prospective use of e-payment. A particular aim of the study is to analyze these relationships in Serbia (as an example of a cash-centric society). The study is based on primary data gathered via a questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed for the purpose of this study. In total, the study examined N = 474 examinees. The results of this study confirm that the pandemic-induced variables are statistically significant predictors of e-payment use. In particular, hand sanitization, conspiracy mentality (reversely), and financial acumen positively affect current and prospective e-payment use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monetary and Financial Sustainability in a Post COVID-19 World)
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28 pages, 398 KiB  
Article
Post-Pandemic Greenness? How Central Banks Use Narratives to Become Green
by Radu Șimandan, Cristian Valeriu Păun and Bogdan Glăvan
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1630; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15021630 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1948
Abstract
Suggested only a few years ago, green central banking has received a new impetus with the central bank interventions implemented in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several central banks, with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) being [...] Read more.
Suggested only a few years ago, green central banking has received a new impetus with the central bank interventions implemented in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several central banks, with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) being prominent examples, have stepped up their public communication on this issue in an effort to explain and justify their planned or ongoing policy actions. Carefully recorded and easy to find, these public communication messages are a rich source of insight into the process of monetary policy formation. In this article, we analyze the messages from two central banks, with the primary objective of identifying the narratives they use (if any) and describing the key features of these narratives, thus shedding new light on an ongoing process of policy change. A secondary objective of the article is to contribute to the growing literature related to the use of narratives in public policy by studying narratives in monetary policy through qualitative means, an approach that, to date, has received relatively little attention from scholars. To this end, we discuss two expectations related to the use of policy narratives derived from the literature. Thus, we hope to show how the two central banks devise and deploy narratives to help implement an unprecedented turnaround in monetary policy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monetary and Financial Sustainability in a Post COVID-19 World)
18 pages, 4538 KiB  
Article
Central Banks’ Monetary Policy in the Face of the COVID-19 Economic Crisis: Monetary Stimulus and the Emergence of CBDCs
by Miguel Ángel Echarte Fernández, Sergio Luis Náñez Alonso, Javier Jorge-Vázquez and Ricardo Francisco Reier Forradellas
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4242; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13084242 - 11 Apr 2021
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 10901
Abstract
This article analyzes the monetary policy of major central banks during the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising public debt in many countries is being financed through asset purchases by monetary authorities. Although these stimulus policies predate the pandemic, they have [...] Read more.
This article analyzes the monetary policy of major central banks during the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising public debt in many countries is being financed through asset purchases by monetary authorities. Although these stimulus policies predate the pandemic, they have been significantly boosted as many governments face large financing needs. We have been in a low interest rate environment for years and some governments have issued debt securities at negative rates. In addition, the rise of decentralized cryptocurrencies, based on blockchain technology, has created greater competition in the international monetary system and many governments have considered the creation of centralized virtual currencies, known as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). We will analyze some relevant cases, with an emphasis on the digital euro project. The methodology is based on the analysis of the evolution of monetary variables. Pearson’s correlation will be used to establish some relationships between them. There is a strong similarity in the expansionary monetary policies of central banks. Although the growth of the money supply has not been passed on to the CPI, it has been passed on to the financial markets and the price of assets such as Bitcoin or gold. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monetary and Financial Sustainability in a Post COVID-19 World)
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20 pages, 1258 KiB  
Article
COVID-19 Pandemic, Sustainability of Macroeconomy, and Choice of Monetary Policy Targets: A NK-DSGE Analysis Based on China
by Xinping Zhang, Yimeng Zhang and Yunchan Zhu
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3362; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13063362 - 18 Mar 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4499
Abstract
This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sustainability of Chinese economic growth, government debt, and income inequality by constructing a new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (NK-DSGE) model. The choice of monetary policy targets is then analyzed to hedge [...] Read more.
This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sustainability of Chinese economic growth, government debt, and income inequality by constructing a new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (NK-DSGE) model. The choice of monetary policy targets is then analyzed to hedge the impact of the pandemic. We find that: (1) the aggregate demand and labor demand shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic posed serious challenges to the sustainable development of the economy and debt, and increased social inequality; (2) when the impact of the pandemic is mainly reflected in the recession in aggregate demand, monetary policy should pay more attention to the target of price stability; (3) when the impact of the pandemic is mainly reflected in a decline in labor demand, monetary policy should focus more on the target of economic growth; (4) when the pandemic has a significant impact on both aggregate demand and labor demand, a monetary policy which focuses more on the target of economic growth is conducive to minimizing welfare losses. Targeted policy implications, such as selecting monetary policy targets according to different manifestations of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and placing emphasis on monetary policy tools to stimulate consumption, alleviate unemployment, and alleviate social inequality, are suggested to improve the sustainability of the Chinese economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monetary and Financial Sustainability in a Post COVID-19 World)
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Review

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14 pages, 819 KiB  
Review
Principles of Sustainable Economic Growth and Development: A Call to Action in a Post-COVID-19 World
by Victor I. Espinosa, Miguel A. Alonso Neira and Jesús Huerta de Soto
Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13126; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132313126 - 26 Nov 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4658
Abstract
The analysis of sustainable economic growth and development often focuses on how to control the market process through coercive state intervention. While state interventionism may play a significant role in countries’ progress, entrepreneurship is the driving force behind sustainable growth and development. Entrepreneurship [...] Read more.
The analysis of sustainable economic growth and development often focuses on how to control the market process through coercive state intervention. While state interventionism may play a significant role in countries’ progress, entrepreneurship is the driving force behind sustainable growth and development. Entrepreneurship is the people’s judgment on ideas, plans, and projects, which promises profit in uncertain times. Its effects are the creation and transmission of information and social coordination as a dynamic process of identifying and solving human problems. Sustainable development is the widening range of entrepreneurial alternatives open to people, and sustainable growth is a phase of sustainable development that depends on genuine savings to finance increasingly capital-intensive production structures. The degree to which people are entrepreneurs and the direction genuine savings take depend on institutional arrangements. Some institutions are more conducive to sustainable growth and development than others. After reviewing principles of growth and development sustainability, how coercive state intervention influences economic performance is discussed, proposing novel policy conclusions and research avenues to cultivate entrepreneurship and genuine savings in a post-COVID-19 world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monetary and Financial Sustainability in a Post COVID-19 World)
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11 pages, 296 KiB  
Review
Principles of Monetary & Financial Sustainability and Wellbeing in a Post-COVID-19 World: The Crisis and Its Management
by Jesús Huerta de Soto, Antonio Sánchez-Bayón and Philipp Bagus
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4655; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13094655 - 22 Apr 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4401
Abstract
This paper analyses the COVID-19 crisis and its management from the perspective of Austrian Economics. The attention focuses on the State’s coercive intervention according to the principles of political economy, capital theory and Austrian business economic cycles. The paper examines the specific case [...] Read more.
This paper analyses the COVID-19 crisis and its management from the perspective of Austrian Economics. The attention focuses on the State’s coercive intervention according to the principles of political economy, capital theory and Austrian business economic cycles. The paper examines the specific case of massive intervention by governments and, especially, central banks in monetary and financial markets to deal with the pandemic trying to mitigate its negative effects. The paper offers a critical analysis of government tax policies and the increase in public spending, considered as the panacea and universal remedy for the social troubles. This review concludes with a proposal to change the mainstream paradigm, thereby proposing a more sustainable and wellbeing economics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monetary and Financial Sustainability in a Post COVID-19 World)
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