Main Edition
Strict Subordination: The Origins of Civil Control of Private Military Power in State Constitutions
Alden A. Fletcher[*] [This essay is available in PDF at this link] The resurgence of private militias claiming the protection of the Second Amendment raises a startling question: is the United States a country without a legal monopoly on the use of force? Perhaps not. The constitutions of forty-eight states contain strict subordination clauses that declare, in one way or another, that “in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.” This strict subordination clause has attracted...
Back to Basics: The Benefits of Paradigmatic International Organizations
by Kristina Daugirdas & Katerina Linos[*] [Full text of this Article in PDF is available at this link] In the early 2000s, small “coalitions of the willing,” flexible networks, and nimble private-public partnerships were promoted as alternatives to bureaucratic, consensus-seeking, and slow-moving international organizations. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was established as an efficient alternative to the lumbering World Health Organization. The Basel Committee, the Financial Stability Forum, and the...
Volume 14, Issue 1
Volume 14, Issue 1 is out!
The Orkney Slew and Central Bank Digital Currencies
by Gary B. Gorton and Jeffery Y. Zhang[*] [Full text of this Article in PDF is available at this link] Introduction The advent of cryptocurrencies—particularly stablecoins, which are digital tokens that can circulate as private money—has ignited a debate on the government’s role in providing a sovereign alternative. This sovereign alternative is oftentimes referred to as a “central bank digital currency.” Dozens of governments and central banks are now deciding whether to create one and, if so, how to design and operationalize...
It’s Not Just the Economics: Why U.S. Leadership on CBDCs Is a National Security Imperative
by Daleep Singh[*] [Speech in PDF is available at this link] Remarks delivered at the Harvard National Security Journal’s Symposium on Digital Currencies and National Security on October 14, 2022. [*] Chief Global Economist and Head of Global Macroeconomic Research at Prudential Global Investment Management (PGIM). Former Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. The views expressed in this speech are the author’s own and do not represent any position of PGIM...
The U.S. Dollar and Central Bank Digital Currencies
by Christopher J. Waller[*] [Speech in PDF is available at this link] Remarks delivered at the Harvard National Security Journal’s Symposium on Digital Currenciesand National Security on October 14, 2022. [*] Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The views expressed in this speech are the author’s own and do not represent any position of the Board of Governors or other Federal Reserve policymakers.