In a report set to be published Thursday, Jeremy Kronick and former OSFI deputy superintendent Mark Zelmer argued that Canada should roll out a central-bank digital currency to ensure that the Canadian dollar is still used in a world where private cryptocurrencies circulate widely. (The Logic)

Talking point: The future monetary system the authors describe—in which Canadians hold an increasing share of their savings in digital assets issued by private entities—is far different from the current one. As Kronick and Zelmer noted, that was the case prior to Confederation, when Canadians used paper notes and coins issued by different colonial governments and private banks as money. If the public were to save in a private currency that wasn’t tethered to the Canadian dollar, it could limit the government’s ability to provide emergency liquidity or borrow in times of crisis, they wrote. The Bank of Canada has been exploring a CBDC for years, and recently said it would consider rolling out one if private cryptocurrencies gain traction or if cash ceases to be a viable medium of exchange.