I eavesdropped on another Economist event yesterday, an "Editor's conversations: Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank" with Zanny Minton Beddoes doing the (light!) grilling.
Two takeaways:
Lagarde said bitcoin isn't currency—there are 3 requirements and it meets only one. The three are:
* Be a fixed unit of account.
* Function as a medium of exchange.
* Be a store of value.
Got that?
I also found this definition: currency is a generally accepted form of payment, usually issued by a government and circulated within its jurisdiction.
Since bitcoin functions as a medium of exchange, it must not be issued by a government, which it obviously isn't. I think the third point is related, that currency is backed by a government.
Legarde also talked about her support for women & said that when it was mandated some years ago that European (nonprofit?) boards had to include 40% women, they hit that goal. So much for the argument that there aren't enough qualified women. When it's the law, you find them. And that women leaders have done much better than men during the pandemic, & given how few there actually are, that's even more impressive.
I'm not sure I would have watched if it had been two men.