Episode description

What is the money in your pocket really worth?

Come to think of it now we’re virtually cashless, do you even keep money in your pocket?

Maybe you’re worried about the growth of government debt during the pandemic you now store your wealth in commodities such as gold or silver? Or maybe you’re a fan of another asset class: bitcoin. Are cryptocurrencies the future of money or a giant bubble waiting to burst?

Why are governments and companies such as Facebook so interested in developing their own digital currencies? Fifty years on from the ‘Nixon Shock’, when President Richard Nixon changed global currencies forever by taking the US off the gold standard, the BBC’s Ben Chu is on a mission to find out what money means to us today.

Where does its value come from in this increasingly online world? Are we witnessing a revolution in the transfer of value into the metaverse? And how should make sense of this funny money business?

Guests include:

Historian Niall Ferguson

Economist and academic Stephanie Kelton

Investor Daniel Maegaard

Investment strategist Raoul Pal

Financial commentator Peter Schiff

Economist Pavlina Tcherneva

Producer Craig Templeton Smith Editor Jasper Corbett