Event description
Fifty years ago, Friedrich Hayek argued that if competitive supply improves the quality of most goods, money is unlikely to be different. Among the IEA’s proudest publications, The Denationalisation of Money proposed ending state monopolies on the issue of currency, and allowing market mechanisms to do the work conventionally entrusted to central banks.
Our current world of stablecoins, digital currencies, and renewed debate over the character of money might delight the heart of Hayek, and it might not. The questions he raised have lost none of their relevance, and have gained much ground to cover. To explore them again, the Institute of Economic Affairs shall host a panel discussion on its original context, arguments, and legacy.
This event will not only commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hayek’s essay but also launch the IEA’s new research program on the future of money.
Speakers
Lawrence White is Professor Emeritus at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. An authority on free banking and a renowned figure in the sphere of monetary scholarship, his books include Competition and Currency (NYU Press, 1989), The Theory of Monetary Institutions (Wiley, 1999), The Clash of Economic Ideas (CUP, 2012). and Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin? (CUP, 2023).
His other academic work has also appeared in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Literature, and the Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking. He received an AB in economics from Harvard (1977), and a PhD in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (1982).Freddie New is the CEO and co-founder of BHODL, a UK-listed Bitcoin treasury company focused on Lightning, Bitcoin's second layer payments network. A lawyer and alumnus of Freshfields and Ropes & Gray, he is a co-founder of Bitcoin Policy UK, through which he has contributed to multiple Parliamentary, FCA, Treasury and HMRC consultations on the treatment of Bitcoin in the UK. For the past year he has also served on the advisory board to the secretariat of the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Crypto and Digital Assets.
He writes and speaks on how UK policy can support Bitcoin as both a monetary asset and a payments network. Previously, he read classics at Queens' College, Cambridge.Nick Brooks is Policy Director at CryptoUK, the UK's crypto industry association, where he leads policy and regulatory advocacy, working with HM Treasury, the FCA, the Bank of England and HMRC on the UK's regulatory regime for crypto assets, tokenisation and financial privacy.
Nick has founded several companies focused on investment and consulting services, with consulting work spanning the data centre industry and UK policy. He previously spent twelve years in senior leadership roles with the Swire Group in Hong Kong, Japan, Qatar, Vietnam and Indonesia, covering government relations, regulatory negotiation, corporate strategy and commercial operations.Chairperson and Moderator:
Bryan Cheang is the Academic and Research Director at the IEA. He is also an academic at the London School of Economics where he teaches PPE and runs the Hayek Program. He received his PhD in Political Economy from King’s College London, and his research interests are in state-market relations, comparative development and the challenges of effective industrial policy. He has published various academic books and articles, and is currently working on a new theory of evolutionary liberalism with Cambridge University Press, and a deconstruction of modern industrial policy proposals.
Event details
Tuesday 8 December 2026 at the Institute of Economic Affairs, 2 Lord North Street, London SW1P 3LB.
18:30-19:00 Doors open and welcome
19:00-20:30 Presentation followed by interview and audience Q&A