Macro Musings with David Beckworth · Monday, June 29, 2026
Yesha Yadav explains the distinction between public and private money, noting that public money, like government-issued notes and coins, is legal tender and fully default-free. Private money, issued by entities like banks or digital wallet providers, inherently carries some credit risk.
“one of the central distinctions that we have to think about is public money versus private money.”
“Now, in the context of private money, this is money issued by private agents in the economy. This includes banks, it can include digital wallet providers, it can include credit card companies, across the board.”
“Now, this is money that comes with a slight bit of credit risk, depending on what the institutions are.”