  Nations around the world are conducting research into the design of central
bank digital currency (CBDC), a new, digital form of money that would be issued
by central banks alongside cash and central bank reserves. Retail CBDC would be
used by individuals and businesses as form of money suitable for routine
commerce. An important motivating factor in the development of retail CBDC is
the decline of the popularity of central bank money for retail purchases and
the increasing use of digital money created by the private sector for such
purposes. The debate about how retail CBDC would be designed and implemented
has led to many proposals, which have sparked considerable debate about
business models, regulatory frameworks, and the socio-technical role of money
in general. Here, we present a critical analysis of the existing proposals. We
examine their motivations and themes, as well as their underlying assumptions.
We also offer a reflection of the opportunity that retail CBDC represents and
suggest a way forward in furtherance of the public interest.
