Stablecoins that are not fully backed by either central bank reserves or government securities with minimal price volatility are inherently vulnerable to runs.

Responses weighted by each expert's confidence

Participant University Vote Confidence Bio/Vote History
Acemoglu
Daron Acemoglu
MIT
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Altonji
Joseph Altonji
Yale
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Auerbach
Alan Auerbach
Berkeley
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Autor
David Autor
MIT
No Opinion
Bio/Vote History
Baicker
Katherine Baicker
University of Chicago
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Banerjee
Abhijit Banerjee
MIT Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Bertrand
Marianne Bertrand
Chicago
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Brunnermeier
Markus Brunnermeier
Princeton
Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
Chetty
Raj Chetty
Harvard Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Chevalier
Judith Chevalier
Yale
Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Cutler
David Cutler
Harvard
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Deaton
Angus Deaton
Princeton
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Duffie
Darrell Duffie
Stanford
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
It’s roughly the same principle as a money market mutual fund, but the run happens even faster!
Edlin
Aaron Edlin
Berkeley
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
There might be other ways to guarantee stability of a stable coin but these are must obvious.
Eichengreen
Barry Eichengreen
Berkeley
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Einav
Liran Einav
Stanford
Agree
1
Bio/Vote History
Fair
Ray Fair
Yale
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Finkelstein
Amy Finkelstein
MIT
Strongly Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Goldberg
Pinelopi Goldberg
Yale Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Goolsbee
Austan Goolsbee
Chicago
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
Next they will tell us why that’s actually good.
Greenstone
Michael Greenstone
University of Chicago Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Hall
Robert Hall
Stanford
Disagree
10
Bio/Vote History
Wrong. Less stable backing can be overcome by additional backing; e.g. bonds backed by enough sub-prime mortgages can be AAA.
Hart
Oliver Hart
Harvard
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
Holmström
Bengt Holmström
MIT
Strongly Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Runs can occur whenever there is a safer alternative
Hoxby
Caroline Hoxby
Stanford
No Opinion
Bio/Vote History
Hoynes
Hilary Hoynes
Berkeley
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Judd
Kenneth Judd
Stanford
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Kaplan
Steven Kaplan
Chicago Booth
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Kashyap
Anil Kashyap
Chicago Booth
Strongly Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Should be called unstable coins, they have the same design flaws as MMMFs.
-see background information here
Klenow
Pete Klenow
Stanford
Strongly Agree
2
Bio/Vote History
Levin
Jonathan Levin
Stanford
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Maskin
Eric Maskin
Harvard
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Nordhaus
William Nordhaus
Yale
Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Plus need regulatory oversight
Obstfeld
Maurice Obstfeld
Berkeley
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Saez
Emmanuel Saez
Berkeley
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Samuelson
Larry Samuelson
Yale
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Scheinkman
José Scheinkman
Columbia University
Strongly Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Schmalensee
Richard Schmalensee
MIT
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Shapiro
Carl Shapiro
Berkeley
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Shimer
Robert Shimer
University of Chicago
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
The only other way to avoid vulnerability to runs is treasury guarantees, but that defeats the purpose of stable coins.
Stock
James Stock
Harvard
No Opinion
Bio/Vote History
Thaler
Richard Thaler
Chicago Booth
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Eric Budish has convinced me this is true in theory, and recent events suggest it is true in practice.
Udry
Christopher Udry
Northwestern
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History