The US government is actively promoting cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins, which are digital assets backed by a reference currency. This strategy goes beyond the national financial framework; it aims to consolidate the global dominance of the dollar and reshape the international monetary order. By favoring dollar-backed stablecoins, the United States hopes to strengthen the influence of its tech giants in payments, and boost demand for dollar-denominated assets, particularly its public debt. The Genius Act provides the legal basis for this approach, in contrast to the European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), which favors consumer protection over the financial risks of stablecoins. The US policy could weaken the efforts of the European Central Bank (ECB) to increase the international role of the euro, and threatens the monetary sovereignty of many countries. To avoid this, the EU would benefit, along with its partners, from defending a multilateral payment system based on cooperation. Éric Monnet

This discussion on the latest issue of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook explores how rising geopolitical tensions are reshaping the global economy, driven by a surge in defense spending and actual conflicts. While the increase in defense spending can boost economic activity in the short term - depending on how it is sustained, financed, allocated, and on the share of imported equipment - it comes with significant trade-offs. These include higher fiscal deficits, rising debt, inflationary pressures, and risks to social spending and external balances. Conflicts, when they materialise, lead to large and persistent output losses that spill over across countries, while post-conflict recoveries tend to be slow and fragile. The presentations made by Andrea Filippo Presbitero (IMF) and Alain Quinet (Académie de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan, IHEDN) are available online.