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This chapter addresses the overarching question of how we could reduce humanity’s speciesism and expand our moral circle to include nonhuman animals through using ‘the speciesism scale’. As one of the great moral challenges that humanity faces in the twenty-first century, nonhuman animals are heavily involved in institutions and organizations created and dominated by humans—often involuntarily and to their detriment. Speciesism distorts human thinking, perceptions, and research efforts while causing suffering and harm to countless sentient beings in the present and future alike. In this chapter, a compassionate methodology is used with a qualitative interventionist research design in order to examine whether certain interventions reduce test subjects’ speciesism. Eight test subjects in a management school undergo a series of interventions designed to reduce speciesism according to ‘the speciesism scale’ and findings are presented in regard to possible changes in the individual speciesism levels and dietary habits. The chapter contributes to the methodology of compassionate research, expanding its scope of application to nonhuman animals. The intervention, tested among management doctoral candidates, could also offer insights into practical interventions that can be employed by managers to reduce speciesism in organizations.

This paper summarises the outcome of an analysis of stablecoins undertaken by the ECB Crypto-Assets Task Force. At the time of writing, the stablecoin debate lacks a common taxonomy and unambiguous terminology. This paper applies a definition that distinguishes stablecoins from existing forms of currencies – regardless of the technology used – and characterises stablecoin arrangements based on the functions they fulfil. This approach emphasises the role of technology-neutral regulation in preventing arbitrage, as well as comprehensive Eurosystem oversight, irrespective of stablecoins’ regulatory status. Against this background, this paper assesses stablecoins’ implications for the euro area based on three scenarios for the uptake of stablecoins: (i) as a crypto-assets accessory function; (ii) as a new payment method; and (iii) as an alternative store of value. While the first scenario is merely the continuation of the current state of the market and, thus far, has not posed concerns for the financial sector and/or central bank tasks, stablecoins of the type envisaged in the second scenario may reach a scale such that financial stability risks can become material, and the safety and efficiency of the payment system may be affected. The third scenario is both the least plausible and the most relevant from a monetary policy perspective. The paper concludes that the Eurosystem relies on appropriate regulation, oversight, and supervision to manage the implications of stablecoins (and the risks that stem from them) on its mandate and tasks under plausible scenarios. The Eurosystem continues monitoring the evolution of the stablecoin market and stands ready to respond to rapid changes in all possible scenarios.

In the run-up to the euro launch, a number of key steps were taken to ensure the uninterrupted supply of notes and coins to the economy and the general public. After all, nearly 15 billion notes and 52 billion coins had to be delivered in due time in order to ensure their availability from January 1, 2002, onward in the participating countries. In Austria, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank shares the responsibility of supplying commercial banks with cash and of processing returned banknotes in accordance with ECB regulations – and thus of ensuring the quality of the euro and its counterfeit security – with an affiliated cash logistics company, GELDSERVICE AUSTRIA. When the financial crisis boosted the demand for cash, logistical reserve stocks enabled the Eurosystem to respond quickly. As a result, the volume of euro cash in circulation rose, as did U.S. dollar circulation. However, the overall value of euro notes and coins in circulation has consistently remained above that of the U.S. dollar since the end of 2006. The euro’s established role as an international transaction currency has resulted in approximately one-quarter more banknotes being processed in Austria than the volume required for the national market.

In the public and academic discussion on the payment system TARGET2, the high claims and liabilities of some euro area countries have mostly been associated with the financial crisis. The implicit assumption that TARGET2 balances would be close to zero without the financial crisis is both theoretically and empirically wrong, though. This study looks into the payment mechanisms that have caused the TARGET2 liabilities of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) to rise to a substantial level over the past ten years. The increase can be attributed to a structurally-induced inflow of banknotes to the OeNB, which is partly due to tourism but above all to the physical shipment of euro cash from countries outside monetary union into Austria. This central bank money, which comes to Austria as cash, leaves the country in cashless form, causin an equivalent increase in the OeNB’s TARGET2 liabilities. Structurallyinduced in- and outflows of central bank money (in cashless form or as banknotes) can be observed in other euro area countries, too. Understanding these flows is essential for a correct interpretation of TARGET2 balances during and after the current crisis.

The introduction of the euro in 2002 offered a unique opportunity to learn more about the patterns and structures of cross-border cash movements. The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) has carried out various surveys to analyze the migration of cash in greater depth. This article presents the results of two surveys, which demonstrate that cash is very mobile. An Austrian wallet will typically hold coins and banknotes from almost all euro area countries. Euro coins minted in countries other than Austria are readily discernible, as all coins have a common European face and a distinct national face. For euro banknotes, closer inspection is required, as only the letter contained in the banknote’s number betrays the country of origin. Surveys on cash migration show that the volume of euro banknotes and coins in circulation in Austria, as well as the mix of denominations, remained relatively stable at Austrian households from 2002 to 2004, albeit with a slight increase in the share of foreign banknotes and coins. In Austria, migration continues to generate an influx of banknotes. In particular, EUR 50, EUR 20 and EUR 5 banknotes exhibit a high degree of migration. The results of the two OeNB surveys clearly reveal that banknote migration took place at a considerably faster pace than coin migration. This brief study calculates migration factors for individual countries in order to explain the migration taking place. These factors throw light on whether a country is one of cash emigration or one of cash immigration, while falling short of offering a clear explanation for the underlying reasons of migration.