Cybercash

In 2003, economist Robert Guttmann wrote what was arguably the first book-length economic analysis of digital money — tracing three generations of cybercash forms and arguing that online payment would eclipse cash and checks within a decade. That prediction landed closer to true than most readers at the time would have expected. The three-part structure (Money and the Internet, The Complexities of Cybercash, The Internet-Based Economy) is logical and well-paced, and Professor Dominique Plihon praised it as a 'brilliant, clear and complete presentation.' Library Journal noted its ambitious forecasting. The honest caveat is time: published two decades ago, Guttmann couldn't anticipate cryptocurrency, mobile payments, or the Fed's digital currency debate. Specific examples are dated. For economic historians and policy researchers tracing how we got here, it remains a valuable primary source.