Economics, research, and teaching by Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde

Jesús Fernández-Villaverde is Professor of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His academic work spans macroeconomics, monetary theory, and computational methods. With more than 21,000 citations and an h-index above 65, Fernández-Villaverde is one of the most cited Spanish economists globally. His 2023 NBER working paper, “Central Bank Digital Currency: When and How,” analyzes CBDC adoption strategies, trade-offs between privacy and monetary control, and risks of financial disintermediation.

In 2024 and 2025, Fernández-Villaverde contributed to ECB and BIS policy conferences, presenting models on stablecoin volatility and CBDC architecture. He co-authored simulation studies on how CBDCs affect banking margins, showing potential declines in deposits of 5 to 10 percent depending on design choices. Public lectures in Madrid and Philadelphia attracted more than 800 participants, reflecting growing policy interest in his work. With active contributions to IMF consultations and European Parliament briefings, Fernández-Villaverde continues to shape the global policy debate on digital money.