If financial systems were to fail and bailouts were required once again, could the local economy and households be shored up by alternative currencies, and how would these work?
This was the crux of a recent webinar organised by the Lord Mayor of the City of London as part of his 'Knowledge Miles' series of events.
The event itself - which was under Chatham House rules - featured Dr Shann Turnbull, principal of the Australia-based International Institute for Self-governance, and FT Adviser caught up with him afterwards to talk though the idea.
According to Turnbull, the idea of having a lifeboat currency outside of the purview of central banks is not new: it has been tried and tested in other countries and regions, such as in Germany and Austria in the early 1900s.
It was even touched upon in a 1999 speech by former Bank of England governor, Sir Mervyn King.
At the time, King discussed whether central banks were in themselves innovative enough to remain useful in policy making.
He suggested if central banks were not able to "face up" to the challenges, they would face "popular disillusion" - words which resonated in the great financial crisis of 2008 and more recently as they have sought to tackle rampant inflation.
He said: "Looking further ahead, the future of central banks is not entirely secure. Their numbers may decline over the next century. The enthusiasm of governments for national currencies has waned as capital flows have become liberalised and exchange rates more volatile.
"Following the example of the European Central Bank, more regional monetary unions could emerge. Short of this, the creation of currency boards, or even complete currency substitution, might also reduce the number of independent national monetary authorities."
Digital alternatives
Of course, King's words preceded the advent of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, which have risen in popularity as an alternative to 'fiat currencies', but there has not been complete currency substitution.
Similarly, digital alternatives to currencies do exist, in the form of store card loyalty points that can be exchanged for goods.
There are insurance and wellbeing apps like YuLife that reward you with digital coins for, basically, walking around. These coins can be exchanged for vouchers at a variety of places.
But none of these are - yet - a viable substitute as a means of exchange should another great, global financial crisis happen, and households and businesses (and even central banks) need to be bailed out.
David Pirrie, chairperson and founder of Industrial Thought, believes it would be good to nurture an alternative form of currency that is neither a fiat currency nor a crypto currency, but it will need "heavy oversight".
He comments: "Non-Fungible Tokens are a well-known example of an alternative currency that is neither a fiat currency nor a cryptocurrency. As they’re digital assets stored, often, on blockchain technology, there’s great benefits when it comes to security.
