Loading ...Cashless Society?
It is coming…. are you prepared?
Weekend reading perhaps but it Solves a lot of the Banker’s problems. Hard to have a Bank Run with out cash. And if there is no physical cash you can’t keep it under your mattress or in a safe. Rather, your “Digital Cash” needs to be in a Digital Bank account where they can charge you negative interest…
Got any Gold? 😉
Post is from another site and is in first comment so bookmark for weekend reading.
Preparing for a World Without Cash
Preparing for a World Without Cash
WSJ
[Key quote from the second WSJ article: “The real reason the war on cash is gearing up now is political: Politicians and central bankers fear that holders of currency could undermine their brave new monetary world of negative interest rates.”]
Central bankers throughout the world, from Canada to Ireland, have recently indicated that they might issue digital currency in the future. Yet the U.S. has been absent from the debate. As the world’s central monetary power, America should play a leading role in studying the benefits and pitfalls of a digital-currency future. While plenty of risks would come with such a conversion, the potential perks are so great that it merits serious consideration.
What would a government-backed digital currency look like? A country’s central bank would need to become a deposit-taking institution and hold accounts on behalf of citizens and businesses. All of their debits would be tracked on the central bank’s blockchain, a digital ledger resistant to tampering. The central bank would pay interest electronically by adjusting the balances of depositor accounts. While the current system of physical notes and bills could be continued in parallel, it would likely wind down over time.
Though such a system seems relatively simple, implementation wouldn’t be easy. In “Digital Currencies, Decentralized Ledgers, and the Future of Central Banking,” Digital Currencies, Decentralized Ledgers, and the Future of Central Banking by Max Raskin, David Yermack :: SSRN a new paper prepared for a forthcoming research anthology on central banking, we analyze potential costs and benefits of a sovereign digital currency.
Preparing for a World Without Cash – WSJ
More reading on the subject:
The Plot to Kill the $100 Bill Feb. 16, 2016
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-plot…6198:461806202
The Political War on Cash Feb. 17, 2016
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-poli…7630:462674720
… which was quoted in Zero Hedge here:
This Is the Real War on Cash Feb. 18, 2016
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-0…-wont-end-well
Also:
The Ban on Cash Is Coming, Soon Feb. 17, 2016
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-0…sh-coming-soon
Credit for info goes to SeattleSun over on Bull & Bear Talk.
In case anyone’s noticed, the new MMKT rules (gates/floating nav etc) is having the effect of pushing a vast majority of what used to be Mutual Fund MMKT commercial paper backed money into Government bonds (Fund companies reaction to avoid the new rules). Think you own a MMKT fund = cash or cash equivalent? No, you probably own Gov’t debt or maybe the MMKT you’re holding has a floating NAV. NOBODY in the private sector wanted the new MMKT rules but they were once again forced down the financial industry’s throat, another policy sold as ‘protection’ of citizens assets when in fact it has the (‘un-intended’ – actually INTENDED but un-stated) consequence of Gov’t control of the value of domestic currency.
Also note that a few years back the advance notice that the Fed normally gives to markets of interest rate policy changes – from 2 weeks to immediate (if I recall…it happened at least a year ago – I’ll have to look at it again).
Step 1, corral all the cash into gov’t debt instruments (or abolish it in the case of large bills) Step 2, control market value of what PPL ‘think’ is cash through IR policy changes. Cash is freedom and we’ll soon be losing (more of) it.