If you abolish cash and make everyone deal with the banking system, it's just good sense
Huh?
I wonder if these types realize what will happen when millions of ordinary people stop seeing any reason to live another day under their tyranny.
From the article: “Buiter’s note suggests three ways to address this problem:
Abolish currency.
Tax currency.
Remove the fixed exchange rate between currency and central bank reserves/deposits.”
He omits the fourth solution, and what should be the only answer. Eliminate the Federal Reserve. Return to the US Treasury issuing currency and legal tender being backed by gold and silver. Let the market, not a central bank controlled by the “too big to fail” banks, determine interest rates.
This is an excellent idea...if you are a tyrant.
5.56mm
Negative rates are out there!
so they can rip us off with tons of Fees
I’ve been anticipating this for decades. Governments can barely wait, because it finally gives them total control at the finest possible level over everyone and everything. The advantages to the banks of course are equally obvious: they become indispensable crossroads for total economic control.
Oh,and remember, when cash is outlawed, only outlaws will have cash. Thus, in my fantasies, I’ve always pictured the new outlaw cash as being small-denomination gold coins minted in the Caribbean and that they would have the images of famous Mafia heads on their obverses: the higher the denomination, the more important and powerful the historical Mafia head. (I haven’t figured out whether Don Corleone or Tony Soprano would count since they’re fictional, and besides, Tony was head of the lowly New Jersey mob anyway, so he’d be lucky to make it on the dime.)
At any rate, I’ve wondered whether bartering would be outlawed too, you know, as part of the all-digital-money plutocracy. If so, then we digital peasants wouldn’t even be allowed to engage in practices such as chicken trading, practices utilized by our less-than-digital ancestor peasants from time immemorial.
-PJ
Abolish cash and what do you have - BARTER.
I see a future world in which the Barter Police creep round with their recording devices to catch you at it.
The Federal Reserve is the foundation of the progressive state. Without it, socialism in America could not exist
The government is of 2 minds when it comes to cash. On one hand, you have the technotronic elites that want all digital transactions so that they can micromanage everything for everybody and make everyone except themselves into slave. It appears that they are ascending.
But you also have the corrupt government and elites that absolutely depend on cash. The worldwide drug trade is approaching half a trillion by some estimates. Ultimately, this trade depends on the end user; the drug addicts who will only use cash. Then you have sex traffiiking-cash. Money laundering banks take in the cash and get a nominal fine. Bribes are needed keep corrupt government going, so you need cash if avoid the paper trail. When pols get in trouble, hush money, usually cash. Prostituion rings, illegal gambling rings, civil forfeiture; big city police departments act as protection racket- cash. DEA, FBI, CIA are all involved in the drug trade and many agents and entire section are corrupt, they need their cut- cash.
Elites might have secret Swiss accounts, but no digital accounts are truly secret and hack proof anymore. Elites cannot yet function in a vacuum, so they will need their underlings to get their deeds done-cash.
FYI: Going truly Galt means going all cash. Eventually I’d like to eliminate cash altogether and use gold and/or silver for transactions.