Posted on 10/28/2015 8:18:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Sweden is shaping up to be the first country to plunge its citizens into a fascinating — and terrifying — economic experiment: negative interest rates in a cashless society.
The Swedish central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, on Wednesday held its benchmark interest rate at -0.35%, the level it has been at since July.
Though retail banks have yet to pass that negative rate on to Swedish consumers, they face increased pressure to do so as long as the rates remain where they are. That's a problem, because Sweden is the closest country on the planet to becoming an all-electronic cashless society.
Remember, Sweden is the place where, if you use too much cash, banks call the police because they think you might be a terrorist or a criminal. Swedish banks have started removing cash ATMs from rural areas, annoying old people and farmers. Credit Suisse says the rule of thumb in Scandinavia is: "If you have to pay in cash, something is wrong."
If banks charge customers negative interest rates in a cashless society, those customers are not able to withdraw their money as cash to shield it under their putative mattresses. Consumers' only choice in such a scenario is to spend it or let the bank take it. (The theory is that by forcing people to spend cash rather than save it, you can spur economic growth.)
Rather than going further into negative territory — a move that carries political risks the more negative it becomes — the Riksbank chose instead to do another round of quantitative easing (a forced bond-buying program that flushes more cash from the central bank into the economy).
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
And in other news, the Swedish media just informed the cops where Swedes keep their hidden stash.
A cashless society is one in which the Government can know virtually every thing that you do.
Microwaves?............really?..........Well, I guess the old tin coffee can buried in the back of the barn is still safe..............
That happens here on occasion.
I prefer my credit cards over cash.
I hate getting change back, and love the rewards that my Chase gives.
Negative interest rates are just a wealth tax.
Gold is up $15 this morning.
Gold mining stocks are up nicely too. FCX and GG both up 4% today as of a few minutes ago.
A cashless society is a debt-currency society. There is no value in holding the “currency”, as it requires tracking who owes who how much. The central bank holds all the wealth, loaning wealth to others with expectation of repayment. “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” indeed.
The Pan Handlers must be furious
I hate using “plastic”. Despise it. Cash is the way to go for a host of reasons.
...but credit cards are so dangblasted CONVENIENT, and those Amazon points are my means of acquiring desirable but unjustifiable gizmos & trinkets. I rarely have cash nowadays.
Negative interest rates are being phased in. A local bank I use for cash for emergencies just raised the minimum balance at the bank to avoid a fee to $25,000. They only pay .01% on deposits. That fee? It amounts to negative interest for a majority of the population, and as a percent it's a larger burden on those with the smallest amount of savings.
How is a person of limited means ever going to save if the bank takes part of the few dollars they can put in an account every month? It's not helping the economy that most people have very sound reasons to not put money in the bank!
And my CCs give cash rewards just for using them.
Yup. Back to gold coins. Easy to obtain, easy to store, easy to confirm, easy to trade. ~$1200 per coin is a bit much for small transactions, but makes one think in larger scale.
This is where the anti-gold rhetoric falls: at some point fiat currencies do become unviable, and for all the arguments against gold it’s the next best thing short of devolving to full barter system.
Not just them. Any occupation or charity relying on cash tipping (hey, those Red Kettles are gonna reappear soon...and few will have anything to throw in) will suffer.
1) In a cashless society, a malevolent government (and I hold that ALL of them are) can turn you into an un-person.
2) With a cashless society, the Mark of the Beast is inevitable.
I see nothing like that here. You need to shop around if you haven't already.
I have accounts in two banks here with local offices.
One has a minimum balance of $50 for savings but checking is free. (that is reasonable)
The other charges a fee for checking unless you direct deposit them,(just a fraction of your pay will do).
I also have an account at capitalone360 which used to ING, they say they have no minimums.
That's what 0.1 ounce gold coins are for. And one ounce silver coins. And old silver quarters/dimes.
“A resistance is forming, and some people are protesting the impending extinction of cash. Björn Eriksson, former head of Sweden’s national police and now head of Säkerhetsbranschen, a lobbying group for the security industry, told The Local, “I’ve heard of people keeping cash in their microwaves because banks won’t accept it.”
Looks like the former head of the cops just told the cops where the cash is...
My thoughts: 1. Last desperate effort at “stimulus” - force people to spend their savings ( and thus render themselves totally and completely dependent on the state for their daily bread and financial security - even if they still have jobs in this depressed economy). 2. Totes and complete government spying on every big and little transaction, thing you do, place you go, and where you are. 3. My local hamburger stand wanted me to update my credit card expiry date in their new ordering computer. I attempted to do so but they’ve rewritten their computer program so that now it’s rejecting my account. I can no longer purchase hamburgers and their staff is unable to fix it. Does this contain a lesson for us for when every purchase you try to make is instantaneously controllable by the state ?
Cashless? One major cyber attack and Sweden will be down for the count... Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket... Stupid.
Microwave? Sounds more like a place to hide your computer chip credit card in the event of an EMP attack.. Maybe the stories got mixed.
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