Free Republic

The European Commission proposed tightening controls on cash and precious metals transfers from outside the EU on Wednesday, in a bid to shut down one route for funding of militant attacks on the continent. The move follows Monday's attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, where 12 people were killed as a truck ploughed into a crowd. It is part of an EU "action plan against terrorist financing" unveiled after the bombings and shootings in Paris in November 2015. Under the new proposals, customs officials in European Union states can step up checks on cash and prepaid payment cards sent...

CARACAS— Venezuelans are rushing to the banks this week in a desperate attempt to protect their savings from the government’s latest spasm of reckless financial policymaking. On Tuesday morning thousands of people across Venezuela played hooky from work to line-up outside banks and deposit bundles of cash into their savings accounts after the government gave everyone a 72-hour countdown to turn in all their 100 bolivar notes before they’re removed from circulation. “I’ve been saving for so long, withdrawing money every week and for what? Nothing!” complained José Orozco, who was holding a backpack full of money as he stood...

•Scandinavia is about to close its last mint. •While conspiracy theorists fret about privacy, the real story may be rates. •What would you do if cash disappeared tomorrow? Fridays can be tedious when it comes to ferreting out interesting stories. I found an interesting piece on Bloomberg about Scandinavia's transition to a cashless society. By way of introduction, note that interest rates are negative in Sweden and Denmark and barely positive in Norway. I'll come back to that. So Bloomberg chronicles the rapid disappearance of cash in the region, noting that "by the end of this month, Scandinavia's last mint...

As physical currency around the world is increasingly phased out, the era where “cash is king” seems to be coming to an end. Countries like India and South Korea have chosen to limit access to physical money by law, and others are beginning to test digital blockchains for their central banks. The war on cash isn’t going to be waged overnight, and showdowns will continue in any country where citizens turn to alternatives like precious metals or decentralized cryptocurrencies. Although this transition may feel like a natural progression into the digital age, the real motivation to go cashless is downright...

Tyler DurdenNovember 19, 2016 India's 'de-monetization' scheme has caused chaos across the nation, and while SocGen says the government's plan may have some short-term success in curbing so-called 'black-money', investors should "brace for economic disruption" as Bloomberg reports the Indian government is considering a cap on cash holdings for individuals. As SocGen concludes, "people will now be more inclined to park their black income in gold rather than in currency." The daily images of utter chaos in India that has brought the conutry's economy to a standstill since they unleashed their war on cash... Are perhaps about to get worse,...

In July 2016, Australian payments firm Tyro published an enormously self-serving blog post touting the benefits of a cashless society and saying, “it’s only a matter of time.” Most notably, two days ago, Citibank (yes, THAT Citibank) announced that it was going cashless at some of its Australian branches.The media and political establishments have chimed in as well.In February of this year, the Sydney Morning Herald released a series of articles, some of which were written by officials from Australia’s Department of the Treasury, suggesting that eliminating cash will “save billions”, and that “moving to a cashless society is the...

A tax plan from President-elect Donald Trump could solve one of the biggest problems facing the Bay Area’s tech industry: billions in cash parked overseas, with foreign governments itching to get their hands on it.

Currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 won’t be valid from midnight, PM Narendra Modi says in an address to the nation. “Currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 will be just paper with no value,” the PM says. Modi says the citizens’ money will be safe as they can deposit the notes in the bank before December 30, 2016. “People can deposit notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 in their banks from November 10 till December 30, 2016,” says PM. All other coins and notes to be continued.

A controversial Danish law allowing authorities to seize cash and valuables from asylum-seekers has been used on a handful of occasions since coming into force in February, Danish police said on Thursday. A total of 117,600 kroner (€15,805, $17,525), all of it in cash, had been confiscated, Danish police told AFP in an email. […] The law was first used on June 30th, when five Iranians had to hand over a total of 79,600 kroner, police said. It was used a second time on July 14th, when an Iranian family of four had to pay 10,300 kroner, and again on...

Scandal: Hillary Clinton must be glad the election is only 11 days away, because every day we learn more about the depth of sleaze and corruption of the Clinton Foundation. The Foundation has been under suspicion for more than a year for being a "pay to play" operation while Hillary was Secretary of State, in which governments and big wigs gave money to the Clinton's charity in exchange for access or favors from the State Department. One of the defenses mounted against such criticisms is that the Clinton's never personally benefitted from the Clinton Foundation. "They get no money from...

According to eyewitness reports ISIS sex slaves are reportedly being sold in Saudi Arabia. Jihad Watch reported: It isn’t news that the Islamic State has long been abusing and trafficking sex slaves – especially Yazidi girls – but it has been now discovered that the sex slaves of IS are being “sold in horrifying auctions to UK ally Saudi Arabia.” An eyewitness reported: Dozens of women were being held in a large room, and it was not only Iraqis and Syrians trading women but also Saudis and Westerners, whose actual nationality was not clear. Western women have also been reported...

A Gainesville, Florida, resident is crying foul at the local library’s refusal to add “Clinton Cash: A Graphic Novel” to its collection. The book is an adaptation by Chuck Dixon and Brett R. Smith of Peter Schweizer’s nonfiction book of the same name, which is highly critical of Bill and Hillary Clinton. When Ann Lhota asked the Alachua County library to buy a copy of the graphic novel, officials said no. “When the book was requested, we already had 11 copies in four formats,” said spokesman Nickie Kortus, referring to the prose version. Lhota, who asked the library to purchase...

People don't even think of the American dollar much. Punch a few buttons on an ATM, and twenties appear from a drawer. We don't think much beyond what cash dollars in our pockets can buy at a particular moment. In reality, cash represents freedom – a simple freedom that millions of people around the world don't enjoy while we take it for granted. Russian philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky in the 1800s said, "Money is coined liberty."

Government campaigns of intimidation — like the wars on drugs, terror, and poverty — have been used to extort the public for decades. Despite the previous failures of institutional “wars,” a new war on cash is being waged that threatens freedom in a more subversive way than ever before. Banks and governments around the world are cracking down on the use of paper money, and in turn, eliminating any anonymity left in the current system. Through strict rules on cash transactions and civil asset forfeiture laws, for example, the system has already instituted penalties for using cash. But as payments...

Persecution on a wide scale basis is knocking at the doorstep of every true believer, and the frequency and intensity of the knocking has exponentially increased. Just 8 years ago, no one was confused about which bathroom to use...and now, you can be expelled from West Virginia University for not properly using the correct invented pronoun to address anyone who is in a state of "transition" (read: Confusion). There has been a swing in the societal pendulum from common sense to delusion, and the argument can be made that the momentum has significantly increased over the course of the past...

Truncated title. Full title: President Obama Said Pallet of Cash to Iran Because “Wire Transfers Not Available” – Records Indicate Wire Transfers Two Days Later When the discussion of possible ransom payments to Iran surfaced, everyone was wondering why the U.S. State Department sent pallets of assorted cash currency, totaling $400 million to Iran on January 17th 2016. The same day the hostages were released. On August 4th President Obama held a press conference to discuss the controversy and denied it was a “ransom payment” (see video). Specifically, to answer the question of “why cash“, President Obama said:

U.S. Held Cash Until Iran Freed Prisoners An Iranian cargo plane left Geneva with $400 million in cash after a flight with Americans aboard took off from Tehran in January By Jay Solomon and Carol E. Lee Aug. 17, 2016 5:27 p.m. ET WASHINGTON—New details of the $400 million U.S. payment to Iran earlier this year depict a tightly scripted exchange specifically timed to the release of several American prisoners held in Iran, based on accounts from U.S. officials and others briefed on the operation. U.S. officials wouldn't let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force...

Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign and her super PACs have raised almost $400 million, but her latest fundraising appeal is an urgent warning that she's going broke. Without a daily fix of $1 million, the campaign said that it will have to start shutting down field offices across the country. "This team has to raise $1 million online. One million dollars. That's our goal to make sure we stay on pace with Donald Trump and to keep the lights on and doors open in field offices across the country," the campaign said. The daily $1 million goal is equal to what...

To get a glimpse of the future of commerce in America, look no further than Sweden. The Scandinavian country is largely a cashless society, with consumers relying on mobile phone payments or plastic. While the U.S. is still far from achieving the same level of cash-free existence, increasing numbers of restaurants and retailers are now snubbing the lowly dollar bill. Some merchants such as SweetGreen, a salad chain, refuse to open their registers for cash, telling customers they can pay only with mobile payments or cards. With some newer vending machines, only a card or mobile wallet will get that...

The Islamic Republic of Iran was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984. That move came several years after Iran had seized American hostages while demanding $24 billion in cash and gold to be paid into a Muslim bank for their release. The total, according to Secretary of State Muskie, came out to $480 million per hostage.