Posted on 08/11/2020 3:46:01 PM PDT by dmam2011
(CU News) - It’s become a standard at nearly every gas station, in my area, to request exact change for purchases. The coronavirus crisis has apparently sparked this nationwide coin shortage that has left retailers pleading for exact change.
It didn’t take too long for the conspiracy theories to begin the rounds in both the virtual and real worlds. I first began hearing comments and receiving emails about the change shortage issue conspiracies several weeks ago. At the time, I just placed them to the side and grinned. Can they really be true? After spending some time, it did not take long to view the situation as a result of three reasons. However, learning the nature of our coin shortage didn’t lessen the reality of the push towards a cashless society.
Three primary reasons most impacting the current coin shortage:
1. Disruptions in mint operations has been a recent issue.
2. Many banks closed their lobbies for several months and only allowed customers to make appointments for essential banking activities. Converting coins to paper money for their customers is far from a top priority at banks.
3. Many of the coin cashing machines in grocery stores were shut down for a period due to customer health concerns.
Like all good conspiracy theories, opportunities for mental exercises are plentiful. When you’re staring at the entry of this conspiracy, and deciding whether to enter the rabbit hole, how can you not be intrigued by the essential work variable? Walmart and Amazon workers are essential, yet the US Mint employees are not essential? The Mint’s production is a central currency and vital to American life. What better way to implement controls than through a cashless society?
(Excerpt) Read more at clarksvillian.com ...
We almost never use plastic and being forced to do it is extremely piss worthy.
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We just moved. Our accounts are in another county and we have a slew of checks to use up before getting some printed w/the new address.
In a bizarre episode, we tried to open a local account and were left to sit for 20 minutes, had to give our phone number and no one ever called back.To say we were unimpressed is to minimize in the extreme.
SO: I simply transfer by phone from savings to the one account with a debit attached and use the debit. Simple. Easy. Fast. I keep just enough in that account to cover a shopping trip.
I have a couple of coffee cans full of loose change but it is a pain in the rear to cash it in at the bank.
” 1. Disruptions in mint operations has been a recent issue.”
Nonsense BS. Coins last for decades, and if not for the valuable metals in the older ones, they’d still be circulating. A few months of slowing the minting of new coins is, once again, my government lying to me. I’m sick of the bullshit coming out of every, single government agency. I have lost all faith, not that I had a lot to start with.
The shortage of pennies today simply means the nation has run out of common cents.
Exactly. It’s bs. I work for a major big-box retailer. We conduct half of our transactions in cash, partly because many of our customers don’t have cards, can’t get them, or won’t use them because they don’t want the IRS to see what they’re doing. We have NO trouble getting cash and coins. I asked about this further up the food chain and everyone who handles money says the same thing. It’s not true. The armored trucks pull up to our stores full of cash and coins every morning. No shortages, no problems.
We have debit cards but have never used them, except for ATM withdrawals at our bank’s ATM machine.
My friend uses hers for everything — even small fast food purchases. Their account has been breached a few times, even in Japan.
Our bank has become as lax as it sounds the one you visited is. Customer service for just about everything these days is dreadful. We want to change banks but it would be a nightmare with so many automatic deposits and withdrawals going on.
I hear you.
I have a dedicated account just for the debit. It has one small automatic deposit/month. If I am going shopping or want to transfer to a Paypal account, I simply do a deposit from savings for the exact amount needed and then use it that day.
So, I’m not putting anything much at risk and I do keep track of the account balance.
If I need actual cash, I just add a cash-back on the transaction.
I do not like ever using plastic for consumables, of course, even when I know I’m going to be paying it off before it accrues any interest. Just don’t want to get into a bad habit.
But, I do get tired of the younger shoppers being annoyed as I write a check. Even w/the debit, I always go off to one side and quick enter it into my check register. As long as I don’t hold up the line, I don’t get the stink-eye.
When customer service is great, I make it a point to let the business know how much I appreciate it. It is so rare.
“When customer service is great, I make it a point to let the business know how much I appreciate it.”
We do that, too, even when the issue is small.
After I had surgery, DH had to pick up a prescription for me at Walmart. There was a small issue regarding how the doctor had written it, and what it should have been. We couldn’t get the doctor on the phone, so the pharmacy clerk did some calling and worked it all out. It only took about five minutes, but Hubby wrote an “attaboy” to Walmart about the clerk.
The next time he went in, the pharmacy staff went out back and got the clerk who she said that she’d love to give him a hug. (Couldn’t. Covid.) I guess H.R. held a special staff meeting about the letter, everyone applauded. She got a commendation.
Anyhow, it doesn’t have to be a big deal, but people should be recognized for good attitude, good service, etc.
But those coins AREN’T in circulation. The people wanting to turn them into cash are HOLDING them, waiting until they can. Which then you add the mint not processing add new coins, and boom.
Coin shortages happen. It’s really not new.
Pay pal. Venmo. Square. Lots of ways.
Unicorns are in the dictionary.
It’s time for a complete revision of the coinage:
10c, 25c, 50c, $1, $2, $5 with all new designs (after firing the current designers).
“Since the vast majority of the “money supply” is made up of digitized debits and credits in computerized systems nowadays, aren’t we well on the way to being cashless?”
That’s actually been the case for well over 100 years. Coin and currency have been only a small part of the money supply for a long time.
You don’t need computers in order to have a mostly “cashless” system, you just need bank ledgers recording savings and checking accounts. Those ledger entries are “cashless” money that moves around by ledger entry.
We used to break down the money supply into segments- M-zero, M1, M2, M3 according to how easily they can be used for transactions. M-zero and M1 are where you find cash and currency. M4 even included T-Bills.
You can find explanations at Investopedia if you’re curious. These numbers are of interest to the Fed for adjusting the level of high powered money available to banks.
“What The FedNow Instant Payment System Means For Americans”
It means that companies won’t be able to play games and earn interest on the float.
The purpose of E.O. 1602 was to prevent windfall profits from accruing when the dollar-gold ratio was reset from $20/oz to $35/oz.
The dollar-gold reset occurred immediately after 1602 went into effect.
The point being that POTUS FDR had folks turn in their gold. It is not too hard of a stretch to foresee a time, e.g., a Biden-Harris presidency crashing the economy, where the Feds again try to confiscate privately-held gold.
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