Aren’t we already largely “cashless” in that, the vast majority of the “money supply” economists talk about, is NOT made up of currency and coins? 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? Could we soon reach a point where it’s just assumed you will use a debit card to spend the “cash” in your bank account, wherever you go?
When we go cashless I expect a group of informal cash systems will spring up with local scrips in use, perhaps even backed by gold. Gold and silver will trade for goods and scales with specific gravity functions will appear in markets.
Gold and silver will be eventually outlawed and confiscated, too.
“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.