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Germany Unveils "Cash Controls" Push: Ban Transactions Over €5,000, €500 Euro Note (war on cash)
zero hedge ^ | 2-3-16 | Tyler Durden

Posted on 02/03/2016 6:39:57 AM PST by ak267

It was just two days ago that Bloomberg implored officials to “bring on a cashless future” in an Op-Ed that calls notes and coins “dirty, dangerous, unwieldy, and expensive.”

You probably never thought of your cash that way, but increasingly, authorities and the powers that be seem determined to lay the groundwork for the abolition of what Bloomberg calls “antiquated” physical money.

We’ve documented the cash ban calls on a number of occasions including, most recently, those that emanated from DNB, Norway’s largest bank where executive Trond Bentestuen said that although “there is approximately 50 billion kroner in circulation, the Norges Bank can only account for 40 percent of its use.”

That, Bentestuen figures, “means that 60 percent of money usage is outside of any control." "We believe," he continues, "that is due to under-the-table money and laundering.”

DNB goes on to say that after identifying “many dangers and disadvantages” associated with cash, the bank has “concluded that it should be phased out.”

On Tuesday we got the latest evidence that officials across the globe are preparing to institute a cashless “utopia” when Handelsblatt reported (in a piece called "The Death of Cash) that the Social Democrats - the junior partner in Angela Merkel’s coalition government - have proposed a €5,000 limit on cash transactions and the elimination of the €500 note.

(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: cash; euro; germany
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1 posted on 02/03/2016 6:39:57 AM PST by ak267
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To: ak267

I knew a businessman that dealt in refurbishing heavy equipment and selling it to South American companies. He was always under inquisition by the IRS because so much of his business was in cash. He and his lawyer always responded, “If you don’t want me to use cash, then quit f@cking printing it.”


2 posted on 02/03/2016 6:43:17 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: ak267

This is the dream bankers and totalitarians have been salivating over; complete divorce of money from reality with complete control over money.

When this occurs, the only alternatives to slavery are barter and private money.


3 posted on 02/03/2016 6:45:41 AM PST by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: DakotaGator

precious metals


4 posted on 02/03/2016 6:48:58 AM PST by ak267
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To: ak267

M4L


5 posted on 02/03/2016 6:50:11 AM PST by Scrambler Bob (/s implied, usless explicitly stated as not applying.)
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To: DakotaGator

Ayn Rand looks more like a prophet with each passing day.


6 posted on 02/03/2016 6:50:18 AM PST by tgusa (gun control: hitting your target.)
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To: DakotaGator

It gives govt the ability to record and tax everything. Swiss francs and other strong currencies will still be out there. With Swiss banks paying negative interest rates cash is not a bad option.


7 posted on 02/03/2016 6:51:05 AM PST by Oldexpat
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To: ak267

M4L


8 posted on 02/03/2016 6:51:12 AM PST by Scrambler Bob (/s implied, usless explicitly stated as not applying.)
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To: ak267

I prefer lead, copper and blued steel.


9 posted on 02/03/2016 6:51:20 AM PST by tgusa (gun control: hitting your target.)
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To: DakotaGator

Could bitcoin be part of the private money, outside of govrnemnt control?


10 posted on 02/03/2016 6:53:34 AM PST by Dilbert San Diego
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To: ak267

When the Euro was created, they INTENTIONALLY put the 500 euro note into print to compete with the US $100 bill. All the criminals in Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia did all their business in US dollars, and used the bills as a savings vehicle insulated from their own countries’ bad money.


11 posted on 02/03/2016 6:59:08 AM PST by babble-on
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To: tgusa

Ayn Rand is getting a fair amount of vindication.


12 posted on 02/03/2016 6:59:09 AM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Bitcoin requires a good bit of enthusiasm and acceptance of risk. There are a fair number of people who think it’s simply something waiting to fall apart and you lose your value.


13 posted on 02/03/2016 7:00:31 AM PST by pepsionice
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To: ak267

Yes. Basic. And it works.


14 posted on 02/03/2016 7:00:44 AM PST by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: tgusa

Indeed!


15 posted on 02/03/2016 7:01:14 AM PST by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: tgusa

Yup. Packaged into convenient equivalents of similarly sized pocket change.


16 posted on 02/03/2016 7:02:49 AM PST by ctdonath2 (History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the week or the timid. - Ike)
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To: Oldexpat

Exactly. It’s about control. And it’s about the appalling concept that all money belongs to the government vice the individual.


17 posted on 02/03/2016 7:03:55 AM PST by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: ak267

They want to wipe out whatever is left of privacy.

These type of moves could boost crypto currencies like bitcoin.


18 posted on 02/03/2016 7:08:14 AM PST by aquila48
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To: ak267

If you notice....(I live in Germany and can attest to this)...after the idea was suggested in public...Merkel’s party didn’t say a word and I think they were a bit shocked at the suggestion.

To get to point of acceptance....which I agree...banks would all be happy to see this occur, but a fair number of Germans will question the idea and take it into court. I’m not that sure that the German Supreme Court would allow it to stand. The idea of the amount would be what they’d go after and ask how this 5,000 number got invented and the government would grin and admit they pulled it out of thin air. Judges won’t be that logic.

The other loose part of this is that there is no German law that says you must have a bank account. Forcing one into such a requirement would also draw German court action.

I will admit....a number of Germans now do things on the ‘black’ and don’t report actual costs. There’s reported to be 300,000 asylum seekers in Germany who are working under the table without a visa...not paying income taxes...or pension tax.

I’ll also admit that a fair number of Germans often conclude used car purchases now....in cash....in the 5,000 to 10,000 Euro range. Some of the sellers are pretending to be just a one-time owner/seller....when they go through twenty-odd cars a year in cash sales, which never get reported to the German tax folks.


19 posted on 02/03/2016 7:09:00 AM PST by pepsionice
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To: Oldexpat

I got pretty mad when my bank send yearly interest earnings.

I will have to pay income tax on that measly ‘earned interest’.

Mad at the low interest rate, and then taxed, to boot.

Will I get a tax credit for negative interest??????


20 posted on 02/03/2016 7:14:45 AM PST by Scrambler Bob (/s implied, usless explicitly stated as not applying.)
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