The war on cash continues.
One day after it was reported that the European Central Bank (ECB) wants to kill the 500 euro banknote (SEE: Is it the end of the 500 euro bill? Mario Draghi is thinking about it), one former policymaker has come out in favor of banning the United States $100 bill from circulation.
Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary and Obama economic advisor, wrote a column in the Washington Post entitled “It’s time to kill the $100 bill – It’s time to go after big money.” In the column, he advocates abolishing the $100 banknote. Although he concedes that removing existing bills would be difficult, he says there should be a moratorium on printing new high denomination notes.
Much like others who are in support of getting rid of cash, Summers cites illicit activities being funded by high denomination notes.
“Harvard’s Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government, which I am privileged to direct, has just issued an important paper by senior fellow Peter Sands and a group of student collaborators. The paper makes a compelling case for stopping the issuance of high denomination notes like the 500 euro note and $100 bill or even withdrawing them from circulation.”
He also adds that this push would help protect ordinary people:
“A global agreement to stop issuing high denomination notes would also show that the global financial groupings can stand up against “big money” and for the interests of ordinary citizens.”
Will the move to abolish cash ever end? Nope. Statists, central banks and big government economists seem to be all in agreement that the best thing to do is to get rid of cash.
Why? It’s simple: all transactions can be taxed, all transactions can be monitored and all transactions can be tracked. This is an invasion of your privacy. Of course, the big banks would love it because you would be compelled to use their system. Let’s also not forget about bank bail-ins.
Yep, there’s no escaping it. Trouble is brewing.
Just one more reason to use cash only. I will have my credit cards paid off in 18 months. Then I will keep 2 CC accounts open for internet purchases and will go back to cash for everything else. I send $1,000 to the credit cards each month and charge back $300 this keeps my average balance lower and saves on interest charges. Last year I was paying $225 in interest per month, Today it is less than $170, it goes down over $10 each month.