The title is taken off the United States currency: all debts, public and private. Why am I starting out this way? Cash is king, right? Not if Visa has its way. Visa is now paying some merchants to reject cash in favor of a credit card. Zero Hedge did an article on it if you would like to look at it: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-13/visa-begins-bribing-merchants-stop-taking-cash
Let me start with a story. Back in the 80s, banks decided it would be a good idea to keep paychecks for ten days like they did personal checks. This was a great idea, they kept a couple of hundred million in pay checks and made money on the interest for then days. Back then there was an interest rate they could make money on. It got so bad congress had to step in and stop it. Shortly after the law was passed. I got a bill from my bank for $300 in over draft fees, fines, all kinds of good things. Being a trained accountant, I gathered up my paper work and showed not only did my account have enough money to cover the checks, but I had enough even before my paycheck that had come in that week.
I proved my point to the bank, had to work my way up to the branch manager who was all contrite, apologetic, smiling, and promptly refunded $150. When I asked about the other $150 he told me someone had to pay to fix the mistake and it was against bank policy to pay to correct mistakes. Try as I might, the bank blatantly stole my money. After the meeting with the manager, I walked up to the first teller I came to and closed all accounts with the bank. Name of the bank? It doesn't matter because it was eaten by a bigger bank.
What has this to do with cash? First can a merchant refuse cash? Yes, if the transaction is instantaneous. If you go to the hardware store for screws and plop them on the counter, they can refuse case and you take your business else where. What about a restaurant? Different situation. It is not instantaneous. A debt is now owed to the restaurant. If you pull out cash, they have to take it unless they have told you before hand.
So, Hardlo, what are you driving at. I'm driving at a digital currency that is being pushed by the banks. Why? It is about privacy, control of your wealth, and accounts.
First a look at privacy. One caveat, we are talking only legal transactions here. If I go to the grocery store and buy a cart load of stuff, hard to do these days with prices constantly going up, and I pay for it with my credit card or debit card. The bank now has a list of not only what I paid, but also what I bought. Someone at the bank, run through the government, thinks I need to loose a few pounds. My card can be shut down until I put the ice cream back. Really? Yes, really, the computers talk. When you check out at Wal-Mart the money is out of your account before you hit the parking lot. I know, I checked it. So, now the government doesn't want me buying ice cream when it is 100 degrees outside. It is none of their business.
What happens when the power goes out at the store? It has happened to me. Plastic cards won't work, cash will.
Control of wealth. What do I mean by that? Remember the example above? Now extrapolate it to all electronic records. Would I even get half of the banks mistake back? What about fees? A few decades ago, banks came up with "free checking". Sounds nice right? I've enjoyed it, but it did something the banks knew would happen. People who live paycheck to paycheck with no savings opened "free" checking accounts and fell into a bottomless pit of debt. Fees for overdraft, fines for overdraft, automatic loans to cover the overdrafts complete with loan fees and interest. It was a boon for the banks. They make hundreds of millions on these poor people.
What will they do to us electronically? Imagination will work here because they have this all planed. Deposit fees, fees for using your credits, fees for looking at your credits, fees for using to many credits, fees for keeping your credits up to date, fees for a report telling you about your credits. There will be no recourse. The bank will simply put a vacuum hose to your account and turn it on. Are plastic/phone payments bad? No, not at all, but they are a choice to pay with, not mandatory.
Take a look at a modern application, names withheld for legal reasons. During the last presidential administration, guns became a massive target. A major bank decided it did not like guns and froze all accounts for legal gun dealers, ammo manufactures, arms manufactures, and anyone dealing with guns or gun supplies dealing with the bank had their accounts frozen. It does not matter how you feel about guns, this could be done to any industry. Was it legal? I'm not a lawyer, but it was bad business. It also forced the banks view onto its customers involved in a legal business. I personally call this kind of thing, Bull Shit. If things go totally digital, no ice cream.
Okay, so I inadvertently covered use of your accounts above also, but I am getting long winded. An electronic only currency will devoid all privacy, ice cream, there will be no recourse on any fees the banks decide to charge and accounts can be closed for any reason. What does this all spell? CONTROL! As long as there is a few dollars of cash in your pocket, you can still have ice cream when it is 100 degrees out.
Thanks for reading.