{"id":1198483,"date":"2020-07-28T16:00:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T21:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/?p=109532"},"modified":"2020-07-28T16:00:15","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T21:00:15","slug":"the-dark-side-of-the-cashless-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1198483","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Side of the Cashless Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post The Dark Side of the Cashless Society<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Real quick, grab a $100 bill from your wallet.<\/p>\n

OK, humor me, any bill will do. What do you see?<\/p>\n

I\u2019d tell you what I see, but when I grab my Book Book, which serves as both a phone case and a wallet, there\u2019s no cash in it. There rarely ever is. Please, keep that in mind for today\u2019s foray into inductive reasoning.<\/p>\n

I saw this makeshift sign over the weekend:<\/p>\n

\"IMG<\/p>\n

Seen at the Walgreens three miles from my house.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the airport. Very sparse here, ghost town,\u201d reads an email from a colleague\u2019s mom, \u201cNo coins.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Agora Financial\u2019s publishers, Doug Hill, had a similar experience flying to San Francisco last week for a meeting with a private equity fund. He couldn\u2019t get accurate change for a pop rag he wanted to read. No coins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the partial closure of the economy,\u201d Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell says, \u201cthe flow of funds through the economy has stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Economically-speaking, the national coin shortage is a physical reminder of how slowly the nation\u2019s economy has been; \u2018velocity of money\u2019 hit roughly zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working with the Mint and the Reserve Banks,\u201d Mr. Powell contends. \u201dAs the economy re-opens, we are starting to see money move around again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fair enough. What else is he going to say?<\/p>\n

Back to the Benjamin burning a hole in your wallet. On it, you\u2019ll see digits\u2026 a serial number for each bill.<\/p>\n

As those bills are returned to the Federal Reserve from their journey around the country, the bills that have gotten too wrinkled, torn or worn thin get their serial numbers retired. The paper gets shredded.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I was thinking while watching the film on Netflix the other day:<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t it just be easier, and less expensive, if the Fed didn\u2019t have to go through all the trouble of reclaiming and decommissioning the paper? Why not just track the serial numbers electronically?<\/p>\n

Anyway, while fact checking the coin shortage story, a USA Today<\/i> reporter included this little nugget: A Facebook post form including \u201ca sign from a Texas-based grocery store chain H-E-B asking shoppers to use a debit card, credit card or correct change, if possible, due to the shortage.<\/p>\n

The posts then warn against the potential of the U.S. becoming a \u2018cashless society\u2019.”<\/p>\n

The Daily Reckoning<\/i> has been on this \u201ccashless society\u201d story for some time.<\/p>\n

Ideally, a cashless society is no big deal. As I mentioned, I rarely hold cash if ever. Over the weekend, I got a haircut and didn\u2019t leave a tip because my Book Book was dry.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not an ideal world. And the mind does wander to dark places, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Our own Jim Rickards has argued that elites are pushing for the cashless society so they can \u201cherd\u201d us all into \u201cthe digital pens.\u201d Then they can impose negative interest rates on us.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another angle to the cashless society that hasn\u2019t gotten much attention:<\/p>\n

What if the powers that be can \u201ccancel\u201d people with unpopular political opinions?<\/p>\n

The Walgreen\u2019s sign says I can pay with credit, debit or gift card. I can use Apple Pay or Google Wallet. But here\u2019s where the story gets spooky\u2026<\/p>\n

Ever since Mark Zuckerburg got summoned to appear before a Congressional committee over his backroom dealings with Cambridge Analytica prior to the 2016 election, Facebook is not so friendly to folks who don\u2019t think like they do.<\/p>\n

Google followed Facebook\u2019s lead. We have reps at each place. Under their guidance, we try to abide by their rules. But the rules can, and have changed, without warning. It\u2019s their platform, they make the rules. \u201cYou don\u2019t like the rules,\u201d their attitude goes, \u201cyou don\u2019t have to post with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the federal government…<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Treasury site, since the pandemic began the Treasury has issued \u201cmore than 140 million Economic Impact Payments worth $239 billion to Americans by direct deposit to accounts at financial institutions, Direct Express card accounts, and by check.\u201d<\/p>\n

A prepaid card from the Treasury. Why not?<\/p>\n

My kids, who strangely enough qualify, could hypothetically still use the card to procure sundries at the Walgreens down the street.<\/p>\n

But what if, hypothetically again, that card doesn\u2019t work because their dad is an ornery son of a b$tch who got in a spat with some readers over the Black Lives Matter movement\u2026 and some government bureaucrat didn\u2019t like what I said?<\/p>\n

That is, what if suddenly my EIP card doesn\u2019t work at Walgreens anymore?<\/p>\n

Or what if Facebook or Google don\u2019t like what I write? What if Apple doesn\u2019t like me either?<\/p>\n

Hmm…I use gmail. I use a Mac. I shop at iTunes. I use my credit and debit cards for everything. I never have cash in my Book Book.<\/p>\n

Boy, going down this rabbit hole is frightening. Good thing none of it could ever happen\u2026 right?<\/p>\n

Gold is perhaps the best defense against negative interest rates and the cashless society.<\/p>\n

Regards,<\/p>\n

Addison Wiggin
\nfor The Daily Reckoning<\/i><\/p>\n

The post The Dark Side of the Cashless Society<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post The Dark Side of the Cashless Society<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today our co-founder and Executive Publisher, Addison Wiggin, asks a new question: Could the cashless society represent a threat to free speech?<\/p>\n

The post The Dark Side of the Cashless Society<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4453,4499,3724,366,463],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1198483"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1198484,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198483\/revisions\/1198484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1198483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1198483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1198483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}