Sunday, March 6, 2016
Sweden Begins 5 Year Countdown Until It Eliminates Cash
How much louder can the “ban cash” calls get?
Recall it was just last year when we catalogued the growing cacophony of crazies for whom banning physical currency is the only way to ensure that depositors can’t simply reassert their economic autonomy under a low or zero rate regime..
Put simply, if interest rates get too low, depositors will simply take their money out the bank and put it in the mattress or the safe where, to quote WSJ from last week, “interest rates are always low no matter what central bankers do.
Most recently, Larry Summers called for the abolition of the $100 bill in the US and in Europe the €500 note is to go the way of the dinosaurs.
Perhaps the most telling sign that citizens are starting to panic is that in Japan, they’re selling out of safes. Literally.
“It shows a vague sense of unease,” one Japanese lawmaker who brought up the soaring safe sales in parliament on Monday remarked.
Now, the excuse given for banning big bills is that it combats crime. And maybe it does. But in the end the rationale is simple: if there are no more physical banknotes, people have no economic autonomy.Let’s say consumer spending is stagnating. No problem, take rates to -20%. We bet they’ll start spending then - either that or see their deposits haircut by 20%.
In short, no cash means no effective lower bound and with no lower bound, the economy can be completely centrally planned - for all intents and purposes.
Consumers not spending? No problem. Just tax their excess account balance. Economy overheating? Again, no problem. Raise the interest paid on account holdings to encourage people to stop spending. So with Citi, Harvard, Denmark and Peter Bofinger, member of the German Council Of Economic Experts, all onboard, we’re surprised to hear that Sweden (already one of the leaders in the cashless society movement) is looking to phase out a series of new bank notes it just introduced last year and moved ever closer to the cashless utopia.
“Last year Sweden introduced a series of new banknotes replacing its old kronor notes. But figures suggest these too could be gone from circulation in half a decade if the development towards a cashless society continues......
Saturday, March 5, 2016
The Painful Chair Swing Ride Of Doom....
More Great Gifs!
Strippus Interruptus..
Biting Off More Than You Can Chew...
Strike!
The First Collection Of Animated Gifs HERE
Animated Gif Collection #2 HERE
Lawmakers Trash DOE Official For Hiding Green Loan Documents...
“It is disconcerting that the executive director of a major government program is unwilling to commit — to actually commit — to providing all the documents that an investigation committee of the Congress has requested,” California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher told Mark McCall, the head of the DOE’s loan office, in a hearing Thursday, “and that the answer being given is using weasel words — is what we used to call them in the press.”
Rohrabacher was not the only lawmaker to have strong words for McCall. Georgia Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk also criticized the DOE’s refusal to release documents requested by the House science committee.
“This committee welcomes and embraces new businesses and technologies with open arms, but it is important that these technologies be brought to commercial scale by market forces, not political whims,” Loudermilk said at the hearing, referring to politically-connected companies, like Solyndra, that...
WOW! Michelle Malkin NAILS It At CPAC!!! Must See!
She is not 99 Percent, But 100 Percent Right.
I Found This HERE
More Amazing Malkin:
Michelle Malkin Asks the Questions the Candidates Should Really Be Answering...
Info-Babe Michelle Malkin lays Out The History Of Technology Failures In The Obama Administration
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