Cash No Longer King: Europe Accelerates Move To Begin Elimination Of Paper Money
Cash No Longer King: Europe
Accelerates Move To Begin Elimination Of Paper Money
by Tyler Durden Feb 10, 2017 9:05 AM
In
the shadow of Donald Trump’s spree of controversial actions, the European commission has
quietly launched the next offensive in the war on cash. These
unelected bureaucrats have boldly asserted their intention to crack down on
paper transactions across the E.U. and solidify a trend that has been gaining
momentum for years.
The financial uncertainty
amplified by Brexit has incentivized governments throughout Europe to seize
further control over their banking systems. France and Spain have already criminalized cash
transactions above a certain limit, but now the commission has unilaterally
established new regulations that will affect the entire union. The
fear of physical money flowing out of the trade bloc has manifested a draconian
response from the State.
The
European Action Plan doesn’t mention a specific dollar
amount for restrictions, but as expected, their reasoning for the move is to
thwart money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Border checks between
countries have already been bolstered to help implement these new standards
on hard assets. Although these end goals are plausible, there are other clear
motivations for governments to target paper money that aren’t as noble.
Negative
interest rates and high inflation are a deadly combination that
could further destabilize the already fragile union in the future. With less
physical currency circulating, these trends ensure that the impact of any
additional central bank
policies will be maximized. If economic conditions
deteriorate, the threat of citizens pulling cash out of their accounts and
starting a bank run is eliminated in a cashless system. So
long as the people’s wealth is under centralized control, funds can be shifted
at will to conceal any underlying problems. But the longer this shell game is
allowed to persist, the more painful it will be when reality overrides the
manipulation.
Since
former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kenneth Rogoff,
published a paper last year advocating for the U.S. $100 bill to be removed,
governments around the world have pushed forward their agendas towards a
cashless society. He wrote:
“There
is little debate among law-enforcement agencies that paper currency, especially
large notes such as the U.S. $100 bill, facilitates crime: racketeering,
extortion, money laundering, drug and human trafficking, the corruption of
public officials, not to mention terrorism. There are substitutes for
cash—cryptocurrencies, uncut diamonds, gold coins, prepaid cards—but for many
kinds of criminal transactions, cash is still king. It delivers absolute
anonymity, portability, liquidity and near-universal acceptance.”
This
announcement comes just months after the 500 euro note was discontinued,
and it follows India’s lead
in subverting the financial independence of their citizens. The incremental
steps currently being taken may look trivial in isolation, but the ultimate end
is to lay the foundation for an entire network for economic repression.
The German people have placed
themselves in strong opposition to the action and previously pushed back hard against domestic
legislation that would have limited cash. Nearly 80% of all
transactions in Germany are made with paper currency, putting Europe’s economic
engine in direct conflict with the vision coming out of Brussels.
The spillover effect has
affected new forms of investment, like Bitcoin, which witnessed an astronomical
rise over the last months and has
been brought back into the discussion as a viable alternative to fiat
currencies. Of course, the E.U.
Commission is also attempting to impose similar limitations on crypto-currencies to make sure no transactions fall
outside of their domain. The ECB and BOJ are working towards a trojan horse
blockchain network that will serve only to entrap those naive enough to trust
it.
Former
Treasury Secretary Larry Summers wrote last year that the E.U. would likely
be the trailblazer of the West towards this new digital model:
“But
a moratorium on printing new high denomination notes would make the world a
better place. In terms of unilateral steps, the most important actor by far is
the European Union. The €500 is almost six times as valuable as the $100. Some
actors in Europe, notably the European Commission, have shown sympathy for the
idea and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has shown interest as well.”
Since the public’s attention
has been drawn to emotional manipulations and political stunts, the threat the
war on cash represents has gone unrecognized. Instead of feeding
energy into systems meant to divide and conquer, individuals must educate
themselves to secure their own financial futures. By submitting to the hive
mind and following the media down whichever rabbit hole they choose, the most
important issues of today will go unnoticed. The value of advocating for decentralized and physical alternatives to the banking system may not be
easily grasped by the activists of today, but few other things have the
potential to erode freedom on such a massive scale.
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