American Consequences - September 2017

This is an enormous opportunity. And if you’re like me, three questions immediately come to mind: 1. Why do these people want to get rid of our dollar bills? 2. What does a “cashless” society look like? And 3. Who will be the winners and losers in this trend? And how do we get out ahead of it and profit from it? I’ll answer all three of these questions in this article. First, let’s cover questions one and two. We need to understand why the financial “elites” are trying to kill cash... and how a cashless society would even function. WHY DO THEYWANT TO GET RID OF OUR DOLLAR BILLS? What’s happening today is an inevitable shift... away from traditional paper money and towards mobile payments and a cashless society. It’s happening whether you’re on board or not. Now, the financial elites like Summers and Rogoff agree on why we should do away with bigger bills... They say that criminals use large bills for all kinds of illicit activities, from selling drugs to paying for terrorism and corruption. A standard briefcase holds around $2 million in $100 bills... The same briefcase filled with $20 bills holds 80% less. The argument is that removing larger bills would reduce criminals’ ability to move large amounts of money.

But the truth is, those activities will happen with or without hundred-dollar bills. Heck, bitcoin already has a reputation as a way for criminals to anonymously sell their goods and services online. The scary part here is that getting rid of big bills and moving to a cashless society would give the government unprecedented access to your personal affairs. If you pay for everything electronically, then Big Brother can see everything you’ve done. They might not have immediate access to the data... But if they want it, it’s there. Without cash, both the government and big data- collection companies can virtually track your every financial move. Surprisingly, no one under the age of 30 seems to care about this... They use their phones for everything... from getting around with Uber, to buying music, to getting their caffeine fix at Starbucks. And their entire financial life is moving more and more to their phones. They can do their banking, investing, and paying for services with just an iPhone. Apparently, the ability to skip the line at Starbucks because you've already paid for your coffee on your mobile phone is more important than worrying about Big Brother.

58 | September 2017

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