THE WAR ON CASH: Larry Summers Calls for the Ban on All Notes Above $50
EconomicPolicyJournal.com
MONDAY, MAY 9, 2016
The war on cash continues. Former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, who appears to be leading the global ground attack on cash, is out with an op-ed in the Financial Times commending the EU for their move to halt the production of 500EU notes. He is now calling for Switzerland to stop production of the 1,000 Swiss franc note:
Most of the time I use this column to recommend policy changes that I believe would make the world a better place. This time I am saluting a policy change I believe will have significant benefits — one that carries with it important lessons.
The decision of the European Central Bank last week to stop producing €500 notes permanently is a triumph of reasonable judgment over shameless fearmongering….High quality global journalism requires investment.
First, the world should demand that Switzerland stops issuing SFr1,000 franc notes. After Europe’s bold step, these notes will stand out as the hard-currency world’s highest denomination note by a wide margin. Switzerland has a long and unfortunate history with illicit finance. It would be tragic if it were to profit from criminal currency substitution.
Second, the question of the facilitation of criminal activity should be placed prominently on the agenda of the Group of 20 leading nations.
It gets worse:
There would be a strong case for stopping the production of notes with value greater than, perhaps, $50…
The political criminal states that his reason for calling for the elimination of high denomination notes is to prevent non-political crime and, well. no one needs to use large amounts of cash anyway:
There is little if any legitimate use for €500 notes. Carrying out a transaction with 20 €50 notes hardly seems burdensome — and this would represent more than $1,000 in purchasing power. Meanwhile, 20 €200 notes would represent close to $5,000 in purchasing power.
The Rest…HERE
