Eliminating Cash

Hey, think the time is right for palace revolution
But where I live the game to play is compromise solution
--The Rolling Stones

Calls for eliminating physical cash can be heard with increased frequency. Statists are attracted to this idea for several reasons.

No cash means that all transactions are 'digitized,' thereby making it easier for authorities to track the economic activities of individuals. Cash, on the other hand, leaves no obvious marker, which essentially privatizes transactions.

Absence of cash also enables central banks to better enact monetary policies. For example, programs of negative interest rates that encourage consumption and punish saving are easier to implement if people cannot keep cash outside of financial institutions and avoid paying negative interest rate fees.

Another advantage of eliminating physical cash is that it makes it easier for the State to silence its critics. If dissidents can be sanctioned simply by freezing their bank accounts, the State is more capable of keeping people in line.

Cash is a friend of freedom and an enemy of the State.