ROMNEY WORDSWORTH - The European Central Bank voted this week to take the 500 Euro Note out of circulation. This will have the effect of reducing the amount of physical cash denoted in Euros by 30%. The 500 Euro note is the 2nd highest denomination after the 1,000 Euro note, and represents 307 billion euros currently in circulation. The use of 500 Euro notes has been on a steady rise since the beginning of the century.
What is not clear is whether this will be a gradual phase out as the 500 Euro notes are deposited into banks and removed from circulation, or whether 500 Euro note holders will be required to immediately exchange the currency for other denominations, as happened when Europe switched over from national currencies to the Euro.
Either way, the elimination of nearly one third of all paper euros in circulation is widely seen as the first move by Central Banks to move Europe to a completely cashless society. Countries like Denmark and Sweden have already made great inroads to eliminating cash from most everyday transactions. France introduced laws last year which restrict French citizens from making cash payments over €1,000 euros. Italy, Russia, Spain, Mexico, and Uruguay have all introduced similar laws that ban cash payments over a certain amount. Everywhere around the world, the curtain is dropping down on the ability of individuals to use cash.
In the U.S., the IRS has notoriously seized cash deposits of small businesses, claiming it is evidence of criminal activity. Small business owners of convenience stores and the like then have the burden to litigate in order to prove their own innocence. It amounts to legalized theft, and more oppression of the common man. When governments don’t respect private property rights, tyranny, poverty, and serfdom follow.
Why should you care? Because a loss of cash is a loss of freedom for the individual. No cash means a financial world completely controlled by banks, where there is no escape. No escape even when negative interest rate regimes become the norm. If there is no way to buy and sell except through banks and electronic card transfers, then there is no escape when banks start charging you fees of negative interest for the privilege. It becomes a Super Tax on all savings, and all liquid wealth.
We are already most of the way there: Globally, over 50% of Government bonds currently yield 1% or less. These are bonds that are negative rates of return, because there interest rates are far below the rate of inflation. You are, in effect, PAYING the government to hold on to your money.
Right on cue, the U.S. Federal Reserve is floating the idea of doing away with the $100 Bill. Larry Summers, former Chief Economist for the World Bank, is calling for a moratorium on the printing of “new high denomination notes” in the name of stopping crime and fighting terrorism.
Since the Federal Reserve has already eliminated the $500.00 bill, the $100.00 bill, due to inflation, has become far and away the bill denomination representing the highest share of notes in circulation. How much, you ask? 78% of all value of currency in circulation. Out of some $1.4 Trillion in total U.S. currency circulation, $1.1 Trillion of it is in $100 bills!
So, eliminating the hundred dollar bill would virtually eliminate all cash in the U.S. in a single stroke.
Why are governments everywhere looking to eliminate cash? Control.
With no cash, there is no tipping. No lemonade stands, no flea markets, and no garage sales. No buying and selling without being under the watchful eye of Big Brother. No way for you to earn a dime without the government knowing about it, and taxing it.
It gets us very far to a future state of affairs where “There shall be no buying and selling without the Mark of the Beast.”
Which may explain the current frenzy of gold buying, not just by individuals, but by national governments, state governments, and major banks. But the U.S. government, under FDR, made owning gold a criminal offense, and it could happen again. When that happens, all the doors, and all the exits, to your slave pen will be closed.
