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The War on Cash

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The War on Cash

TheLong+Short,

5 min read
5 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

The convenience of a cashless economy comes at a cost. Is society willing to pay the price?

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Editorial Rating

8

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  • Overview
  • Background

Recommendation

You may think of card and electronic payments as conveniences. But beyond their practicality, the phasing out of cash in cities around the world has implications. Brett Scott, a journalist, financial activist and former broker in London, argues that a cashless society will undermine people’s privacy and limit their lifestyle choices. getAbstract recommends Scott’s passionate call for maintaining dual payment options to financial industry executives and concerned citizens.

Summary

With little opposition, governments and digital payment systems providers are promoting the benefits of a cashless society. Advertising campaigns for credit cards and other electronic payment services like PayPal emphasize the increased convenience and safety of not carrying cash. Many governments, among them Sweden and the United Kingdom, argue that evading taxes and laundering money will be much more difficult when all transactions occur electronically. Moreover, central banks in low-cash economies can introduce negative interest rates more easily during a ...

About the Author

Brett Scott is an independent journalist and campaigner based in London. He is the author of The Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money.


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