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I hate coins, bills, writing checks — all of it. I even hate using my debit card with its tedious chip insert, PIN input, etc. If it were up to me, I would pay everyone by Facebook, which now allows you to transfer money seamlessly and instantly from your account to anyone you can message — all for free.
To me, no cash means freedom. I can transact anytime, anywhere and have all those digital records nicely summed up for me at the day’s end.
But then again, I am a child of the Internet. And the notion of privacy has long been abandoned by me and most of my cohorts. I am very comfortable existing in the virtual world of bits and bytes, and I have no qualms about leaving records of my financial transactions for anyone to see.
I understand that my view is far from universal. Many people, including many my own age and even those many years younger, value their privacy. They value the notion of anonymity and the freedom to transact without anyone knowing their buying habits. That’s why bitcoin is so popular as a concept, if not as a currency.
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| To me, no cash means freedom. |
But this column isn’t about cultural morays, it’s about finance. And this topic took on an interesting twist last week when former Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota penned a column calling for the abolition of cash on policy grounds. Mr. Kocherlakota’s point was that as long as we have cash, central bankers will never succeed in their attempts at quantitative easing.
Mr. Kocherlakota noted that in order for QE to truly be effective, central bankers need the freedom to take rates deep into negative territory. However, as long as there is cash, there will be a natural “zero bound” to their efforts that will frustrate all policymakers’ attempts to spur credit creation. His argument holds a great degree of logic. Indeed, one of the surprising aspects of the QE experiment is the counterintuitive result of hoarding rather than spending in countries where negative rates have been implemented.
In Switzerland, more and more companies are taking out insurance policies to protect their cash hoards from theft or damage, according to Bloomberg. “Because of the low interest-rate level, we note increasing demand for insurance solutions for the storage of cash,” said Philipp Surholt at Zurich Insurance Group AG, among underwriters reporting a surge in such requests. “We’re seeing demand for coverage for sums ranging from 100 million to 500 million francs.”
| “The abolition of cash is unlikely to occur any time soon.” |
Of course, Mr. Kocherlakota’s argument – while intellectually elegant – would face a wave of political protest. Citizens would view a move to pure digital cash as the final appropriation of property by the state. Although in practice there is little difference between paper money and digital cash – both are simply symbolic stores of value – the physical nature of paper provides one last frontier of freedom for the individual. After all, if cash were digital, there would be nothing to prevent the government from emptying your bank account at a moment’s notice. (Yes, I have been binge-watching Homeland over the Labor Day weekend).
That’s why, despite Mr. Kocherlakota’s best intentions, the abolition of cash is unlikely to occur anytime soon. And if it did, it would no doubt spur a massive demand for gold – that other store of value that is portable and anonymous. Which is why these days holding gold in your portfolio is not just a matter of investment, but a case of insurance as well.
Happy trading,
Boris Schlossberg
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HSBC is in the spotlight again, as U.S. prosecutors seek criminal charges against a unit of HSBC Holdings Plc in relation to conduct on its foreign-exchange desk.
In 2012, HSBC admitted to helping Mexican drug cartels launder money and to doing business with Iran and other sanctioned nations. The bank avoided charges by signing a deferred-prosecution agreement, which required it to improve its internal controls and to submit to an outside monitor. However, if the Justice Department determines that HSBC broke U.S. law after it entered into the agreement, it could be held liable for the charges back in 2012. This could jeopardize the bank’s ability to move beyond its legal troubles.
Monthly job openings increased in July, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Indeed, employers posted 3.9 percent more jobs in July than in June, with the private sector hiring more workers in professional and business services, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS).
The monthly report from the Labor Department is a key barometer of economic conditions, and something closely watched by Fed Chair Janet Yellen.
According to recently released data, American drivers fueled up this summer at levels not seen since the recession began almost nine years ago. Consumers purchased about 406 million gallons of gasoline per day, on average, in June, presumably an all-time record according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This shows gasoline is relatively cheap and that Americans are working, vacationing and driving more.
The Money and Markets team
{ 68 comments }
With cash you are independent.
With only electronic “cash” you are dependent on those who allow you to use the electronic system. If the government so desires they can cut you off.
If Obama gives the internet control to others they can ruin and control you and me and the USA by cutting us off from electronic money transfers, emails, information and communication.
Any and all transactions or communications will be scrutinized (probably are now already) and if not approved or politically correct they will be censored and the originator and receivers punished.
FREEDOM LOST!!
Quite right, Don. Elimination of cash is a fascist’s dream come true. ALL transactions can be tracked and controlled. They can also be taxed. The old truism about follow the money would be a total control scheme. This idea is dangerous to life and liberty.
In sci fi about the future the inhabitants use credits or something like them to buy things.
And like you mentioned, what happens if those things are not politically correct or simply not approved by whoever is in power.
We must fight this concept and we must prevail. Else America, Free America, is surely doomed.
That’s exactly right. FREEDOM GONE!
DON Dittos well Said !!!!!
I can HAND somebody a check, or a bill or send it to them by mail or courier. No one can deny me! So THERE gub’ment!
AMEN!!!!
WE USE A VISA CHARGE CARD WITH FIDELITY- GET A 2% KICKBACH- WE GET BETWEEN $600-800 EVERY YEAR
Per Kocherlakota, QE can’t be effective unless interest rates can go deeply into negative territory? Tell me ONE place in the world this idiotic idea is working where it’s being crammed down peoples throats.
When pension funds and insurance companys go insolvent because of low and lower interest rates, there will be folks (retirees and savers to name a few) with pitchforks and bats looking for economists and bankers!
Digital money replacing cash is the last nail in freedom’s coffin.
Of course. There was this terrible Journal article by a nominally smart economist, Ken Rogoff at Harvard, defending the cashless society and attacking cash as the haven of drug lords and terrorists. Then he gets to the real reason, the hare-brained NIRP now in place in Europe and Japan and being pushed here. The policy is insane and has backfired where it has been implemented. It destroys the basic mechanism of banking deposits and turns loans on any lender’s book from assets into liabilities. Why these geniuses don’t get this is beyond me. The QE/ZIRP/NIRP world is a failure (see: Japan), but they can’t be pried loose from their stupid theories.
Amen
Coins represent a good amount of savings in this country as hundreds of millions of dollars or maybe even Billions are stashed away in Piggy Banks and Jars throughout the nation . This is the proverbial rainy day funds that are spent in hard times such as the recession of 2008 -2009 . It is no coincidence that the lowest coin mintage’s were in the year 2009 as hundreds of millions of dollars worth of coins came out of hiding and were spent to make ends meet .
In a cashless society there will be no rainy day funds to come in and save the Day !
If you are tired of money, you can send it to me. Really with everyone using cards for all their purchases people do not understand the value of money. It is just a number that someone makes up. So please go back to your internet purchases and a bitcoins, but please send me your money excess or not I will store it for you or spend it as required. As a working stiff I see very little of it because it just covers my bills.
Thank you
Mr Kocherlakota fails to realize that Capital formation and Investment Capital come from surplus savings and the more that savers are punished with low rates and now negative rates the less capital there will be for investment and consumptive purposes which is why all the Quantitative easing has failed to produce its intended results .
I could not disagree more. Cash is the last line of defense, if not an outright offense against the powers that be. Cashless gives them carte blanche over the citizenry and their financial affairs. IMHO cashless is a trojan horse. I’m all in favor of keeping the pictures of the dead presidents around. Bitcoin, something I know absolutely nothing about, except every six months or so I read where some “bitcoin bank” was hacked and millions went up in smoke or where ever a bitcoin goes too drop dead.
This has to be the worst commentary yet. Privacy is a Constitutional right. In my mind only liberals endorse Facebook, and getting rid of cash. If it were up to me we would all move to Bitcoin or Shadowcash.
Without cash you can not pay under the table, you can not go to prostitute you can not buy drug. I guess you worry about this kind of freedom. All cash businesses will pay more taxes and we will have enough money for Social Security.Yes, a lot of people will lose freedom to steal.
steal what. ? income taxes are stealing. period. end of story
So, QE is the new Communism! Communism was a grand intellectual experiment that required everybody to abandon their selfish instincts – never happened. Instead, it fostered a massive criminal black market, and created massive economic and social distortions. The longer QE continues, the more the unanticipated effects will accumulate. It took decades to prove the ineffectiveness of communism. I hope we don’t have to wait as long for our brilliant banking leaders to come around on QE.
Succinct, timely and accurate commentary. Thanks, Justin.
Oh yes, Commi-ism. Where everyone is equal except some people are more equal. I know a Marxist perfessor who is always promoting Marxism. He never spread the wealth around when he inherited millions from his father. Instead he bought real estate, cars, and all sorts of other Capitilist toys. And he always spouted nonsense about how evil it was to sue people for injuries, until he had a motorcycle accident and sprained his pinky. It interfered with his job of being a per dessert, shuffling papers and such, and immediately filed suit. These commie Marxists are so full of crapola that their hats stink to high heaven.
Yes the economy is doing so great that is why the Tent Camps are increasing in size and are being cleverly hidden behind slatted chain-link fences. Those that are to close to major tourist attractions are being dismantled and relocated to more suitable remote locations. Yes let us hide this filth, not good for the image of the country is it? Yes the economy is doing so good that’s why 93 plus million have magically disappeared from the work force. Approaching 20 trillion on the federal debt with no idea of how to pay it off, its just hunky dory also. (The 2.3 trillion from the Social Security Fund can be ignored it was not meant as a retirement fund anyhow.) Oh yes, the so called Entitlement Programs, (nice name) see how well these are funded or underfunded as the case might be. When the Economy goes south next time lets see the central banks get more stimulus money to keep the privatized retirement accounts afloat. To the The Money and Markets team, nice liberal post!!
p.s. GET REAL
Apparently you are an elitist. You never go to garage sales, buy or sell a $299/$600 car or any other convenient cash transaction. Touting the above without any regard for poorer people is just what Trump is talking about. You are not in touch with current practices and reality.
What a leap to try and drag Trump into that. Put the remote down and back away from the MSNBC.
CASH IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE “KING”!! If not the dollar, then people will come up with a substitute of their own. I love yard sales and cash transactions.
Yes Edward A you describe it best. If I take financial advice I do not want it from an elitist. I will listen to his opinion weigh it and then use my own time tested method. I am an old garage sale person (it teaches you how to value things and also humility) but maybe we the elders the wise ones are out of touch with current practices but the reality part well we are still hanging in there and always in tune. I had a friend years ago that told me “Gordon if you paid over $100 for a car you paid to much” Sorry Boris your living in a false Utopia and it will come at a price someday. Take the advice of people that have paid their dues and have lived in the real Utopia not this faux/Fox world we live in today. How sweet the memories are.
Hi Boris- In my view, there is something wrong when government is going to demonize people holding onto their own money as ‘hoarding’…
Try to use cash in Europe these days…..more than 1000 euro is not accepted anymore, the governments want to crush the underground economy so they can tax everything. And yes, one day the government may well need more money then it can coerce from we citizens and will simply TAKE it, or, like Cyprus, charge us 10% for keeping it safe!
Boris, If you don’t care who sees your financial transactions it may just be that you don’t have enough to worry about being a target for someone who has that information.
Find it hard to believe you cannot see the dangers in cash being abolished, slavery and banishment will be the result if the PTB don’t like your politics, religion, views, habits, preferences you get the point.
Welcome to the Brave New World! You sound like you are quite willing to be told how to live and when you may do whatever!! Giving away your privacy is giving up your freedom. I will fight to the very end to protect every scrap of freedom we have as Americans Others have done it before us and we owe it to them to continue. People like you can destroy our way of life. You need to read and comprehend more history. I
Let’s see….digital cash……rampant cyber crime….corrupt gov’t……what could possibly go wrong?
QE will NEVER work even if there were no cash! I prefer Constitutional money. Not the globalist fiat system of enslavement we currently have. So while you’re bending over to the NWO criminals, I’ll be stacking metal!
I sincerely hope that this article was written totally tongue-in-cheek. Since when does a Fed president think that negative interest rates are good policy for our overall economy. Good for the Fed and the Treasury, but, surprise, they are not the economy. Punishing individuals with negative rates and using the “hoarding” word to describe fiscally responsible behavior are not what I would call appropriate. But then, with over $20 trillion in national debt, the Fed and the spend-and-borrow crowd do not show themselves to be hallmarks of good judgement. If QE doesn’t work without negative rates, we should be very cautious in doing it. De facto devaluation of our currency, whether cash or electronic, is the only possible outcome of this policy.
And what do you think will happen when some faceless bureaucrat decides that you have offended his sense of right and wrong and cuts you off completely from the money??
Where and how will you buy gas, pay the rent and utilities if you are completely cut off from financial services?? Don’t think that the government if given this power won’t use it to keep disidents in line or remove them from society.
Gold, silver, ammunition, guns, chickens, shoats – there are lots of cash substitutes in the country. In the city, there are drugs and jugs of Tide detergent (really!). Getting rid of cash won’t slow down the underground economy at all.
Instead of getting rid of cash, I’m calling for re-instatement of the $500 & $1000 bills. The argument for getting rid of them is bogus. Hasn’t there been more inflation over the years which has made our paper money less valuable? So, we should print bigger bills, not get rid of them.
What would happen if the Fed stopped paying interest to banks on their balances held at the Fed?
Regarding the statement by the ex-Fed member, the Soviet Union was a cash system for most purchases. it was the currency of the individual. The money couldn’t be taken in or out of the country legally, but at least they had some privacy.
I grew up in a different age. “What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows” was a favorite show opening. I have worked in, on and around computers since the early 1980s and am always aware of the old line, “To err is human but to really screw up you need a computer.” My privacy is important to me, far more, it seems than yours is to you. Everyone has different tastes, just consider the tumblebug. Do whatever you like for money transfer but leave me the hell out of your new world.
Hi Boris
I love cash and use it to pay for most things and often get a discount for doing so. With cash there’s no trace of my spending habits and no threat to loss or misuse of my credit cards. I get a nominal amount from the local bank to cover our expected needs with some certainty that my privacy is protected. I use credit cards to travel with and on some larger items and trade through accounts in a number of commercial banks. I would never use any medium like facebook with the risks of compromise involved.
Mores not morays. Please forgive the editing; preservation of the English language is important.
At least the comments are from the last bastion of freedom fighters. There are a few of us left in the woods. Cashless my derrière. I love convenience as much as the next guy, but try to pry the last paper dollar from my cold dead hands.
this is just a hunt for taxes
Dear Boris: your comments have given us a greater insight as to what you are about. I applaud your open honest & candid remarks concerning how you prefer to deal in a virtual world of bits & bites. But really! Paying bills using face book? I would expect a remark like that from an adolescent with little or no real world experience. Your credibility just tanked. Many of your experienced readers, surely recognize that the Digital world of social media, INTERNET communications etc. will soon be under the complete control of the government. With that power, they will be able to clean your clock in the blink of an eye. You could be bankrupt in seconds, identity changed or just removed completely from the system. The survivors will hold on to physical currency, precious metals, canned goods, guns & whiskey. Everybody is just a little too complacent & comfortable in the current situation. I guess it’s up to the few old timers left to teach children and young people in general some common sense. Young people live on their smart phones. People don’t talk anymore, they text! Till next time, keep your powder dry & a bag of junk silver nearby.
Yep. Tanked. There is a shortage of common sense out there and I didn’t expect it from a Weiss writer.
Someone needs to be holding onto their money because the government darned sure isn’t. That’s why all the trillions of dollars paid in over the years by seniors for what some are now calling “entitlements” has disappeared. Their forced “saving” by the government was spent By the government. No wonder they’re afraid to spend now.
Admitting you don’t care about your personal/financial privacy convinced me I shouldn’t give credence to anything you said after that point….so that’s where I stopped reading…
Pretty loose use of the term freedom here. As presented, it’s freedom from the hassle of conducting everyday transactions. Pretty narrow and self centered. Confidence in the digital system? Think recently Delta, Southwest, and a miriod of companies whose computer systems have been compromised.
Both of the above are mutually exclusive of the ability of a very few to shape personal, local, national and global economics.
To infer, and it was by inclusion in this article, that holding cash is a dirty word is closer to either a cause or effect of current monetary policies, and currently a policy that has not had a positive effect on growth in the USA or globally. Think Japan, EU. Maybe out of the box thinking, however not original and not without consequence to remove cash from society. More like another level of control.
Well Boris looks like your idea went over like a lead balloon and I am on the side above as well. This guy President Narayana Kocherlakota is just another snake oil salesman trying to make us believe he is “Father Knows Best” I am tired of paternal people like this jerk that claimed to know everything yet they orchestrated us into this financial mess. Credibility hmmm NONE. Yes with everything digital our savings will be digital boxes where the government can push a button and empty out our life savings. We live in a Voodoo world Fed liars, lying Beige Book, lying government numbers we would be better off to butcher a chicken and read its entrails. It amazes me that more people have not caught onto the charade but then we are clutching looking for something to hold onto in this crazy upside world. We still look at these people like some kind of Gods rather than a clandestine coven wandering around in the wilderness. Oh how sad it is.
In the light of the possible takeover I am confused about what to do with any money in the bank. Do you pay ahead on taxes etc. invest or keep some on hand ,what denomination. Help!
Convenience is one think while privacy is another.
One wonders why Boris finds “…central bankers need the freedom to take rates deep into negative territory…” to be able rob people of their “hoarded” money plausible.
It came to me as a surprise that people like Boris who supposedly care for people’s well being advocate measures depraving them liberty of deciding for their future albeit the coming economical crises.
Doesn’t Boris know what the “captains” (governments directed by the central bankers) are up to???
No cash takes the government and the Fed one step closer to the total control of your life that they want. It might make your life easier paying bills in the short term but long term you will lose an awful lot of freedom that you can never hope to get back.
Also relying on a system that needs electricity and a computer system to be able to transact is going to be a real bummer if the grid goes down for a few days.
I agree Robert, the government would tax fresh air if they could, the co2 emissions on some motor vehicles in some European countries are still taxed. Cars are a great way of pulling chicks particularly red sporty cars.
I think Boris is here to provide the contrarian viewpoint.
Species or Fiat: there in lies the question. I would suggest we analyze why the governments of the western civilization created money to have inherent value? I would suggest the reason was because when they collected it for taxes, they were sure they would be collecting something of value. The guy who said that individuals will hold on to their gold, silver, and whiskey, in my mind was closest to the mark. [pun intended]. When Christ told the leaders of the church “give unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar’s, and into God that which is God’s.” , he was saying , if people refuse to use Ceasar’s money , it becomes very difficult for Ceasar to extract his pound of flesh. To me this might be the politician being hoisted on his own piccard
SO , do you actually rely on these government issued numbers? That is a big flaw to me. NO ONE rely’s on the Gov. stats that are changed , manipulated , re-sized and “adjusted”after the ” gov, number served their propaganda purpose .
Somebody has been paying for keeping the USA’s “friendly” countries in line and for destroying the “unfriendly”.
Now you are going to harvest what you have been sawing.
The guns of the American “freedom” are turning against you.
USA is not the first world’s emporium “too big to fall”.
Good luck!!!
We didn’t learn from history. Apparently we never do.
We didn’t learn how Hitler got the nation to do his will.
We didn’t learn what the New World Order was all about , thinking it was solely for our benefit.
It’s time to wake up to find out we missed the bus.
Better late than never. So they say.
You’re an idiot if you put your money and faith in Zuckerberg. Also, going cashless is inane for dozens of reasons…paying the paperboy or sending $15 in a birthday card. Perhaps the government could find a way to stir the economy other than the cop-out of printing money? Help the construction sector that’s hurting by creating actual jobs that pay well by rebuilding our highways and bridges like the one in Minnesota that collapsed. QE hasn’t worked in any country and neither have negative interest rates. Real solutions are desperately needed; all we get is manipulations of monetary policy.
SCOTT
I agree the thought of having to use cashless devices for small purchases such as a roll and coffee in the morning , a bottle of water or other beverage or a snack from a vending machine is just plain stupid and probably takes longer too . People have to be careful as I wonder if the vending machine with the credit or debit card machines could be hacked ??? I know of at least one machine that displayed a $600 price tag for what should be a $2 sale !!!
Wow! Is this how far our world has gone that a person honestly believes there should not be cash. Come on and don’t tell me that going to negative interest rates so the banksters can
play their game is intellectually efficient.
Just remember- they are just digital numbers and they can be wiped out. The hoarding of cash is the average citizens fight against this BS.
R we facing an impossible situation like Bill Bonner of Agora Financial predicts as the 6th worst shock to our world? Is our country in peril from our economy coming to a standstill? At some point in the near future commerce will collapse, banks will fail, atms won’t work, credit will dry up and people will be out in the street for food . Bonner says will happen shortly because our system is all based on credit.That is what B. Bonner
said.
You better believe B. Bonner. He knows what he is talking about. So is Jim Richards.
I happen to be reading this one just now by Michael Snyder: http://www.activistpost.com/2016/09/major-problems-announced-one-largest-big-fail-banks-united-states.html?utm_source=Activist+Post+Subscribers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=549a9162a5-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_b0c7fb76bd-549a9162a5-387923965
This is a most dangerously naive and Pollyannaish article. If you take away cash and start to slowly take away people’s wealth (NIRP), people will respond by reverting to the barter system or other non-fiscal methods of trade and wealth accumulation.
PEOPLE RESPOND TO POLICY IN WAYS THAT BEST FAVOR THEMSELVES.
Is that so hard to understand? Communism and other idealistic systems suffer the same flaw as the dumb idea of eliminating cash – in order to work, you first have to assume idealistic, non-selfish behavior from EVERYONE. Ideas that start with “assume a uniform, perfect human” WILL NEVER WORK.
Instead, we’ll get imperfect selfish humans running the broken system, clambering for positions of power where they can exploit and profit from total control. Disaster and human misery for MILLIONS will follow.
So,no more yard sales bake sales, charity,lemon aid stands(the cops will bust them) You are wrong when you say QE hasn’t worked.It has worked for the super rich.they cash(ha ha) in the ballooned money.Then buy hard assets like NYC FRISCO(that will get some panties in a twist)Aspen real estate ,i.e where ever us collected group of peons can’t afford.I know one or 2 things that have gone down in price:AR 15s & ammo.
Unfortunatly I just read this article this afternoon, so my comments are a little late. Beter late than never. Boris, you’re correct in one remark you made. Your view is very far from universal. In fact, it is in some other parallel universe that I don’t want to live in. As someone else said “cash is king”, even fiat cash along with real silver and gold coins. Pay bills using Fasebook. Transfer money, all seamlessly as you put it, and all for free. Free, REALLY! I have lost so much of my identity utilizing “free” online banking and CCs. I have paid dearly for the convenience. You think that a cashless society where our government can track every where I go, how I spend what little money I have after taxes is fine and of course free. I don’t want the powers that be, both government and corporate, tracking my every movement and transaction I make. I applied for a nation wide department store credit card over the phone a few years ago and while proving my identity, was shocked to learn what they already knew about me. They knew my son’s wife’s name, even what my dog’s name was (no kidding) and on and on. What very little privacy I have left, I would like to keep. And by paying for things with cash, leaves no cookie trail to follow. I now try to keep a couple of months worth of cash and ammunition to meet all my expenses and safety for my self and family when the inevitable happens. Our economy is nothing but a house of cards, our government is broken, in horrific debt, inept and full of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who do nothing but abuse their power that we have relented, on a regular basis. If anybody reads this, please excuse my rambling. And if there are misspelled words, I’m the product of public education which used to be the best in the world.
NO Cash,,,,and Electroinc “credits”….will be the final nail in the coffin for individual freedom.
The US Government has failed the ideals of The Constitution.
We are basically an English based country, because most of the ” founding fathers”….were English. They wrote a Constitution to try and abolish the class society that England had become,….one of “the nobility”…..versus the “commoner”.
The founding fathers knew that there were two sets of laws, one for the “nobles” and one for the “peasants”. Eventually peasants, or serfs, or what ever you want to call the common man….rise up and demand their rights. We call that….Revolution. We saw that in France, and in the Unification of the German and Italian states into their respective countries.
The USA Constitution was the last ” great experiment”……It has failed.
Today we have the 1%ers running everything. Hilary is like the “Teflon Don”…..who resisted arrest for many years….she is still out of jail.
America is reacting to this distrust by allowing The Donald to run up against a corrupt, representative of the 1%ers….The Clintons.
If something is not done to correct the situation….there will be a Revolution in the USA….Banning cash may just touch the powder keg ………………..with a match…
We can transfer money on Facebook for free unless it is a business transaction.