How NOT to Create Your Own Currency
The Cost of Physical Money and Thoughts on a Cashless Society
Photo by epSos .de / Flickr
Think it would be easy to create your own currency? Think again. Beyond the fact you need to own a country, the processes surrounding currency have changed a lot over the years. Today, many are wondering if a cashless society is the next big leap forward in finance on planet Earth.
The Cost of Physical Currency
If you’re creating your own currency from scratch, the biggest reason you’re going to want to stay away from physical money is the cost. From printing the dollars to minting the coins, a lot of money needs to be spent to make sure they’re not easy to counterfeit. This really adds up quickly and is one reason some are proposing that paper money and coins go away. Canada has already stopped producing the penny.
Pros and Cons of a Cashless Society
Here’s a quick look at some of the pros and cons of moving to a cashless society.
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Easier to Track – This might be considered a positive or negative depending on the type of person you are and how much you value your privacy. With no paper money, it’s easier to track each and every single transaction down the penny. This would make it harder for some crimes to be committed although criminals would likely start black markets or use bartering to get around the system.
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Cheaper Costs – One of the main positives of a cashless society would be all the cost savings. While it would cost money to make sure everyone has a money card and to stop them from being counterfeited, this cost would most likely be lower than the cost of printing money and minting new coins all the time. More research needs to be done in order to determine which is less expensive.
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Privacy Concerns – Speaking of privacy, this is actually a big issue and why many people think that a cashless society is NOT a good idea. Even if you don’t have nothing to hide, why let the government or corporations know about every single transaction you make. Tracking purchases is one thing that has some people worried about a cashless society.
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Less Cheating – Another way that a cashless society could be beneficial is making sure people pay their fair share of taxes. If people use bartering in the black market they can still escape paying, but in most cases more people are going to be paying taxes on purchases without finding loopholes that are found in the current paper money world.
What do you think about paper currency? Is it time for it to go away or does a cashless society scare you for one reason or another? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. You may be surprised at what others think about this topic that could become very relevant in the years ahead.
Written by: Sara Xiang loves taking Cape Tribulation Tours whenever possible. There’s a lot of interesting information she’s found out by reading various infographics online in her spare time.
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Category: Banking
