Ben Franklins and crime, an unlikely pair
A Harvard is making the case that the number of $100 bills in circulation is tied to the amount of crime, not only in the country but the world. Hmmm.
Of course, in our thematic investing world, we have developed the Cashless Consumption thematic ( up 10.31% for the year ), which looks at the tailwinds of the consumer move towards e-Commerce, credit cards, electronic payments, in-app purchases, etc. So we’re well familiar with what we call the demise of cash.
This article in Bloomberg focuses on one of the last hold-outs of the use of cash: crime.
Law-abiding citizens rarely have need for $100 bills, yet there are 34 of them in circulation for every woman, man, and child in the U.S. That suggests the bills are circulating mainly in the underground economy. If the biggest bill were worth $10, rather than $100, delivering someone a million bucks under the table would require a 220-pound chest rather than a 22-pound briefcase. Forcing people to use smaller bills, Rogoff argues, might make crime more conspicuous and less convenient.
Source: Harvard Economist Kenneth Rogoff Is Trying to Kill Cash – Bloomberg
