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I get that large bills provide more opportunities for conterfeiters, money launderers, and other (in the eyes of the State) bad actors, I am surprised to see ho
by biztos 11y ago
I get that large bills provide more opportunities for conterfeiters, money launderers, and other (in the eyes of the State) bad actors, I am surprised to see how low the line is being drawn. In the US they only go up to $100.[0]
The worrying thing is simply that it's in the State's interest to have every monetary transaction be electronic and thus entirely traceable, also in aggregate; whereas it's in my interest to be able to spend (or loan, or give away) my money privately.
The lower the available currency denominations, the more this balance shifts towards the State.
[0]https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/denominations.aspx https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages...
- toomuchtodo 11y agoYou should be worried less about traceability, and more about negative interest rates turning you into an economic slave in the pursuit of unattainable growth. A lot easier to chip away at your savings if they're bits in the bank versus notes under the mattress.
- notahacker 11y agoA lot easier to chip away at savings if they're under the mattress losing value rather than in a savings account earning above-inflation interest
- toomuchtodo 11y agoShow me a savings account in a developed country earning above inflation interest.
- loeg 11y agoNetSpend (US) promotional rate is 5% annually. Capped at $5000, but that's certainly above inflation for that balance. Various banks and credit unions (US) have promotional (capped) 2% rates. (Above inflation.) Ally bank (US, online) has a ~1% rate, which is sometimes above inflation (uncapped). More info: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/banking/nerdwallets-top-high-yield-online-savings-accounts/ https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/banking/nerdwallets-top-high...
- toomuchtodo 11y agoIf you're capping it at a dollar amount, its a marketing promotion/cost, not a true market interest rate.
- loeg 11y agoAlly and others linked at nerdwallet are not capped.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoRight, but as I point out below, you're not getting ahead making 0.1% above inflation. You're barely tracking it if it increases (and with rents and healthcare costs spiking/not properly tracked in inflation, I'd say you're most assuredly not staying ahead of inflation).
- loeg 11y agoYeah, but you didn't ask to "get ahead." Just: > Show me a savings account in a developed country earning above inflation interest. Anyway, 0.1% above inflation still beats 0% cash-under-mattress (in inflationary environments).
- jhallenworld 11y agohttps://www.fnbodirect.com https://www.fnbodirect.com has .95% for savings (they used to have 6%) Inflation for March was .85%.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoI think we're quibbling when the difference is .1 percent. Too much capital is chasing too few returns.
- tiatia 11y agoYou must be f. kidding? http://blog.geckoresearch.com/content/11658 http://blog.geckoresearch.com/content/11658
- toomuchtodo 11y agoAlso: http://www.wsj.com/articles/rising-rents-outpace-wages-in-wide-swaths-of-the-u-s-1438117026 http://www.wsj.com/articles/rising-rents-outpace-wages-in-wi...
- notahacker 11y agoHere's my current account http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/123-current-account http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/123-current-a... Needless to say you can do a lot better with specialist products and better still with funky startup consumer investment platforms if you don't mind the risk
- toomuchtodo 11y ago> Monthly interest of 3% AER (variable) payable on your entire balance up to £20,000, when you have at least £3,000 in your account. Capped.
- notahacker 11y agoSure. After that I have to use their actual savings products, which also pay over current inflation rates. (Or earn 5-12% on a lending product with actual risk associated with it). Try sticking more than £20k in your mattress.
- nawariata 11y agoDunno if Poland qualifies as developed country, but most banks here offer an account with 3-5% interest above inflation (or deflation, as we are currently experiencing since year and a half).
- melvinmt 11y agoGoldman Sachs just started to offer 1.05% on savings: https://www.gsbank.com https://www.gsbank.com US inflation for last 12 months as of March 2016 was 0.9%.
- m_t 11y agoLivret A in France, 0.75% interest.
- kirykl 11y agoNegative interest rates will chip away at savings in a bank, in that case best to have cash
- biztos 11y agoI don't know... I'm already pretty well chained to someone else's "pursuit of unattainable growth" in the long term, and I've seen too may currency fluctutions (and retirings!) to want to only own cash. But I do think it's a reasonable concern that the same laws written to restrict financing of terrorism are equally useful to restrict financing of (say) democratic opposition parties.
- notahacker 11y agoIn the UK de facto we only go up to £20 (about $29) The £50 note exists, but is seldom accepted because it's so rarely seen that the average person wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the genuine article and a parody £50 note, never mind a competently produced counterfeit. Pretty clear that British idiosyncrasy is driven by individuals not wanting to deal with large denomination bills rather than state malfeasance though.
- return0 11y agoI doubt it. The EUR 500 bill would raise more eyebrows. I 've never seen one. Banks will never give you one (not even E 200 bills).
- raverbashing 11y agoYes, the 500€ I can understand Eliminating the 50£ and $100 is just a sad joke