If there was any doubt that we are being steered toward a cashless society, then this latest news should assuage those doubts:
The European Central Bank (ECB) says it will no longer produce the €500 (£400; $575) note because of concerns it could facilitate illegal activities. The decision comes in the wake of a European Commission inquiry in February into the way the notes are used. Senior ECB officials said at the time that they needed more evidence that the notes facilitated criminal activity. The UK asked banks to stop handling €500 notes in 2010 after a report found they were mainly used by criminals. The ECB says the €500 banknote remains legal tender and will always retain its value. It will stop issuing the note around the end of 2018, when it will bring in new €100 and €200 banknotes.The report from the Harvard Kennedy School is titled Making it Harder for the Bad Guys: The Case for Eliminating High Denomination Notes and the predictable villains are cited as a justification for this: terrorists, drug lords and tax evaders. If you're not a "bad guy" then how could you possibly object to this? If you do object, then maybe you are a "bad guy" and the powers-that-ought-not-be should take a closer look at your financial transactions: maybe raid your home and carry off your computing devices.
A report earlier this year for the Harvard Kennedy School, urged the world's 20 largest economies to stop issuing the largest notes in circulation - £50, $100 and €500 notes - to tackle crime. Peter Sands, former chief executive of Standard Chartered bank, said the high-denomination notes were favoured by terrorists, drug lords and tax evaders. Illegal money flows exceed $2 trillion (£1.4 trillion) a year, he said.
Make no doubt about it: cash is on the way out but the world will be a better place as a result because the "bad guys" will be bankrupt and the "good guys" will have triumphed. Let's hope that cryptocurrencies like BitCoin can disrupt the pursuit of this agenda by the banksters of the global elite.
