The key point about digital currencies, from what I can tell, is that the organisation issuing the digital currency still gets to control what it is used for, even after it's issued.
It's less "cash" and more "food vouchers". If your employer decides that your wages aren't to be spent on anything irresponsible like stocks and shares, with digital currencies they can enforce this.
They can control what you spend your money on, who you purchase from, how often you're allowed to do so, and tweak rates and fees to encourage or discourage your spending habits.
You'll be forced to behave in a socially appropriate manner (according to their standards) if you want the privilege of continued access to your money.
I can see it now already: quotas and caps on what you're allowed to spend on based upon your "carbon footprint", which you can temporarily raise by climbing up a tier on your social credit score by using your social media accounts to "organically" parrot promote their ESG goals.
Want to eat meat this month? You better get started shilling for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, and hope that it's believable enough that sufficient people hit the Like button for you to rank up.
The key reason bankers want digital currencies is so they can implement NEGATIVE interests rates and there would be nothing you can do to avoid it.
(currently interest rates are almost zero in many countries. But they could not go negative or people would withdraw the cash and keep it under their mattress. With CBDC - you wouldn’t have the cash option)
They have done this here in denmark, if you have over (i think) 250k dkr / 38k $. they acrue negative interrest. Not that you would ever see any positive anyway.
Again, it's the voucher nature of the stuff. It can just quietly decline to be used for purchase of physical cash, or of fixed assets, or anything that lets you escape this combined vouchers-and-social-credit system that's being built.
I imagine any possibility of currency trading goes out the window as well, for the same reason: You're on ProleBucks™, now go spend what meagre money we've graciously decided to give you on an insect burger, pleb!
The "mattress problem" is solvable in paper money with a very simple mechanism: give paper notes an expiration date. Then you solve the negative interest rate problem by having the bank charge an "exchange fee" when you exchange them for new bills.
Then if you want to be a dick about it you make the "exchange fee" punitive to "encourage" people to not use paper money.
The key point about digital currencies, from what I can tell, is that the organisation issuing the digital currency still gets to control what it is used for, even after it's issued.
It's less "cash" and more "food vouchers". If your employer decides that your wages aren't to be spent on anything irresponsible like stocks and shares, with digital currencies they can enforce this.
Correct.
They can control what you spend your money on, who you purchase from, how often you're allowed to do so, and tweak rates and fees to encourage or discourage your spending habits.
You'll be forced to behave in a socially appropriate manner (according to their standards) if you want the privilege of continued access to your money.
I can see it now already: quotas and caps on what you're allowed to spend on based upon your "carbon footprint", which you can temporarily raise by climbing up a tier on your social credit score by using your social media accounts to "organically"
parrotpromote their ESG goals.Want to eat meat this month? You better get started shilling for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, and hope that it's believable enough that sufficient people hit the Like button for you to rank up.
The key reason bankers want digital currencies is so they can implement NEGATIVE interests rates and there would be nothing you can do to avoid it.
(currently interest rates are almost zero in many countries. But they could not go negative or people would withdraw the cash and keep it under their mattress. With CBDC - you wouldn’t have the cash option)
They have done this here in denmark, if you have over (i think) 250k dkr / 38k $. they acrue negative interrest. Not that you would ever see any positive anyway.
How exactly do negative interest rates work? After your bank scoping trace as a certain amount it loses money?
Cash or anything else
Again, it's the voucher nature of the stuff. It can just quietly decline to be used for purchase of physical cash, or of fixed assets, or anything that lets you escape this combined vouchers-and-social-credit system that's being built.
I imagine any possibility of currency trading goes out the window as well, for the same reason: You're on ProleBucks™, now go spend what meagre money we've graciously decided to give you on an insect burger, pleb!
You are right. I never thought of that.
The "mattress problem" is solvable in paper money with a very simple mechanism: give paper notes an expiration date. Then you solve the negative interest rate problem by having the bank charge an "exchange fee" when you exchange them for new bills.
Then if you want to be a dick about it you make the "exchange fee" punitive to "encourage" people to not use paper money.
I personally don’t believe the “mattress problem” is a problem- humans who save and prepare for their future SHOULD be rewarded.
By creating massive amounts of inflation - central banks encourage wastefulness and short term mentality