NC Renegades

The war on cash is escalating. Just a week ago, the infamous Willem Buiter, along with Ken Rogoff, voiced their support for a restriction (or ban altogether) on the use of cash (something that was already been implemented in Louisiana in 2011 for used goods). Today, as Mises’ Jo Salerno reports, the war has acquired a powerful new ally in Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., which has enacted a policy restricting the use of cash in selected markets; bans cash payments for credit cards, mortgages, and auto loans; and disallows the storage of “any cash or coins” in safe deposit boxes.

Buiter defended his “controversial” call for a ban on cash, as Bloomberg reports:

“The world’s central banks have a problem. When economic conditions worsen, they react by reducing interest rates in order to stimulate the economy. But, as has happened across the world in recent years, there comes a point where those central banks run out of room to cut — they can bring interest rates to zero, but reducing them further below that is fraught with problems, the biggest of which is cash in the economy.

In a new piece, Citi’s Willem Buiter looks at this problem, which is known as the effective lower bound (ELB) on nominal interest rates. Fundamentally, the ELB problem comes down to cash. According to Buiter, the ELB only exists at all due to the existence of cash, which is a bearer instrument that pays zero nominal rates. Why have your money on deposit at a negative rate that reduces your wealth when you can have it in cash and suffer no reduction? Cash therefore gives people an easy and effective way of avoiding negative nominal rates. Buiter’s note suggests three ways to address this problem:

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David Horowitz – UNC Chapel Hill from DHFC on Vimeo.

h/t Watcher

Wall of Truth from DHFC on Vimeo.

h/t Watcher

What’s so shocking about the story below is not that a 20-year veteran of the Houston police force, who was previously named one of the “Officers of the Year” by the Officers Union, was trafficking weapons for drug cartels. What’s shocking is that he was actually indicted and faces life in prison. He should’ve worked for a federal agency like the DEA or TSA, in which case he might not have even been fired. For example:

DEA Agents Caught Having Drug Cartel Funded Prostitute Sex Parties Received Slap on the Wrist; None Fired

TSA Agents Caught Gaming System so Male Screener Could Grope Attractive Passengers; No Criminal Charges Filed

We learn from KPRC 2 News in Houston that:

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1. On May 1st, 2015 withdraw as much money as possible from bank accounts.

2. From May 1st-May 3rd, purchase ammo, guns, precious metals, and other preparedness-related supplies.

3. From May 1st-May 3rd, restrict purchases to cash at small sole-proprietor type businesses.

4. Maintain remainder of withdrawal amount as emergency cash fund.

Spread the word.

In  the forests approximately 25 miles from Knoxville, Tennessee lies an unlikely tool in the US’s efforts for world peace — an Iranian nuclear facility.

Well, a replica of an Iranian nuclear facility.

Scientists in the Oak Ridge nuclear reservation built the classified replica to provide the president and other diplomats with real technical information, not just estimations, on Iran’s nuclear capabilities, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Using plans believed to have been recovered by a joint US-Israeli cyber attack on Iranian enrichment plants, and centrifuges surrendered by Libya over a decade ago, the team at the Tennessee center set up a replica of an Iranian nuclear processing facility to offer concrete information on Iran’s breakout time to those involved in the ongoing nuclear talks. This information is critical for negotiators to make better recommendations and demands, officials said.

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Last week we reported that a Citigroup economist said that we need to abolish currency like the U.S. dollar, or at the very least, tax those who possess it.

The whole idea made no sense, unless of course you are a big government stooge whose end-game is complete control over peoples’ assets and a desire to track the purchasing activities of consumers.

Now, a new report from Paul Joseph Watson at Infowars.com suggests that this may well be the goal. It turns out that it’s not just Citigroup who wants cash to be banned.

Some JPMorgan Chase customers are receiving letters informing them that the bank will no longer allow cash to be stored in safety deposit boxes.

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