by A whole score of Caribbean Islands seem to have been wiped out by a whole series of unusually strong hurricanes. These islands (Dominica, Puerto Rico, St-Maarten, Anguilla, …) need loads of outside help. But these societies have to be resilient, too. Which means that they need money suited to this task: cash. See below. There is however a powerful lobby which tries to get rid of cash (i.e. government money) and to replace this with electronic bank moneys. Sad. Aside – once government cash is successfully abolished this market niche will, no doubt, be rapidly filled with bank cash which will enable banks to reap even larger seigniorage profits… (Update. To avoid misunderstandings: this is not meant to criticize the banks. Filling such a niche will be a good thing. But governments
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A whole score of Caribbean Islands seem to have been wiped out by a whole series of unusually strong hurricanes. These islands (Dominica, Puerto Rico, St-Maarten, Anguilla, …) need loads of outside help. But these societies have to be resilient, too. Which means that they need money suited to this task: cash. See below. There is however a powerful lobby which tries to get rid of cash (i.e. government money) and to replace this with electronic bank moneys. Sad. Aside – once government cash is successfully abolished this market niche will, no doubt, be rapidly filled with bank cash which will enable banks to reap even larger seigniorage profits… (Update. To avoid misunderstandings: this is not meant to criticize the banks. Filling such a niche will be a good thing. But governments should take action to prevent the very existence of this niche) Source.
NEW YORK/SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) – Demand for cash in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico is “extraordinarily high” after power outages knocked out electronic transactions and ATMs but needs were being met for now, a Federal Reserve branch said on Wednesday.
Residents and tourists were counting their dwindling banknotes in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which crippled the electrical grid and communications network, turning the Caribbean island into a largely cash-based economy.
The New York branch of the U.S. central bank, which oversees and makes funds available to Puerto Rico’s financial institutions, said it was prepared for another surge in cash demand and could rush more banknotes to the island if necessary.