END OF TIMES FOR CASH: Western governments now want to kill off cash as a means of storing significant money outside the banking system. Suddenly all the western central banks and their go-to people are recommending eliminating larger bills—including in Australia.

The ostensible reason is to make life more difficult for criminals and tax evaders. But crooks have used suitcases of cash for decades, so why now?

The world has seen a huge build up in money/credit since 1982, far larger as a percentage of GDP than in the roaring twenties. This money was created by the private banking system, so there is matching debt. The world is now awash in debt, with higher levels than ever before now strangling economic growth. Money growth in the private sector faltered in the GFC in 2008, so governments took over, with qualitative easing (lowering interest rates) and quantitative easing (printing).

Recessions come along every 5 to 10 years, and the next recession is now looming. Nearly all of the western world has near zero interest rates, so the only tool left for central banks is printing. Unless…they can make interest rates negative! A rate of -1% means your bank takes 1% of your money each year. Ahh, but people would just take their money out as cash. Hence the war on cash…

It won’t work of course, and eventually printing without creating debt will be needed to wash away the debt load. But in the meantime, they will try and make you keep all your money in the banks, so the banks can pilfer it on a regular basis. Government and banks rule! Your economic freedom curtailed again.

The markets are starting to figure this out, which is why they behaved so differently for the last two months.