The Scandinavian countries Sweden, Denmark and Norway are regarded as a pioneer in the the effort to eliminate money and move totally electronic. Denmark closed its final Mint outsourced the operation to Finland. This means that there is no coinage in the three states struck anymore. In this war on cash, about 20% of all transactions were settled in Denmark last year with cash. In Germany and Austria, cash transactions accounted for 80%. Scandinavia is pushing hard to eliminate all cash completely to enable 100% efficient tax collecting.

The demand for paper dollars is rising in Europe significantly. The average person will continue to increase their hoarding of US dollars, especially in the aftermath of India. Especially with Trump in office, there will be no cancellation of cash overnight. Even getting rid of $100 bills will be extremely problematic since the 1990s, about 50% of all paper dollars are held outside the United States, which was the Federal Reserve’s estimate back in the 1990s.

The demand for U.S. currency internationally has actually replaced gold. US currency is being held for the same reasons since it is a recognized as a unit of account globally, THE international medium of exchange, and especially in light of events in India and Turkey, the dollar has become the store of value. No doubt the goldbugs will yell about that statement. But it is true. Far more people are using dollars than gold internationally, particularly since you cannot hop on a plane with gold. Japan, Norway, and Sweden are the top three holders of US currency in small denominations. Switzerland is the largest holder of $100 billion followed by Netherlands and Belgium. Germany is rising EXTREMELY fast and may now rise to the second largest holder on that list.

It was Edmond Safra and Republic National Bank that was sending plane-loads of $100 bills to Russia. I personally saw these skids of cash in the bank. To get this much cash back then, meant that the U.S. Treasury had to have approved and sent these skids of cash to the bank (money-plane-crec-1996-02-13-pt1-pge196-2).

The Australian federal government is planning a full assault on the black or underground economy by appointing a taskforce who will consider the future of the $100 note and bans on cash payments over a certain level. Australia, like everyone else, is facing a monetary crisis whereby the current system of taxes and social programs with pensions are colliding and will simply collapse. This idea of perpetual borrowing cannot be sustained. Instead of reforming the system, they prefer to attack the people, as always — we are just the enemy.

The Australian black economy of unrecorded economic activity that is untaxed by government is estimated to be worth $21bn or 1.5% of gross domestic product. Even if they got all the taxes that they think they deserve, it would still not solve any problems. We are simply doomed and the longer governments postpone real reform, the worse the collapse will be.

Former KPMG Global Chairman Michael Andrew will head the new underground economy taskforce, which I suspect is one reason to think twice about KPMG. It will also include the Australian Tax Office, Reserve Bank of Australia, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, and immigration and human services departments. They plan on considering the continued use of the $100 note of which there are $30bn in circulation. They are also looking to France, a fantastic role model, where the government banned cash payments of over €1,000.

The taskforce is looking at putting a limit on cash transactions, and they are no doubt keeping one eye on how India’s cancellation of currency with no notice works out. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the nation that the cancellation of the currency would protect the interests of “those citizens earning honestly and with hard work.” Modi’s actions are sending probably more than 400,000 people into unemployment while shops have closed as they are unable to collect money or pay workers.

QUESTION: What do you think about Steve Mnuchin as Secretary of Treasury? He does have a beautiful Scottish fiancee.

Bill

ANSWER: Not a fan. Yes, Steven Terner Mnuchin used to work for Goldman Sachs but he left them in 2002. That is really not an issue. It is good that he has real, live experience as an investment banker and hedge fund investor. After he left Goldman, he worked for and founded a number of hedge funds but with George Soros involvement, which would leave a question mark in my mind. During the financial crisis, Mnuchin bought failed house lender IndyMac and rebuilt it into OneWest Bank, which he then sold in 2015 to CIT Group.

OneWest Bank gained a reputation for having 17% of the federally insured reverse mortgage market, and almost 40% of all federally insured reverse mortgage foreclosures during that time. I would have to say that as the CEO, there is no possible way he did not know what was going on. One of the most egregious examples of OneWest Bank’s insane foreclosures was the story of Ossie Lofton, a 90-year-old Lakeland, Florida, homeowner on a reverse mortgage who OneWest foreclosed on over a 27-cent payment error with her insurance.

Obviously, the computer program foreclosed anyone who was late on a payment, but it did not even have a basic amount test. Normally, a mortgage foreclosure results in a loss for the bank. Here we are talking about a reverse mortgage. That is where they get to buy the home on the cheap.

As for his Scottish fiancée, Louise Linton, well she is stunning. But then again, I may be prejudice having some Scottish blood running in my veins.

I also strongly disagree with Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn for the top White House economic post — National Economics Council. This guy was deeply involved in sending Greece down the river. I think this is a huge conflict of interest.