

500 euro note - why criminals love it so - pier0
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8678979.stm

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WillyF
I worry that it won't be long before governments criminalize cash. They want
to track everything (for a multitude of reasons ranging from taxes to criminal
activity), and cash inhibits this.

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nostromo
Even if cash stays with us for another 100 years -- inflation will make it
more and more inefficient over time.

Eg.: around 1970 when $100 became the largest bill, it was actually worth
about $500 in today's value. So, it lost 4/5 of it's real value.

If you look another 40 years out, $100 will become the new $20, the government
will probably not have introduced any new bills, and the amount of
transactions you can actually transact in cash will be even smaller.

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sethg
I can’t remember the last time I bought something worth more than $100 by
paying cash. If every bill with a denomination over $20 went away, or if
inflation reduced the largest circulating bill to a value of twenty
2010-dollars, I wouldn’t notice.

Not to say that the government _should_ eliminate the higher-denomination
bills—just using myself as a data point to suggest there’s not much consumer
demand for them.

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xiaoma
I've bought my last four computers in cash, not in the US, though.

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Retric
I love how forcing them to replace 2 bags of 500 with 5 bags of 200 is
supposed to impact organized crime.

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hugh3
_Ian Cruxton of Soca says that's entirely what investigators expect the gangs
to do - but there are reasons to be optimistic because they're trying to
disrupt the "business practices" of organised crime and force gangs to make
mistakes._

It makes life marginally harder for 'em. Instead of walking around with a
briefcase you're suddenly walking around with a suitcase. Instead of having to
get one guy you really trust to carry the money you have to get two guys you
really trust to carry the money. It's twice as hard to hide your huge cash wad
when you travel through customs. Mostly though, the main goal is probably just
to annoy them.

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Retric
_The main goal is probably just to annoy them._

The problem is it annoys everyone that deals with significant quantities of
cash. I keep cash on hand just in case a bank glitch messes with my checking
account. Forcing me to keep larger bills reduces my available hiding places
and makes it easier to rob me.

PS: I suggest most people without significant debt keep 2 weeks living
expences (food/fuel/etc) in cash just in case.

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mclin
What about gold? or is too difficult to exchange? especially when the zombie
apocalypse comes :P

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tron_carter
Silver is probably better for day to day zombie apocalypse transactions.

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roc
Food, water, ammo, medical supplies: not only what you need to survive; also
the only things worth trading.

...maybe booze and sex. Supposing anyone lasts long enough to let their guard
down.

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pmjordan
So if the primary use of the €500 note in the UK is for money laundering...
doesn't that make it easier for law enforcement, too? If they track down the
movements of the notes, they should have few false positives.

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stan_rogers
This exactly parallels Canada'a elimination of the $1000 note, except that the
largest denomination now in circulation is the $100 note. Adding an order of
magnitude to the weight, bulk and inconvenience of cash transactions (along
with requiring paperwork concerning bank transactions involving $10000 or more
in cash) may not have done much about large-scale organised crime, but it
certainly did make it more difficult to skirt the goods and services tax.

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alexyim
I don't see why they can't continue to do what they're doing and track big
notes. If anything, reducing the size of the note would make it blend in with
notes used for legitimate purposes.

Tracking 500 euro notes and finding criminal activity is a means of solving
problems. Inconveniencing criminals isn't.

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euroclydon
There has got to be some moral boundary on taxes. Most government are
perfectly willing to cross that boundary. So I actually think that cheating
the government of tax revenue can be okay in certain circumstances, but the
government, if they could, would do away will all cash, and make all
transaction electronic and auditable. Just look at that new regulation in the
U.S. where you technically now have to issue a 1099 to anyone who you do more
than 600 worth of business with... gas stations, retailers, etc.

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xiaoma
I remember another high profile case in which Japanese criminals smuggled
billions of dollars worth of T-bills. If high denominations of cash are
crippled enough, more organized criminals may go that route.

[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=a62_...](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=a62_boqkurbI)

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adbge
Sounds like organized crime simply wants the largest note possible to reduce
the raw size of their cash. Not sure how that translates to the fact that
"Criminals love the 500 euro note."

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shykes
Will cash be illegal in 10 years?

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shykes
It's always a pleasure to have a friendly debate.

