Friday, October 13, 2017

Roubini ThoughtLab and Visa Tag Team to Promote Cashless Cities



Visa has announced the results of an "independent study" conducted by Roubini ThoughtLab  and commissioned by Visa examining the economic impact of increasing the use of digital payments in major cities around the world.

The conclusion: Cities would
grow spectacularly if cash was abandoned and Visa was used instead.

Imagine my surprise.

The study reaches the bizarre conclusion that relying more on electronic payments, such as cards and mobile payments, could yield a net benefit of up to U.S. $470 billion per year across the 100 cities studied – roughly the equivalent to 3% of the average GDP for these cities.

The bastards proudly admit it would lead to more oppressive governments.

According to Payments Journal:
Governments across the 100 cities could achieve nearly $130 billion per year in estimated direct benefits. This impact would be derived from factors including increased tax revenues, increased economic growth, cost savings from administrative efficiencies and lower criminal justice costs due to reduced cash-related crime.
That is including perfectly reasonable things defined as crime by governments.

  -RW

1 comment:

  1. In addition to the additional oppression this affords governments, going all electronic creates issues when the electrical system breaks down, as commerce would ground to a halt and people could not purchase necessities other than through barter. See, for example, Puerto Rico recently after the hurricane hit.

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