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The amount of $100 bills in circulation is surging. And it's leaving some economists scratching their heads.
The number of outstanding U.S. $100 bills has doubled since the financial crisis, with more than 12 billion of them across the world, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. C-notes have passed $1 bills in circulation, Deutsche Bank chief international economist Torsten Slok said in a note to clients this week.
[...] "By eliminating high denomination, high value notes we would make life harder for those pursuing tax evasion, financial crime, terrorist finance and corruption," [former Standard Chartered bank chief executive Peter] Sands wrote.
The global illicit money flows were "staggering" and fuel crimes from drug trafficking and human smuggling to theft and fraud, Sands said. He estimated that depending on the country, tax evasion robs the public sector of anywhere between 6 percent and 70 percent of what authorities estimate they should be collecting. And despite "huge investments in transaction surveillance systems, and intelligence, less than 1 percent of illicit financial flows are seized.
[...] "The Federal Reserve and Treasury make 99 dollars for every $100 dollar bill they print and sell offshore," Colas said. "There's a natural desire to keep printing these things — the U.S. government makes a lot of money selling them."
Superbills?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdollar
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday March 01 2019, @06:51PM (1 child)
The 500 Euro bill was discontinued at the end of last year, because its high value was allegedly a good way to smuggle cash.
Only ever saw one. Had to deposit it in a bank, before drawing the same amount from the account afterwards. They wouldn't even give the change without associating it with someone's identity. It was brand new and had been given out by an Asian bank to friends before their travel to Europe, yet they couldn't use it anywhere.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday March 01 2019, @08:30PM
I had a hard time using EU100 notes the last time I was in Europe. The friendly person at the front desk of my hotel was kind enough to break them for me.
I've found that it's hard to get folks at regular shops to even break EU50 bills. However, the friendly South-asian man at the bodega near my home is happy to break US$100 bills for me.
Then again, in Europe, cash is pretty much all coins until you get to EU20 (and occasionally EU10) denominations.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr