Overview

Why cash is worth preserving in an increasingly “cashless” society Over the last thirty years, we have witnessed a rapid transformation in the way that people pay for goods and services. Where we used to use cash for all but our largest purchases, many people now prefer credit cards, debit cards, cryptocurrency, and electronic services like Venmo, PayPal, or Alipay. And that's not necessarily a good thing. In The Power of Cash: Why Using Paper Money is Good for You and Society, Professor Jay Zagorsky, former advisor to the Boston Federal Reserve, delivers a startlingly insightful and eye-opening discussion of the harmful and unintended consequences of the demise of paper money. The author convincingly argues that cash is an essential and helpful tool that's worth preserving for the long run. You'll learn why using cash makes it easier to control your spending, secures your anonymity and privacy against bad actors intent on stealing your data, mitigates the chaos of climate change and war, and helps the poor, vulnerable, unbanked, and disenfranchised to navigate society. You'll also discover: When business and governments can refuse to take your paper money How cash maintains your privacy and anonymity from tech companies, hackers, banks, and others How cash ensures companies cannot charge you a high “custom price” The potential dangers of giving governments control and knowledge of your spending How cash controls additional fees and costs associated with electronic purchases Perfect for anyone with an interest in the way we pay for the things we buy each and every day, The Power of Cash is also a must-read for people interested in the implications of a truly “cashless” society on personal finance, technology, politics, and social justice.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jay L. Zagorsky (Boston University)
Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Imprint:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 16.00cm , Height: 3.60cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.590kg
ISBN:  

9781394299911

ISBN 10:   1394299915
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   24 April 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Preface xv  Chapter One  Introduction and Overview 1  Shift Away from Cash 3  Why the Shift? 4  Key Question – Is the Shift Good? 5  The Synopsis: A Dozen Reasons Cash Is Powerful 8  Conclusion 13  Section I  Is Cash Disappearing? 15  Chapter Two  Is Cash Disappearing? The Case of Spending 17  Cash Use Around the World 19  Why Do Some Places Use Cash More Than Others? 20  Trends in Paper Money Use 22  Who Is Leading the US Shift? 23  Is Cash Still Used for Small Payments? 25  Conclusion 26  Chapter Three  Is Cash Disappearing? The Case of Savings 29  Trends in Paper Money Holdings 30  Other Countries 32  The Changing Mix 35  What It Means 35  Conclusion 37  Section ii  Cash Provides Society with Resilience 41  Chapter Four  How Do Cashless Payments Work? 43  Communication Disruptions 48  Electricity Disruptions – Understanding Power Grids 50  Number of Electricity Disruptions 52  Cash is Environmentally Friendly 54  Computer Security 54  Conclusion 57  Chapter Five  Natural Disasters Prevent Cashless Payments from Happening 59  Trend in Natural Disasters 62  Floods: An Example from China 64  Hurricanes 65  Fire and Drought 67  Volcanic Eruption 69  Solar Storms 70  Conclusion 72  Chapter Six  Paper Money Boosts National Defense 75  Modern Examples 77  Counterfeit Money – Destroying Faith in the Currency 79  Power 82  Moving Money 83  Destroying Faith 87  Are Transactions True? 88  Conclusion 91  Section iii  Cash Helps People 93  Chapter Seven  Using Cash Helps Control Spending 95  Do People Spend More? 98  Impulse Control 99  Visualization 100  Endowment Effect 101  The Budget Constraint 102  Conclusion 104  Chapter Eight  Other Reasons Why Using Cash Helps People 107  Using Cash Saves Money 108  Using Cash Keeps You Healthier 109  Cash and Math Skills 111  Tipping 112  Nickel and Dimed 114  Conclusion 116  Chapter Nine  Using Cash Keeps Your Life Private 117  How Private Is Collecting and Distributing Data? 119   Who Needs Data Privacy? 123  Privacy Within Households 123  Spousal and Partner Abuse and Infidelity 125  Privacy Between Households and Businesses 127  Households and Businesses versus the Government 129  Problems of Being Incorrectly Identified 132  Potential Solutions 133  Conclusion 134  Chapter Ten  Using Electronic Payments Boosts Prices 135  Merchant Fees 136  How Companies Price 140  Merchant Views 142  Surcharging and Steering 144  Custom Pricing 145  Examples of Custom Pricing 148  Conclusion 150  Section iv  Cash Helps the Vulnerable 151  Chapter Eleven  Eliminating Cash Hurts the Poor 153  Exclusion from Stores 154  Reduction in Charity 155  Legal and Other Solutions 157  How the Poor Subsidize the Rich 159  Unbanked and Underbanked 161  The Unbanked Pay Extra Fees 163  How Many Unbanked Are in the World? 165  Unable to Pay for a Phone 166  Conclusion 167  Chapter Twelve  Cash Helps Immigrants, Refugees, and Tourists 169  Vulnerable Tourists 172  Dynamic Currency Conversion 174  Foreign Exchange Rates and Black Markets 176  Conclusion 180  Chapter Thirteen  Cash Puts Limits on Central Banks Hurting the Elderly 181  The Power of Interest Rates 182  Negative Interest Rates 183  Paper Money Is a Brake 186  Savings Problems 187  Cash Limits the Damage of Bank Runs 188  Real Interest Rates 191  Conclusion 195  Section v  Cash Is Not Causing Crime, Terrorism, or Tax Evasion 197  Chapter Fourteen  Does Cash Make More People and Businesses Victims of Crime? 199  Fraud, Scams, and Identity Theft 201  The Amount of Stolen Cash 203  Cashless Ways to Commit Crimes 204  Credit Card Crime 206  Debit Card Crime 208  Does the Cashless Society Reduce Bank Losses? 209  The Case of Sweden 212  Conclusion: How to Avoid These Types of Crime? 212  Chapter Fifteen  Does Cash Facilitate Corruption, Terrorism, or Organized Crime? 215  Corruption 216  Corruption Data 219  The Case of Sweden 222  Terrorism 222  Organized Crime 227  Conclusion 228  Chapter Sixteen  Does Eliminating Cash Reduce Tax Evasion? 231  India’s 2016 Elimination of Most Cash 233  The Tax Gap Around the World 235  US Tax Gap 237  Electronic Tax Filing 239  Inflation Tax 240  Can Tax Evasion Be Reduced Without Getting Rid of Paper Money? 242  Conclusion 243  Section vi  Control 245  Chapter Seventeen  Cash Prevents Government Control 247  Shutting Off Bank Accounts 248  Digital Currency 250  Government Control of the Unbanked 252  Currency Transaction Reports 255  Conclusion 256  Chapter Eighteen  Can Businesses and Governments Refuse to Take Cash? 259  Are There Laws Forcing Businesses to Take Cash? 261  Trying to Pay the IRS with Cash 263  Why Does the IRS Not Want Cash? 267  Conclusion 268  Chapter Nineteen  Who Is Pushing the World to Go Cashless? 269  Credit and Debit Card Company Incentives 270  Credit and Debit Card Company Growth 273  Smaller Credit Card Companies 275  Banks’ Incentives 276  Government’s Incentive 278  High Technology’s Incentive 280  Retailers’ Incentive 282  Financial Technology Incentives 283  Conclusion 284  Chapter Twenty  Conclusion: What to Do to Ensure Cash Does Not Disappear 287  Individual Actions 288  Collective Advocacy 289  Bureaucratic Fixes – ATMs 290  Inflation Adjustment for Currency Transaction Reports 292  Bring Back Large Bills 293  Legislation Designed to Ensure Stores Take Cash 296  Sin Purchases 298  Other Sin or Vice Purchases 299  Year-End Bonuses 301  Military Pay 302  Mandatory Preparedness for Financial Companies 303  The End 304  Acknowledgments 307  Notes 311  Bibliography 329  Index 351

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Author Information

JAY L. ZAGORSKY, PHD, is Clinical Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy, and Law at Boston University. He has published extensively in both peer-reviewed academic journals and the popular press, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Quartz, and Salon.

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