India

In several major economies it's crunch time for the future of cash. Goldman Sachs notes that this is largely policy-driven: tangible steps are being taken to wean economies off cash (e.g. India, Europe); but adds that, at the same time consumer expectations around convenience are rising and enabling technologies have proliferated in the shape of contactless cards, mobile wallets, cryptocurrencies and more.

So, they ask, does the decline in cash payments imply the demise of cash?

Not necessarily.

Authored by Jayant Bhandari via Acting-Man.com,

India’s Rapid Degradation

This is Part XI of a series of articles (the most recent of which is linked here) in which I have provided regular updates on what started as the demonetization of 86% of India’s currency. The story of demonetization and the ensuing developments were merely a vehicle for me to explore Indian institutions, culture and society.

The Modimobile is making the rounds amid a flower shower. [PT]

Via Erico Matias Tavares of Sinclair & Co.,

China as a Superpower – An Interview with Prof. Toshi Yoshihara

Dr. Toshi Yoshihara is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining CSBA, he held the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies and was an affiliate member of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the Naval War College, where he taught strategy for ten years.

Traders in India are boycotting Coca-Cola en masse after the soda giant was caught draining the country’s scarce water resources.  Over one million traders in India have vowed to boycott fizzy drinks manufacturers such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and will replace them with locally produced soft drinks instead. The Guardian reports: “These foreign companies are using up scarce water resources of the state,” said K Mohan, secretary of the Vanigar Sangam, one of the associations supporting the boycott.

The cancerous virus of freedom-destroying worldwide cash-bans - in the name of fighting terrorism - has reached Taiwan this week. With the aim of 'preventing money-laundering', Taiwan may ban cash purchases of properties and luxury goods, Taipei-based Economic Daily News reports, citing unidentified official at Ministry of Justice.

As we previously noted, the War on Cash is not merely continuing, it is intensifying.