Why the U.S. won’t change physical cash

Why the U.S. won’t change physical cash
byu/cnbc_official ineconomy



by cnbc_official

4 comments

  1. The [Federal Reserve](https://www.federalreserve.gov/) will spend $931.4 million to print bills in 2023 — but there’s a problem with U.S. cash.

    “We haven’t modernized or changed our currency. That’s probably a mistake,” Aaron Klein, senior fellow of economic studies at Brookings Institute, told CNBC. “We should have dollar coins instead of paper notes.”

    Physical currency has been updated around the world but not in the U.S., and while an increasing number of [Americans are ditching cash](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/10/05/more-americans-are-joining-the-cashless-economy/) for electronic payments, experts say cash isn’t going away.

    “The rest of the world has moved toward basically polymer notes, which are a form of plastic which lasts something like four times as long as the old paper notes,” said Douglas Mudd, curator and director of the American Numismatic Association.

    In 2017, the $100 bill surpassed the $1 bill as the most popular currency denomination. Some speculate that the [rise in $100 bills in circulation](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/27/theres-been-a-mysterious-surge-in-100-bills-in-circulation-possibly-linked-to-global-corruption.html) may be to avoid taxes or for illegal activity.

    “The $100 comes from the U.S. currency being a global currency. And a lot of those hundreds are outside the country and they’re being used for store of value,” said Franklin Noll, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Payments Specialist.

    Watch full video here: [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/07/why-the-us-hasnt-updated-coins-and-notes.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/07/why-the-us-hasnt-updated-coins-and-notes.html)

  3. There’s a bar in my area that is cash only. It’s not a huge deal but it’s a hassle enough to avoid going there. My wife and I stopped in for a drink on Halloween. We witnessed another patron express surprise when they went to pay their tab. This was clearly a soft spot and the bartender had a whole speech ready about how they’ve “been cash only since 1952” and they “weren’t going to change it now”

    It may have been the owners son? Idk, it was strangely emotional; like the point of sale system harbored the soul of a deceased loved one

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