Ending Cash: The Public Benefits of Federal Electronic Currency

If America's tangible cash could be transformed into federal electronic currency (FEDEC), the social and economic benefits would be profound. Warwick argues eloquently why government should mandate cashlessness, then demonstrates not only why it can be done, but how to go about doing it. He shows that because the private sector will not and can not replace cash, government must do it; indeed, government FEDEC is superior to a system of private currencies.

Cash handling costs the nation between one and two percent of the GDP, and cash is the lubricant for most of America's crime. By eliminating cash the saving from crime reduction alone would amount to hundreds of billions of dollars yearly. But naturally there would be issues of special concern if a FEDEC system were to become a hot public debate.

Privacy, security, practicality, convenience are just some. Warwick tackles them here and, as no other books attempts to do, offers a practical plan for creating cashlessness. Well reasoned, meticulously documented, Ending Cash is a major contribution to what could soon become an important social debate--a debate that should, in the author's judgment, be started now.