Re: On the subject of money, Tim
Haldane's a bit odd, even by central banker standards.
Negative interest rates, yes, these can happen. Not hugely negative, but we might put up with -0.75% or so: what would be the worry and insurance cost of having your money in cash under the bed? -2% maybe? But not fiercely negative.
Moving entirely over to electronic money though won't quite mean what Haldane thinks it will. He thinks that it's the government that creates money. And it ain't: it's as in this piece, a way of keeping score. And if people won't accept what the government is providing as a way of keeping score then they'll go off and use something else. Anything else. Tide detergent is used as "money" in some US drug deals for example.
The real aim of having all electronic money would be taxation, for everything would be trackable. And for that very reason not everyone would use it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
