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Comment by kcorbitt | Hacker News Reader

I can't find any sources on the internet in English to corroborate this, but a Swedish friend told me a few years ago that they passed a law requiring all merchants to accept debit/credit cards for any transaction. Anecdotally, when I visited last month I found that to be the case everywhere I went, even in smaller shops and with small purchases. If that is the case, it could explain in part why their trend line for cash reserves looks so different than everyone else's on the graph.

Here's a bit more information on payment types in Sweden: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-27/stockholm-...

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I've seen a lot of proposals from governments wanting to eliminate cash (to enable negative interest rates which I think are an awful idea, to negate tax evasion, to avoid money laundering, etc.).

Either they don't realize that something else (or several somethings) would inmediately take over as cash equivalents, or they don't care as long as it's illegal.

An interesting article talked about the use of Tide detergent as currency:

http://nymag.com/news/features/tide-detergent-drugs-2013-1/

I think Sweden and Norway have suggested that to stimulate the economy they implement negative interest rates ie take money from savers

That already happens with inflation. Additionally, "stimulating the economy" is one of the main reason for it that people will accept.

So, putting a negative interest rate would simply add to the rate of inflation.

Yes but having it spelled out on your bank statement as a direct charge is quite diferent

> Either they don't realize that something else (or several somethings) would inmediately take over as cash equivalents, or they don't care as long as it's illegal.

Correct, there are numerous stores of wealth that can be used as a medium of exchange. Really the only criteria is that it must be useful in some form, so that it is easily convertible.

Informal economies are fascinating, it's amazing to see how fundamental the concept of currency is to people.

Here's a good example of cash equivalents: Families in Appalachia who convert their entire TANF deposit to soda pop and use that as cash.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/367903/white-ghetto-ke...

"It works like this: Once a month, the debit-card accounts of those receiving what we still call food stamps are credited with a few hundred dollars — about $500 for a family of four, on average — which are immediately converted into a unit of exchange, in this case cases of soda. On the day when accounts are credited, local establishments accepting EBT cards — and all across the Big White Ghetto, “We Accept Food Stamps” is the new E pluribus unum – are swamped with locals using their public benefits to buy cases and cases — reports put the number at 30 to 40 cases for some buyers — of soda. Those cases of soda then either go on to another retailer, who buys them at 50 cents on the dollar, in effect laundering those $500 in monthly benefits into $250 in cash — a considerably worse rate than your typical organized-crime money launderer offers — or else they go into the local black-market economy..."

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