I understand the advantages of this for the government. It will be much easier to track and control how we spend our money and ensure that we pay every last possible cent of taxes. What is the advantage for me as a citizen?
Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
41–50 of 103 posts
Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#42I understand the advantages of this for the government. It will be much easier to track and control how we spend our money and ensure that we pay every last possible cent of taxes. What is the advantage for me as a citizen?
> It will be much easier to track and control how we spend our money Will be? will in future ? The majority of my GBP transactions are digital already - they are not pieces of paper with picture of the late Queen changing hands, they are database records, mediated by a "buy" button in the web browser, or the tap of a card onto a reader. The currency is mostly digital, already.
Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#43https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/have-your-say/2021/future-of-money-...
Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#44Crypto was always mis-marketed as decentralised. It’s not. The American banking system is decentralised. Credit is created and balances maintained at the edges. Blockchain is centralised. This brings many efficiencies. But it also empowers those at the centre.
Huh? What a strange characterization. Blockchains, some, are clearly decentralized and permission-less. US banking system is highly regulated and permission-ed. Are you standing by your statement with a serious face? https://www.occ.gov/about/who-we-are/index-who-we-are.html
Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#45Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#46I understand the advantages of this for the government. It will be much easier to track and control how we spend our money and ensure that we pay every last possible cent of taxes. What is the advantage for me as a citizen?
Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
In theory if the gov can collect all tax then taxes should be lower.
In practice, a government with unlimited capacity for raising taxes will just expand its scope indefinitely.
Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#48Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#49Crypto was always mis-marketed as decentralised. It’s not. The American banking system is decentralised. Credit is created and balances maintained at the edges. Blockchain is centralised. This brings many efficiencies. But it also empowers those at the centre.
Personally I believe this is an incredibly good feature, not a bug.
Re: Bank of England and Treasury think UK is 'likely' to need digital currency
#50I understand the advantages of this for the government. It will be much easier to track and control how we spend our money and ensure that we pay every last possible cent of taxes. What is the advantage for me as a citizen?
> What is the advantage for me as a citizen?
There are some, trivially.
The overhead of handling cash is eliminated. Moving bundles of notes
Reduces the possibility of theft
Related, makes the security of your stash somebody else's problem
The opportunity cost of proton notes and mounting coins is recovered