Has the time come for developed nations to start phasing out paper currency? A large number of economic, financial, philosophical and even moral issues are buried in this arresting question. But on balance, I believe that the answer is yes.
When I first wrote about the idea 20 years ago, it was pure fantasy. But after the explosion of payment methods, with services like Google Wallet and apps like Venmo joining credit and debit cards, it is no longer unthinkable. Even today, many practical objections can admittedly be raised to the idea of getting rid of cash. But my proposal involves leaving small notes in circulation for a long time (perhaps indefinitely), to cover most concerns about everyday payments, security, privacy and emergencies.
I have two main arguments for abolishing cash. First, it would make it more difficult to engage in recurrent, large and anonymous payments and thus it would discourage tax evasion and other crime. Second, it is arguably the easiest way to help central banks invoke negative interest rate policies—a tool that would have been of great use during the 2008 financial crisis.