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How Your Survival Guy Feels About Digital Dollars

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My client told me yesterday that years ago, he and his wife traveled from Alaska back to his childhood home to accept an award for excellence in dentistry. Home for him was LA—not that LA—Shreveport. The ceremony was in New Orleans.

The plan was to borrow one of his sister’s cars in Shreveport and drive to New Orleans. Before they drove off, he asked his buddy if he needed anything.

“Would you mind picking up some alligator meat?” he asked.

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“No problem.”

Driving home from New Orleans, they took a left into the swamp, walked into the store, and said he was there to pick up alligator meat for his friend. The old Cajun came back, slid it across the counter, and said how much it would be.

My client turned to his wife, who said to the man, “We’re going to pay with a traveler’s check.”

“What’s a travelin’ check?”

“It’s like money,” she said.

“Ma’am, I don’t accept anythin’ that’s like money. Just money.”

And that’s about how Your Survival Guy feels about digital dollars: If it’s only like money, you can have it.

Action Line: Keep it simple and Survive and Thrive with me.

In a November working paper on the benefits and risks of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Nicholas Anthony and Norbert Michel of the Cato Institute come to the conclusion that the purported benefits of CBDCs don’t live up to scrutiny. They write:

CBDCs have the potential to radically transform the American financial system and all signs point to that transformation being to the detriment of the American people. A U.S. CBDC poses substantial risks to financial privacy, financial freedom, free markets, and cybersecurity. Yet the purported benefits fail to stand up to scrutiny. CBDCs have certainly made central banks the talk of the town and thrown a splash of life into an otherwise dense policy field. But there is no reason for the U.S. government to issue a CBDC when the costs are so high and the benefits are so low.

 

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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