– why do we need physical dollars and coins? Wouldn’t it be cheaper for the system as a whole to have the dollar be an entirely digital currency and wouldn’t this be better on the environment?

Question

– why do we need physical dollars and coins? Wouldn’t it be cheaper for the system as a whole to have the dollar be an entirely digital currency and wouldn’t this be better on the environment?

In: Economics

Answer 1

You would be surprised how many people in the world are still ‘unbanked’. Places like Sweden are testing eliminating physical currency, and it would cut down on crime and be net beneficial for the environment. We are unlikely to see it in the next 50 years though in countries like the US or Germany due to a combination of privacy concerns and cost of roll-out.