大額鈔票真的需要取消嗎 The hidden costs of a cash free society

To proponents of a cash-free society, the survival of the $100 bill is at best an anachronism, at worst a gift to organised crime. Peter Sands, the former chief executive of UK-based Standard Chartered bank, last week called for the note to be consigned to history, alongside other high-value banknotes beloved of drug barons and kleptocrats. They play little part in the legitimate economy, he argues, but a crucial role in the underground economy.

對於支持“無現金社會”的人士來說，100美元鈔票說好聽了是過時之物，說難聽了就是給有組織犯罪的獻禮。總部位於英國的渣打銀行(Standard Chartered)前首席執行官冼博德(Peter Sands)上週呼籲，讓100美元鈔票成爲歷史，還有其他爲毒梟和竊國者所鍾愛的大額鈔票。他認爲，這類鈔票在合法經濟中沒什麼用，在地下經濟中卻發揮着重要作用。

This may well be the case with extreme examples such as the 500 note, under investigation by the EU Commission for links to terrorism. Many are also suspicious of the SFr1,000 notes stashed in Swiss safe deposit boxes. However, Mr Sands goes further, calling for concerted action by major issuers to phase out any note worth more than about $50.

像500歐元鈔票這樣的極端例子或許確實如此。歐盟委員會(EU Commission)正在調查500歐元鈔票與恐怖主義的聯繫。很多人還對存放在瑞士銀行保險箱裏的1000瑞士法郎鈔票表示懷疑。冼博德卻更進一步，呼籲主要貨幣發行機構攜起手來，逐步淘汰面值超過50美元的鈔票。

In doing so, he overstates the likely effect on criminal activity. He also underplays the many legitimate reasons for using higher value notes in emerging markets and in some of the world’s most developed societies.

他高估了取消大額紙幣對犯罪活動可能造成的影響，卻低估了新興市場以及一些全球最發達國家使用大額鈔票的很多合法理由。

It is true that it becomes harder to stuff an envelope with cash, or to smuggle a briefcase through customs, if forced to make the bundles of banknotes more bulky. Using bitcoin, diamonds or other means of laundering money might be more costly. But these are not insuperable obstacles. As for tax evasion, it may be easier to pay a builder cash in hand using 50 notes but 20 notes would surely serve the purpose. Many businesses that avoid value added tax by under-reporting income are dealing with smaller retail transactions.

的確，如果強制讓成捆的鈔票變得更笨重，把現金裝入信封，或者拿着裝現金的手提箱通過海關，會變得更困難。使用比特幣、珠寶或者其他洗錢方式可能成本較高。但這些並非無法逾越的障礙。至於逃稅，用50英鎊鈔票支付給建築工人或許更方便，但用20英鎊的鈔票肯定也能達到目的。很多通過低報收入免交增值稅的企業在從事較小額的零售交易。

If criminals find high-value notes useful, so do plenty of other people. In Japan, still very much a cash-based society, the Y10,000 note represents more than 90 per cent of cash outstanding. Sweden, where people even pay children’s pocket money in electronic form, is at the other extreme. But it is no coincidence that people are swiftest to adopt digital payment methods in countries where they have high levels of trust in their institutions.

如果犯罪分子認爲大額鈔票有用，那麼很多其他人也會這麼認爲。在日本（很大程度上仍是一個以現金爲基礎的社會），1萬日元鈔票佔已發行鈔票的90%以上。瑞典是另一個極端，在那裏，人們甚至用電子貨幣給孩子零花錢。但是，在金融機構受到高度信任的國家，人們最易接受電子支付方式，這並非巧合。

Hard currency remains popular as a safe store of value in countries with unstable exchange rates, repressive governments, capital controls or a history of banking collapses. These hoarders prefer big banknotes. In much of Africa and Asia, a $100 note trades at a premium to smaller denominations. The Bank of England says overseas currency wholesalers are the main buyers of 50 notes, which account for a fifth of cash in circulation.

在匯率不穩定、政府專制、實行資本管制或經歷過銀行業崩盤的國家，硬通貨作爲一種安全的價值儲存手段仍然頗受歡迎。這些現金囤積者喜歡大額鈔票。在非洲和亞洲很多國家，100美元鈔票的交易價格高於較低面額鈔票。英國央行(Bank of England)表示，海外貨幣批發商是50英鎊鈔票的主要買方，這種鈔票佔流通現金的五分之一。

Of course, this does not mean that central banks should print high-value notes for the benefit of savers in emerging markets. But it should serve as a reminder that the apparent convenience of a cash-free world comes at a cost to personal freedom. People like cash because it is simple, secure and anonymous. Not all governments are benevolent; and electronic payments can be tracked and hacked.

當然，這並不是說，央行應該爲了新興市場的儲戶印發高面額鈔票。但這應提醒人們，無現金社會表面上的便利是以犧牲個人自由爲代價的。人們喜歡現金的原因是它簡單、安全、匿名。並非所有政府都是善意的；電子支付可能會被跟蹤或被黑客攻擊。

These arguments matter because the whole concept of cash is increasingly under attack by those who deem it an inconvenient obstacle to public policy — most recently, to central banks’ adoption of negative interest rates.

這些觀點很重要，因爲現金的整個概念正越來越多地受到一些人的抨擊，這些人認爲現金是公共政策執行的絆腳石，比如最近就給一些央行的負利率政策造成了障礙。

If policymakers try to stimulate the economy by charging interest on money left idle in the bank, the logic goes, people will switch to cash and keep it under the bed.

一些人認爲，如果政策制定者試圖通過對閒置在銀行的現金收取費用來刺激經濟，人們將轉向持有現金並把它們藏在牀底下。

There is little sign of this happening yet and, in any case, it is possible to devise ways of charging people to hold cash.

目前還沒有發生這種情況的跡象，無論如何，設計出讓人們爲持有現金而付費的方法，總是有可能的。

There may well be grounds to ban the “Bin Laden”, as the 500 note has become known. But the worst way to win people around to the merits of digital currencies would be coercion.

我們或許有理由廢除被稱爲“本拉登”(Bin Laden)的500歐元鈔票。但要讓人們理解數字貨幣的優點，強迫是下下策。