this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

The negative interest rate, for example, is very much not one of "three random things".

See this 2020 ECB working paper:

"Nevertheless, since a run into CBDC would be easier, it would be recomforting to have as extra tool the ability to impose negative rates on CBDC." [CBDC = central bank digital currency]

or this 2018 BoE working paper:

"Under this regime any nascent increase in the demand for CBDC can be eliminated by a drop in the interest rate on CBDC. But there are potential limits if this requires a highly negative interest rate, and if further reductions of the interest rate below this level become politically difficult."

Hopefully the hedging of that language is easy to remove. They talk about thresholds and limits and tiers, but the upshot is, maybe they're kind enough to grant you a pittance on the first couple thousand, after that it's zero or negative, because central banks tend to agree that what they DON'T want to create is a store of value, and so they will do anything they can to make you spend your CBDC as soon as you get it. In general, the "economy" does not benefit from you having a nice store of money saved up somewhere. Politicans and bankers want you money moving through their system, that's how workers are kept desperate/subservient and the élite can continue to skim some cream off the top of each transaction.

We live in a deeply unfair and very carefully rigged system with hostile operators. Do your best to survive them.