Wired: The Future of Money

[MoB Zigmister]

My roommate subscribes to wired, and i just got around to the cover article in the 3:10 edition - "The Future of Money" by Daniel Roth.

Interesting points it brought up and thoughts it led to:

- Prices and costs relating to using cash/credit/electronic forms of money
- PayPal and the electronic transfer of money
- Future forms of the monetary systems of humanity

In the restaurant/hospitality field, there are two ways employers handle tips not given in cash:
The employer waits until the credit card transaction goes through from the card's bank to the employer's bank, then issues the tip with the paycheck... sometimes minus the credit card fees applied to credit/debit transactions.
Or
The employee adds all credit tips at the end of the shift and pockets that amount from the coffers. The employer fronts that money to the employee, which is reimbursed to the employer by the card's bank... it takes a few days for the transaction to goes through. Some employers might take the fees out of paychecks, or just lower the wage in order to cover those credit fees.

Costs in cash are more related to the individual's storage of that money. If you never kept a bank account, you could just leave your money in your house. Then you run the risk of theft, property loss, etc, which could destroy/damage any physical money. You might buy a safe, which has a cost in its own right, you could exchange your cash for gold/silver/valuable-mineral... which has its own middle man cost. Banks have different fees dependent on what you get, but money in your bank account is federally insured in the US. Carrying lots of cash is also dangerous.
Cash is just more thievable because it is instant.

My cash deposits are instant, which is what it should be. Banks, as holders of actual cash and coin, should only take enough time to physically transfer those holds to the other bank's vaults, in my opinion. With national and global banks, this wouldn't necessarily take longer than a trip across town. That idea gets messier when you move away from centres of wealth.

These electronic forms of monetary transaction described in the article (PayPal, et al), are more secure than cash but less secure than banks, in the way that it takes days for a transaction to go through at a bank. PayPal is great, back in the day i was paid by MoB using PayPal. If I could buy more stuff online, i'd probably have more in my account and would like being paid in PayPal. The most i buy is food at the time I'm hungry, so cash is just easier.

The last sentence made in the article: "As money becomes completely digitalized, infinitely transferable, and friction-free, it will again change the revolutionize how we think about the economy."
Consumers are pretty sheltered as to the fees behind what they buy and consume, since the most important thing is just to make the sale. I'm totally for less fees in the usage and storage of money, since that lowers the price of everything. I look at a candy machine and see that a candy bar costs a $1.10 (who carries dimes around). A soft drink machine and a can costs 75-100¢ when it used to be around 50-60¢. I look at that and I know i'm old, but I don't think that's just inflation.

[Im Spazzoid]

Originally Posted by MoB Zigmister

A soft drink machine and a can costs 75-100¢ when it used to be around 50-60¢. I look at that and I know i'm old, but I don't think that's just inflation.

Just wait until they pass that soda tax, 3 cents per once, then that soda will cost hella bank

[MoB Xil3]

My girlfriends dad worked for Coke for like 10 years. He said when he left (3 years ago) it cost Coke 8 cents to produce a 20oz bottle of Coca Cola. So why the hell is it $1.10?

[Im Spazzoid]

Originally Posted by MoB Xil3

My girlfriends dad worked for Coke for like 10 years. He said when he left (3 years ago) it cost Coke 8 cents to produce a 20oz bottle of Coca Cola. So why the hell is it $1.10?

Coke actually doesn't bottle its own soda, it only sells the concentrate to the bottling companies. The creator of Coke sold the exclusive bottling rights for $1 way back when. I'm sure most of the cost is related to transportation, but I am with you, why does it cost so much?

[MoB Deamon MD]

the demand for the product along with the supply causes the price and quantity to rise.

[MoB rELIX]

they still reported a loss....

pepsi lost money last year haha