I’ve written several times about China moving to a cashless society [1, 2, 3] and speculated about how long it would take for the West to move in similar directions. I didn’t realize that Sweden has advanced quite far down that path. Advanced so far that total value of outstanding cash now accounts for less than 1% of the Swedish GDP and it’s increasingly common for retail businesses to refuse to deal with cash.
The World Economic Forum has an interesting article on these developments and what it means for Sweden and its people. The primary concern is that control of the money supply will pass from the government to private corporations. Cynics will suggest that the real worry is that government is concerned that they will no longer be able to finance social programs by printing money but regardless of your views on that you’ll probably agree that further regulation of the markets will be required.
I found the article interesting because it points out that moving to a cashless society does present problems and the answers to them aren’t always obvious. In Sweden’s case, the government is discussing issuing e-kronas, which are pretty much like a normal Krona except that they’re digital and can be easily used and moved electronically.
If you have any interest in this area, the article is worth taking a look at.