I can recall that many years back the casinos in Las Vegas all accepted the chips from the other ones and then had a great exchange each day where the accounts were settled up. Even the gift shops took chips in place of cash. The US Treasury put a stop to this as it was considered to be a replacement for cash. Also I hear a lot about bearer bonds, but never in the US. OTOH the NYC subways have started a cash card that they expect merchants to accept in lieu of coins. It would be nice to know what the Feds will or won't accept. BTW, does it matter if the e$ are US denominated? Could e$ be presented as travelers checks? The possibilities here are extremely interesting. - - - Bob said> However, it's a stupid parasite which
kills it's host, and that's what I'm counting on here.
Not really true. All parasites kill their host or they would not be considered parasites (ie. live at the EXPENSE of the host). The only question is how quickly the host dies. There is an entire epidemiology of parasitism, ie. which strategies are best for the parasite. The virulent ones must be able to find a new host quickly, the ones that can't exit quickly rely on the host living for a long time. There was a good article in SciAm on this a little while back. Also remember, it is the US Supreme Court which ruled that the power to tax is the power to destroy. Sounds like as good a definition of parasitism as any. Peace