At 1:31 PM 3/23/96 -0800, Bill Stewart wrote:

Method 3 you'll recognize. There'd be nothing wrong with the Federal Reserve if they only used methods 1 and 2; individual consumers can decide whether to trust them not to print a lot more zeros than they should. And they don't have a monopoly on currency - there are some kinds of taxes that apply to some private currencies, but you can go into the average bank today, ask them to write a cashier's check to someone (and probably still to "bearer"), pay them, and they'll be happy to do it for only a small commission, and American Express will do it as well. And people will take their paper, though in the case of traveller's checks it's sometimes a hassle to accept on an occasional basis.

My experience in China in 1993 was that US Federal Reserve Notes were easy to use and American Express Traveler's checks were not. After hearing that the dollar isn't worth anything, it was refreshing to go to a country where they are in high demand. I recommend carrying good old fashioned USA dollars when going to communist countries. Bill ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bill Frantz | The CDA means | Periwinkle -- Computer Consulting (408)356-8506 | lost jobs and | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com | dead teenagers | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA