Ban the $100 bill?

New and more colorful $5 bills, intended to make counterfeiters’ lives more difficult, went into circulation earlier this month, joining the already spruced-up $10s, $20s, and $50s. The old $5 bills will continue to circulate until they wear out.

Coming next, at a date still to be determined, is the new $100 bill—unless, that is, those who would dump it altogether have their way. The anti-$100 bill argument, made in newspapers recently via this article, is that the $100 bill is handy for terrorists, drug kingpins, and other criminals who deal in large amounts of cash but plays little or no role in the lives of ordinary, law-abiding consumers.

Eliminating the $100 bill (the jargon is “demonetizing” it) would presumably mean that those of us with a C note we got from Grandma last birthday would be able to cash it in for some period of time before it became worthless. Criminal types with crates full of them, however, would have a lot of explaining to do.

What do you think? Should we keep the $100 bill or phase it out? Which would be better for consumers?  Please feel free to comment below.

Comments

[zerotron]

The only drugs I see in this picture are the drugs apparently taken by those who proposed this lame idea in the first place. $100 and $50 bills play little or no role in the lives of ordinary, law-abiding consumers? No doubt millions of Americans enjoy visiting their ATM machine every day, but I don't personally find that particularly convenient or desirable. In an era when it costs more than $50 to fill the gas tank, the use of $50 or $100 bills doesn't strike me as a particularly bad idea. I'm still of the "old-fashioned" thinking that if one tends to pay for their needs in actual cash, one is far less likely to exceed their assets. We also need to consider that millions of Americans in this country don't even have a checking account, let alone credit cards. The truly cashless economy is still a long way off, and the elimination of one particular denomination isn't going to have any of the benefits that this article is envisioning.

[john]

Do away with it. So you upset a few drug dealers and people who pass money to elected officials. No harm to regular people.

[Karl]

You will not be able to eliminate or dampen the drug industry by getting rid of the $100 bill. If u do make purchases w. cash it is sometimes nice to be able to carry $500. and not have a wallet full of $20's. Going to a sporting/music event nowadays and you need about that much cash if you buy a few drinks! $1 bills are a waste of trees, time to join the rest of world. $1 is change, so is $2, to be honest so is a $5, really! but this country has lately been really stuck in old-fashioned ways, look at who became the president, due to mistaken tabulation of votes and it's lasted 8 years!

[Bruce]

Credit and Debt cards are the financial industry's way of taking a significant piece of every transaction, with little effort on their part. Stop this drainage of our personal and national wealth.
Every time you use a credit or debit card, you increase the probability of getting ripped off by fraud of one kind or another. This does not happen with cash.

The greedy companies have regular meeting on how to take more and more of your money through fees. Stop helping them drain you!

[Brian]

This should really make all you greenie progressive CR readers mad.

When you grow up and get real jobs in industry, $100 bills are the currency of adults. Ever try to feed a family of 4 with $5 bills? Getting rid of currency denominations will have no effect on anything legal or illegal. It will just serve to make you big government types feel better about "getting the rich".

And with the Fed devaluing currency at an alarming rate, your $100 bill will be worth $50 tomorrow anyway. So you better hold on to a few in case your bank collapses and you have to pay your mortgage in cash. .....Oops I forgot about the massive gov bailout of subprime lenders.

[G Trotta]

Does anyone remember the opening scene in "The Peacemaker" where the rogue Russian general takes a payoff for a nuclear device and is paid in $100 bills?

The movie came out shortly after the celebrated redesign, and the whole theater burst out laughing when the general said:
"I liked the look of the old bills better!"

Does that prove a point about where the $100 bill finds its greatest currency and devotion? Perhaps, but I did want to share a good laugh.

GT

[jose]

I have to admit the only times im stuck with a bill larger than a 50 its the first to go in my wallet only because its so hard to make everyday small purchases with a large bill, most merchants refuse to take it. you try getting a value menu meal after work when all you got is a 100 dollar bill youd have the same chance flipping a coin & calling it.

[Nile]

As if those "criminal types" won't simply switch to using gold, diamonds, platinum, euros, guns, or something else of value. Gee, thanks...yet another cross we all will bear in the endless quest to create one more impediment for the criminally inclined.

We're having our water bottles and cigarette lighters taken away while getting fingerprinted at airports, and being photographed and recorded as we walk and drive down public streets. Our mobile phones can be used to track our movements, and our government data mines our phone and bank records . We cannot spend $10,000 of our own cash without raising flags by requiring the recipient fill out an IRS Form 8300. In the back of our minds we must always remind ourselves of how our actions, no matter how innocent, might be misconstrued by others. It seems the cloud of suspicion hanging over each of us gets slightly larger every day.

And, just like that, with each passing day we become less free.

[Jason C]

Banning the $100 bill will not affect criminal activity in the least bit. This is a silly idea. Instead we should be banning small change. It costs 1.7 cents to produce each penny, so every penny produced adds to the national debt. Nickels cost us 9 cents to produce.

[Corbey]

This idea has about as much veracity as extending daylight saving time by a week to save energy. It will have no effect on "drug kingpins" but only inconvenience ordinary people who might occasionally need to carry larger amounts of cash. There are many real steps the government could take to fight crime and protect our borders from drugs, but this isn't one of them. The is merely another one of those harebrained ideas that allows politicians to say they're doing something while they continue to take no real action on the problems that face the country.

[R]

Having access to large denominations of cash was extremely helpful immediately preceding and then following Katrina.

[Corbey]

The Euro is available in up to 500 Euro bills, but leave it to the U. S. to think that drug trafficking can be reduced by eliminating the $100 bill. All this does is give politicians a convenient cover story while inconveniencing people who might need to carry larger amounts of cash. Ridiculous!

[Brad]

There are positives and negatives. I personally like the larger bills, when I cash checks I don't have to carry around a few thousand in 20's, 100's make it much easier to put in the wallet. However, you go to the store anymore and they won't accept the $100, after a bit of a fuss they will take it, because it IS money. It just seems merchants have got a head start in phasing out this bill. I don't deal drugs nor take them so i can't speak intelligently about their uses.

[Rich W]

At first glance this sounds like a reasonable idea, but this is more likely just a way to shave a few pennies off the budget, while still bankrupting the US economy with the Iraq war budget.

The drug dealers havent been stopped yet by any action of any govt - the best solution is to legalize pot since its considered less dangerous than alcohol, and tax it to increase revenue.
And instead of spending billions on war, spend millions on school, water and infrastructure projects in the middle east to help the people there rather than punish them...

[Mark R]

Frankly, I was hoping they would restore the $1,000 bill! Seriously, the move to electronic monetary transactions gives banks a monopoly to extract a vig from every sale, including Our Daily Bread. Banks should not stand to reap such a benefit. Cash is a necessary safeguard in any emergency. Imagine computer circuitry and banks being offline and a region left without cash for simple necessary purchases. As citizens we have the right to store what we feel is a reasonable and necessary amount of cash to be able to unite and protect our families in time of civil strife.

[Ben Franklin]

I'm appalled.

Those who give up liberty for a sense of security deserve neither.

[Phil Johnston]

Inflation will eventually reduce the value of the $100 bill to the point where it will be less useful for criminals anyway. I say leave it alone and focus on preventing cyber-crime and identity theft.

[les parsons]

I think that getting rid of the 50 or 100 dollar bill is very
foolish since inflation and business GREED is controlling our economy today. Tomorrow and I don't mean next month, inflation
could force us to carry $50 and $100 bills for a few groceries or as one who posted, a $50 bill would not fill a 4 cylinder car's gas tank. Think about it. $10 and $20 bills
would be used for "lunch tips". If anyone can't visualize this, I think their head is in the closet.

[kevin]

People are always talking about civil liberties yet they let the banks, government and retailers track every financial move they make. I use cash, because what I spend my money on is MY business and no one else's. As long as I pay my taxes, the government has no right to pry into my personal spending habits. North America has been brainwashed into bending over backwards for the banks. The advent of the ATM may seem like a convenience to most, but the banks can replace numerous branches with these machines. Think about the number of hard-working employees they can cut from the books, and the real estate costs of branches. The banks make us feel like it is a privilege to put OUR money into their bank. Then they have the nerve to charge us for doing a transaction with OUR money. WAKE UP, big brother lives in the USA and is slowly creeping into your bedroom.

[Chris1]

This has to be one of the stupidest idea's I've heard in a while....
What, the drug dealers or terrorists, whoever will just find a new business. Maybe they'll start accepting credit cards, drug users can get airline miles! Seriously, they will just do the same thing they do now but with 20's or 50's. If they were smart they would be using Euro's for these transactions anyway.

Believe it or not, many legitimate transactions occur with cash each and every day. What about people traveling who need to convert money at their destination. How about flea markets, auctions, specialty shows, etc. What about gambling and casinos? I guarantee the folks in Vegas will never let this happen.

[Paul]

Keep the $100 bill! I was in Korea last year. The biggest bill they have is the equivalent of the $10 bill. Your wallet was stuffed with these things - a cab ride means spending multiple of the largest bills they had. Ludicrous. My business contacts over there thought so too.

I use credit and debit a great deal, but I still carry cash and, on occasion, large bills. There is a need for larger denominations.

[Michael T.]

I can't believe the number of people in this thread that are actually for this idea. It seems they won't be satisfied until America is a full-fledged police state with every incremental step using the excuse to eliminate criminals and terrorists which of course would mean eliminating all of mankind.

[Carlos]

We've got a trillion dollar deficit again. Is this the problem we really need to solve? Tell your government to stop wasting time even discussing this kind of stuff.

[Mario]

My employer gave us a Visa for travel expenses. They strongly urge us to avoid cash. A lot of my travel is to "less developed" countries. A few 20s and singles gets me from the airport to my hotel. After that, even in these areas there is an ATM.

For personal expenses, a cash back card works best.
I have a budget and I stick to it. That's what receipts are for.

The $100 bill is not going to stop the drug business, just make the bales 5x larger. I have no use for the $100 bill.

[ken roberts]

keep the hundred dollar bill-very soon it might be the only one worth anything-it will soon cost that much to fill up your gas tank