The Power of Cash: Why Using Paper Money is Good for You and Society

Why cash is worth preserving in an increasingly “cashless” society

Over the last thirty years, we have witnessed a rapid transformation in the way that people pay for goods and services. Where we used to use cash for all but our largest purchases, many people now prefer credit cards, debit cards, cryptocurrency, and electronic services like Venmo, PayPal, or Alipay. And that's not necessarily a good thing.

In The Power of Cash: Why Using Paper Money is Good for You and Society, Professor Jay Zagorsky, former advisor to the Boston Federal Reserve, delivers a startlingly insightful and eye-opening discussion of the harmful and unintended consequences of the demise of paper money. The author convincingly argues that cash is an essential and helpful tool that's worth preserving for the long run.

You'll learn why using cash makes it easier to control your spending, secures your anonymity and privacy against bad actors intent on stealing your data, mitigates the chaos of climate change and war, and helps the poor, vulnerable, unbanked, and disenfranchised to navigate society. You'll also discover:

• When business and governments can refuse to take your paper money
• How cash maintains your privacy and anonymity from tech companies, hackers, banks, and others
• How cash ensures companies cannot charge you a high “custom price”
• The potential dangers of giving governments control and knowledge of your spending
• How cash controls additional fees and costs associated with electronic purchases

Perfect for anyone with an interest in the way we pay for the things we buy each and every day, The Power of Cash is also a must-read for people interested in the implications of a truly “cashless” society on personal finance, technology, politics, and social justice.

JAY L. ZAGORSKY, PHD, is Clinical Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy, and Law at Boston University. He has published extensively in both peer-reviewed academic journals and the popular press, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Quartz, and Salon.