In 2011, Louisiana became the first state to wage war on CASH, enacting a law called R.S. 37:1866. Politicians made it illegal to purchase anything from a secondhand dealer with cash. Therefore, even going to a garage sale to make a purchase with cash became illegal.
A secondhand dealer shall not enter into any cash transactions in payment for the purchase of junk or used or secondhand property. Payment shall be made in the form of check, electronic transfers, or money order issued to the seller of the junk or used or secondhand property and made payable to the name and address of the seller.
All payments made by check, electronic transfers, or money order shall be reported separately in the daily reports required by R.S. 37:1866. (Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana)
The law defines secondhand dealers as:
Every person in this state engaged in the business of buying, selling, 5 trading in, or otherwise acquiring or disposing of junk or used or secondhand 6 property, including but not limited to jewelry, silverware, diamonds, precious metals, 7 ferrous materials, catalytic converters, auto hulks, copper, copper wire, copper alloy, 8 bronze, zinc, aluminum other than in the form of cans, stainless steel, nickel alloys, 9 or brass, whether in the form of bars, cable, ingots, rods, tubing, wire, wire scraps, 10 clamps or connectors, railroad track materials, water utility materials, furniture, 11 pictures, objects of art, clothing, mechanic’s tools, carpenter’s tools, automobile 12 hubcaps, automotive batteries, automotive sound equipment such as radios, CB 13 radios, stereos, speakers, cassettes, compact disc players, and similar automotive 14 audio supplies, used building components, and items defined as cemetery artifacts 15 is a secondhand dealer. Anyone, other than a nonprofit entity, who buys,sells, trades 16 in, or otherwise acquires or disposes of junk or used or secondhand property more 17 frequently than once per month from any other person, other than a nonprofit entity, 18 shall be deemed as being engaged in the business of a secondhand dealer. (Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana)
They used the excuse that selling used goods for cash enabled criminals to sell what they stole. This would have been true since Biblical days. The politicians also made it illegal to exchange cash dollars for gold or any precious metals. This, of course, is exactly what France has done. I reported on my trip to Spain that I could not find anyone selling gold coins publicly because of required regulations – no cash accepted.
The war on cash includes the war on gold. You can no longer hop on a plane with a suitcase full of gold. This is the hunt for taxes; the drive to eliminate cash is also to eliminate gold transactions in cash. You may not be able to conduct business in gold in a cashless society, and they will make it illegal to use things like Bitcoin as well. In fact, France is already looking at regulating that. This is the coming Winter of Economics – the age of authoritarianism – a world I really do not want to live in.
Sorry if our forecasting is boring, nothing has changed. Still looking for the break below $1,000 and for timing, that also remains unchanged. The two benchmark targets remain the focus; it may be the second target rather than the first.
