For ages, money has meant little metal disks and rectangular slips of
paper. Yet the usefulness of physical money -- to say nothing of its
value -- is coming under fire as never before. Intrigued by the distinct
possibility that cash will soon disappear, author and Wired contributing
editor David Wolman sets out to investigate the future of money...and
how it will affect your wallet.
Wolman begins his journey by deciding to shun cash for an entire year --
a surprisingly successful experiment (with a couple of notable
exceptions). He then ventures forth to find people and technologies that
illuminate the road ahead. In Honolulu, he drinks Mai Tais with Bernard
von NotHaus, a convicted counterfeiter and alternative-currency
evangelist whom government prosecutors have labeled a domestic
terrorist. In Tokyo, he sneaks a peek at the latest anti-counterfeiting
wizardry, while puzzling over the fact that banknote forgers depend on
society's addiction to cash. In a downtrodden Oregon town, he mingles
with obsessive coin collectors -- the people who are supposed to love
cash the most, yet don't. And in rural Georgia, he examines why some
people feel the end of cash is Armageddon's warm-up act. After stops at
the Digital Money Forum in London and Iceland's central bank, Wolman
flies to Delhi, where he sees first-hand how cash penalizes the poor
more than anyone--and how mobile technologies promise to change that.
Told with verve and wit, The End of Money explores an aspect of our
daily lives so fundamental that we rarely stop to think about it. You'll
never look at a dollar bill the same again.
