Squillions

John Lanchester at the London Review of Books:

Since fewer and fewer people are using banknotes, it follows logically that fewer banknotes are needed, and therefore that fewer banknotes are being printed and put into circulation. Right? Wrong. In the UK, there is £1300 cash in circulation for every single one of us, but the amount of cash we actually hold is one seventh of that figure. […] So where is all that cash, who’s using it, and for what?

The answer is blindingly obvious: “it’s being used in criminal transactions.” Fascinating piece.

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