Are credit cards private currency.

[MinnesotaBrant]

I read somewhere that hardly anybody is using paper money anymore. This made me think about visa, mastercard, etc. Apparently they are issuing electronic currency not backed by anything. Additionally they are taking a 5% cut as payment. Why has the government put up with this? I heard about something called the liberty dollar that was supposedly backed by gold. It was not sold as currency but started to be traded as such. The government confiscated all the money and the gold backing it. Approximately 7 million dollars. They sentenced the CEO of the company for 25 years and did not return the gold. Why have they not imprisoned and seized the assets of all the credit conglomerates who are profiting on their private currency. Do I smell the whiff of corruption here? Maybe the correct bribes were not paid. here is a link to pictures of the liberty dollar. Apparently the government is disputing rights to the picture as I saw someone disputing the rights on wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Liberty_Dollar.jpeg

 

[BowlOfRed]

I read somewhere that hardly anybody is using paper money anymore. This made me think about visa, mastercard, etc. Apparently they are issuing electronic currency not backed by anything.

So they don't pay clients in dollars? Maybe I don't know what you mean by "issuing".

 

[excaza]

You're paying your bill with legal tender, aren't you?

A credit card is just a loan. Loans are not private currency, why would credit cards be?

 

[MinnesotaBrant]

So they don't pay clients in dollars? Maybe I don't know what you mean by "issuing".

Not in practice no. By talking to the lady at maynards, I found out that hardly anybody uses paper currency anymore. I also understand that they have stopped printing the 10$ bill. In effect, we are using a private currency. Your arguement, that you can get dollars for electronic currency is specious because you usually pay a fee for those dollars much like the exchange of any other currency.

 

[Alt+F4]

I also understand that they have stopped printing the 10$ bill.

Evidence?

 

[Babbylonian]

Not in practice no. By talking to the lady at maynards, I found out that hardly anybody uses paper currency anymore.

The format changes, but whether I use a card, check, paper money, or coins, I'm still paying in US dollars and cents.

I also understand that they have stopped printing the 10$ bill.

Where did you hear this? I don't see any such information on the US Treasury site.

In effect, we are using a private currency. Your arguement, that you can get dollars for electronic currency is specious because you usually pay a fee for those dollars much like the exchange of any other currency.

No, we're not using a private currency. I pay zero fees (assuming I'm not overdrawn) for using my debit card; if used as a credit card I still pay no fees, though whomever I'm paying will have to pay a processing fee to Mastercard. So, every transaction is in US dollars and cents even if they're in electronic form.

As noted above, using a credit card is a rotating loan of US dollars and cents (assuming it's a US credit card) on which one has to pay fees and interest according to the terms of the particular card. Someone has that money available to them in US currency, whether actual printed/minted money has changed hands or not.

 

[rustypouch]

I read somewhere that hardly anybody is using paper money anymore. This made me think about visa, mastercard, etc. Apparently they are issuing electronic currency not backed by anything. Additionally they are taking a 5% cut as payment. Why has the government put up with this? I heard about something called the liberty dollar that was supposedly backed by gold. It was not sold as currency but started to be traded as such. The government confiscated all the money and the gold backing it. Approximately 7 million dollars. They sentenced the CEO of the company for 25 years and did not return the gold. Why have they not imprisoned and seized the assets of all the credit conglomerates who are profiting on their private currency. Do I smell the whiff of corruption here? Maybe the correct bribes were not paid. here is a link to pictures of the liberty dollar. Apparently the government is disputing rights to the picture as I saw someone disputing the rights on wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Liberty_Dollar.jpeg

No.

 

[ehcks]

A credit card is an easy loan with interest.

A debit card is linked to an actual savings account with money in it.

There is no currency being issued in either case.

 

[MinnesotaBrant]

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/moneywatch-editors/no-new-10-bills-being-printed/399/

[snip]

If your using something that is not cash to pay for something then you are using an alternate currency.!

In what way is the liberty dollar which was backed by gold different than a credit or debt card except that it is printed on paper? The same paper that they are now willingly letting the banks replace with plastic. Keep in mind that the guy who came up with the liberty dollar got 25 years and his 7 million in gold confiscated.

[snip]

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[dtugg]

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/moneywatch-editors/no-new-10-bills-being-printed/399/[/URL]

[snip]

If your using something that is not cash to pay for something then you are using an alternate currency.!

In what way is the liberty dollar which was backed by gold different than a credit or debt card except that it is printed on paper? The same paper that they are now willingly letting the banks replace with plastic. Keep in mind that the guy who came up with the liberty dollar got 25 years and his 7 million in gold confiscated.

[snip]

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Because the transactions are all in USD. You fail.

 

[Ziggurat]

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/moneywatch-editors/no-new-10-bills-being-printed/399/

[snip]

If your using something that is not cash to pay for something then you are using an alternate currency.!

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Perhaps you don't understand what currency is.

When you "pay" for something with a credit card, you aren't using a different currency. In fact, you aren't even paying for it at all. What you're doing is getting your credit card company to pay FOR you. And they pay in dollars, if the purchase is made in the US. You are then obligated (by contract) to pay your credit card company. And you must pay them in dollars. If you use your credit card outside of the US, then (and pretty much ONLY then) is a different currency involved, and only between the credit card company and the merchant, you still pay in dollars.

 

[Alan]

When you use a credit card, you are asking for the credit card company to pay for it and that you'll pay them back.

It's not a private currency.

 

[theprestige]

It's really just a hyper-futuristic letter of credit.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Actually, the inventor of the credit card envisioned a future with some sort of "credit" currency. I can't give a better description because his writings were so Epically vague and grand.

 

[BowlOfRed]

I also understand that they have stopped printing the 10$ bill.

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/moneywatch-editors/no-new-10-bills-being-printed/399/

"We didn't need to print any $10 bills last year due to low demand" seems much different than "they have stopped printing the 10$ bill."

 

[Mycroft]

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If your using something that is not cash to pay for something then you are using an alternate currency.!

Cash, check or charge, it's still in dollars.

In what way is the liberty dollar which was backed by gold different than a credit or debt card except that it is printed on paper? The same paper that they are now willingly letting the banks replace with plastic. Keep in mind that the guy who came up with the liberty dollar got 25 years and his 7 million in gold confiscated.

There are huge differences. The most important is that the Liberty Dollar wasn't a "dollar" at all, and because the guys pushing them didn't always let the recipients know that, they were guilty of counterfeiting.

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[Little 10 Toes]

I read somewhere that hardly anybody is using paper money anymore. This made me think about visa, mastercard, etc. Apparently they are issuing electronic currency not backed by anything. Additionally they are taking a 5% cut as payment. Why has the government put up with this? I heard about something called the liberty dollar that was supposedly backed by gold. It was not sold as currency but started to be traded as such. The government confiscated all the money and the gold backing it. Approximately 7 million dollars. They sentenced the CEO of the company for 25 years and did not return the gold. Why have they not imprisoned and seized the assets of all the credit conglomerates who are profiting on their private currency. Do I smell the whiff of corruption here? Maybe the correct bribes were not paid. here is a link to pictures of the liberty dollar. Apparently the government is disputing rights to the picture as I saw someone disputing the rights on wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Liberty_Dollar.jpeg

Nice that you only included the picture of a Liberty Dollar and not the wiki article. Is there a reason why you didn't include the article?

Someone back in 2008 is disputing the Fair Use of the image. Please provide a cite that "the government is disputing rights to the picture"

Reading the wiki article of the Liberty Dollar^WP, the gold was seized due to counterfeiting charges.

According to the Associated Press, "Federal prosecutors successfully argued that von NotHaus was, in fact, trying to pass off the silver coins as U.S. currency. Coming in denominations of 5, 10, 20, and 50, the Liberty Dollars also featured a dollar sign, the word "dollar" and the motto "Trust in God," similar to the "In God We Trust" that appears on U.S. coins". VonNotHaus's attorney is appealing the decision and the arguments made by the prosecution in the case. Dollar, for example, is a term used by many nations for their currency and has a Spanish, not American, origin.

The forfeiture trial is scheduled to resume Monday April 4, 2011. Federal prosecutors are seeking to take roughly $7 million worth or five tons in Liberty Dollars minted in gold and silver seized in 2007 from a warehouse by the FBI.

[internal cites removed]

 

[Ladewig]

I heard that the government is going to issue Ameros instead of dollars. I heard that the North American Union is going to be announced in 13 weeks and that they have already started building the Mexico-Canadian highway that will seal the deal. The lady at Menard's told me that they have already begun pricing some items in Ameros instead of U.S. dollars. Wake up sheeple!!!!!

 

[Babbylonian]

As soon as the Liberty Dollar people decided to use the word "dollar," they were headed for trouble. While there are obviously other nations that use the same word for their currency, printing/minting "dollars" for use in the United States is pretty dumb and, especially in the case of the coins (since real US coins come in a wide variety of styles), seems to indicate an intent to deceive.

 

[caniswalensis]

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