NationStates Jolt Archive

Experts in economics, information technology, and law enforcement have recently convened at a resort just outside @@NAME@@ City and discussed the idea of converting all of @@NAME@@'s money to an electronic format. The committee's conclusion is that this step should be taken, but the announcement has sparked numerous discussions all over the country.

The Debate

1. "Electronic money is a great step for the future of @@NAME@@!" announces economist @@RANDOMNAME@@ from the statehouse. "Identity theft, drug trafficking, and even problems like dropping @@CURRENCY@@s on the ground are no longer an issue with electronic money! Simply put all of your cash on a card and use it wherever you go. And call the government if you lose it, no sweat. We'll take care of everything."
[effect]the government constantly battles hackers who try to crack the nation's new electronic money system
[stats]civil rights decrease, crime decreases, economy increases, taxes increase

2. "This is completely unnecessary," argues @@RANDOMNAME@@, CEO of @@NAME@@ Express Credit Card Corporation. "Right now people have a choice between cash, check, credit card, travelers' cheques, and what-have-you. The government doesn't need to go invading people's privacy just to solve a few problems like identity theft that we're perfectly capable of, never mind the statistics saying otherwise."
[effect]identity theft runs rampant
[stats]civil rights increase, crime increases

3. "Credit cards? Phooey," declares @@RANDOMNAME@@, president of @@NAME@@ Citizens for Privacy. "We need to get rid of all these alternative forms of currency and go back to the good old days when @@CURRENCY@@s were in cash or precious metal form. That will solve all our problems. No more credit cards that charge 20% interest rates or checks that take a month to clear. Cash is more personal anyway, even if it's impossible to keep track of. That's the beauty of it."
[effect]people horde large amounts of cash in safes to avoid having it stolen
[stats]economy decreases, crime increases, civil rights increase

4. "Who needs @@CURRENCY@@s anyway?" shouts @@RANDOMNAME@@, who lives in a cabin by the river and is seen roasting wild @@ANIMAL@@s for food daily. "It's all this money crap that's driven people like me into the wilderness for a simpler life. Bring back the barter system and the good old days and @@NAME@@ will finally be the great nation it can be!"
[effect]the @@CURRENCY@@ is now useless after the government instituted a national barter system
[stats]economy collapses, civil rights increase, taxes decrease, devoutness increases

It's a good issue and i checked it for mistakes and have corrected them here,...

Experts in economics, information technology, and law enforcement have recently convened at a resort just outside @@NAME@@ City and discussed the idea of converting all of @@NAME@@'s money to an electronic format. The committee's conclusion is that this step should be taken, but the announcement has sparked numerous discussions all over the country.

The Debate

1. "Electronic money is a great step for the future of @@NAME@@!" announces economist @@RANDOMNAME@@ from the statehouse. "Identity theft, drug trafficking, and even problems like dropping @@CURRENCY@@s on the ground are no longer an issue with electronic money! Simply put all of your cash on a card and use it wherever you go. And call the government if you lose it, no sweat. We'll take care of everything."
[effect]the government constantly battles hackers who try to crack the nation's new electronic money system
[stats]civil rights decrease, crime decreases, economy increases, taxes increase

2. "This is completely unnecessary," argues @@RANDOMNAME@@, CEO of @@NAME@@ Express Credit Card Corporation. "Right now people have a choice between cash, check, credit card, travellers' cheques, and what-have-you. The government doesn't need to go invading people's privacy just to solve a few problems like identity theft that we're perfectly capable of, never mind the statistics saying otherwise."
[effect]identity theft runs rampant
[stats]civil rights increase, crime increases

3. "Credit cards? Phooey," declares @@RANDOMNAME@@, president of @@NAME@@ Citizens for Privacy. "We need to get rid of all these alternative forms of currency and go back to the good old days when @@CURRENCY@@s were in cash or precious metal form. That will solve all our problems. No more credit cards that charge 20% interest rates or checks that takes a month to clear. Cash is more personal anyway, even if it's impossible to keep track of. That's the beauty of it."
[effect]people horde large amounts of cash in safes to avoid having it stolen
[stats]economy decreases, crime increases, civil rights increase

4. "Who needs @@CURRENCY@@s anyway?" shouts @@RANDOMNAME@@, who lives in a cabin by the river and is seen roasting wild @@ANIMAL@@s for food daily. "It's all this money crap that's driven people like me into the wilderness for a simpler life. Bring back the barter system and the good old days and @@NAME@@ will finally be the great nation it can be!"
[effect]the @@CURRENCY@@ is now useless after the government instituted a national barter system
[stats]economy collapses, civil rights increase, taxes decrease, devoutness increases

2. "This is completely unnecessary," argues @@RANDOMNAME@@, CEO of @@NAME@@ Express Credit Card Corporation. "Right now people have a choice between cash, check, credit card, travelers'

Made a mistake. :P

Shouldn't size of government also increase for the first option? After all, they'd have to add a whole new bureacracy to administer and support all that stuff...

I don't like the phrase @@NAME@@ City. As I said once, Rejistani is not Mexico or Singapore. Make it 'just outside the capital of @@NAME@@'.
Also I don't think, that crme would decrease if you have an electronic currency.

BIO-CREDITS!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!


Bio-Credits! Bio-Credits! Bio-Credits!!!! No more paper cuts on my fingers!!!!! No more pennies for the cat to swallow!!!! Yay!!!!! Bio-credits!!!!! :D

I don't like the phrase @@NAME@@ City. As I said once, Rejistani is not Mexico or Singapore. Make it 'just outside the capital of @@NAME@@'.
Also I don't think, that crme would decrease if you have an electronic currency.

I don't like having to use that format either...I have suggested the idea of allowing us to pick capital cities the way we do currencies and animals, but until that day, I use what I have.

And crime would decrease in this way: thieves prefer to deal in cash because it's impossible to track. If there is no paper money anymore and everything can be tracked, then thieves are far easier to catch. Crime becomes much more high-tech, but fewer people are capable of it or willing to commit it.

In many countries it is not allowed to track this movements easily. Also financial transactions between criminals can simply be done in foreign currencies.

2. "This is completely unnecessary," argues @@RANDOMNAME@@, CEO of @@NAME@@ Express Credit Card Corporation. "Right now people have a choice between cash, check, credit card, travelers'

Made a mistake. :P
That's not a mistake at all. When referring to what multiple people own (i.e. the plural possessive), the apostrophe is placed after the "s", just as it is.

The first person spelled it "travelers'". The one who posted it with "corrections" changed the spelling to "travellers'", with two Ls, which is the British spelling. The person who said "Made a mistake" changed it back to "travelers'" with one L, which is the American spelling.

None of them changed the position of the apostrophe at all, which is good because it was in the correct position all along, as you point out.

Looking forward to it - although you might want to have the opponents more specifically cast their arguments on civil libertarian grounds, as per the effects.

Also, Rejistania, the crime-stopping effect of electric money are obvious, as has been pointed out - consider the fact that many economists measure the size of a country's black market by the amount of its money supply that exists in cash.