Tuesday, May 06, 2003
 
When You Outlaw Paper Bonds, Only Outlaws Will Have Paper Bonds

The Washington Post reports that the Department of the Treasury will no longer sell paper United States Savings bonds. Instead, all bonds will be maintained through electronic accounts. Wow, this is so much a bad idea that I can briefly foam at the keyboard in the scant minutes I have to refuel the Doc-U-Matic "Mr. Digestion" Portable Energy System (MDPES).

It's undemocratic. People without computers or accounts can no longer just walk into a bank and buy a bond. The official explanation is that a large portion, as a percentage, of investment dollars that pour like a broken dam into the nation's coffers are done electronically. And by very large funds and corporations, no doubt. It's a bad symbolic move to suddenly make the common stock in America preferred, with only big investors or little investors with computer accounts eligible to participate.

 
To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."