I love money in all its forms. However, one thing that has always struck me as odd is the German, Dutch and Belgian bank notes.
For those that can remember the good old D-mark, or Guilder, the largest denomination note in circulations was 1,000 marks or guilders and 10,000 Belgian francs
A the time, that would be around £300. With the introduction of the euro in 2001, I believe it was German insistence that the E500 note came into being.
Now call me cynical, but I see little use for such a large note.
At today's exchange rate, E500 is equal to having a £450 note.
Anybody that has ever had a £50 to buy goods will know the difficulty of using one. So it is obvious that the main reason for a E500 note to exist is to facilitate large cash transactions.
And to whom would such large cash transactions benefit?
Now this brings me to the crisis engulfing the eurozone. Apparently, a few countries have got themselves into serious trouble but not collecting enough tax. Of these countries most are the ones that also have the largest "black" economies, where people work for cash in hand.
From the last data we received, the Italian mafia, if included in official GDP figures, accounts for at least 7% of Gross Domestic Product, and I have read as high as 30%.
Using this data, Italian GDP is around the same as the UK; about £1,200 Billion per year.
Just how useful would that be for today's dead beat countries if added to official accounts?
