KTFA Members "News and Views" Wednesday Afternoon 9-25-19

KTFA:

Golden6:  I saw a comment on the video tonight that I don't understand. The comment was Do Not  confuse the exchange rate with the 3 zero on the notes. Could someone help me understand why do (I) need to know the difference?

Rommy:  IMO its very simple.  Don't confuse what happens inside Iraq with what happens outside of Iraq.  As international investors, what you need to know is when Iraq officially RIs and has a new international rate, you will be able to exchange your dinar for that rate.  Example, if the rate is 1 to 1, then you will be able to exchange a 25K dinar for 25K dollars (USA), minus spread and fees.  It is really that simple.

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Frank26: TIMING IS EVERYTHING     https://youtu.be/73sKliV1LvU?t=6 

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Iggy:  imo...i believe the iraqi people will get roughly 3 times their money/buying power when RD/RV occurs in country only...they will rush to the banks for this...000's off the streets within days or however long it takes...pause...RI for international use/you...i may be way off base here or on target...IDK.

Realtormc:  I'm seeing it the same as you.  When the program rate changes, the prices of everything inside of Iraq will change and citizens can either pay for things with their cards or the NCSN (1,5,10,20,50,100).  The 250, 500, and, 1000 look like they're going to be transitional notes for the NCSN's just like we had the $1000 note in USA.

Here's why we stopped using $1,000 bills
Janet Nguyen, 
Marketplace.org
Aug 13, 2017, 2:00 PM

In the early 1900s, a bottle of Coke cost a nickel, a Ford Model T could fetch $290 and some apartment rents dipped as low as $4 a month.

So it might sound intuitive that now we’d have larger bills to make the purchasing process more convenient, more efficient.

That’s why listener Rabin’ Monroe wrote in with the question, “Why aren't we using $1,000 bills anymore? Seems more appropriate to use them now than back in the early 20th century.”

The highest value of denomination currently in production is the $100 bill, but in decades past, the Federal Reserve has issued $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 and even $100,000 bills. 

The $1,000 bill’s history

The Continental Congress, a body of delegates representing the 13 colonies, began issuing paper money, which included the $1,000 bill, to help finance the Revolutionary War, said Matthew Wittmann, an assistant curator at the American Numismatic Society, an organization that studies coins and currency. 

But back then, it was only worth a fraction of that value, he added. The first known use of the $1,000 bill was in the United States' beginnings.

“So this $1,000 note seems incredible, but what it reflects is actually how little paper dollars were valued,” Wittmann said. “It might only have been worth $20 in ‘real’ hard money at the time.”

The U.S. government didn’t officially print $1,000 bills until the start of the Civil War, said Dennis Forgue, a numismatist who works at coin-dealing company Harlan J. Berk Ltd.

Lee Ohanian, an economics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the bill was used to rapidly purchase supplies like ammunitions during the war. 

In the decades after, the $1,000 bill and other large-denomination currencies were mostly used in real estate deals or interbank transfers, Ohanian said.

“They facilitated really, really large financial transactions that primarily were being carried out between banks or other financial intermediaries,” Ohanian said. “So it made life a little bit easier.”

Illegal activity

The U.S. stopped printing the $1,000 bill and larger denominations by 1946, but these bills continued circulating until the Federal Reserve decided to recall them in 1969, Forgue said.

Forgue said President Richard Nixon thought these denominations would make it easier for criminals to launder money, which then led to his order for their elimination.

Plus, turns out churning out $1,000 bills just wasn’t very cost efficient. To produce them, you’d have to go through the trouble of engraving new plates for very small production runs, Wittmann said. Running off a lot of $1 notes is more cost efficient than producing comparatively few $1,000 notes, he added.

Future transactions

Is there a chance we could bring the note back? It's only likely if there are big problems within the economy, Wittmann said. The circulation of large denominations of currency is almost always due to inflation or depreciation, he said.

Or take a step back to Germany in the early  '20s, known then as the Weimar Republic, when hyperinflation hit the country. That's when 4.2 trillion marks were equivalent to a dollar. Take a look at Zimbabwe, which has issued million-, billion- and trillion-dollar notes. One $100 trillion note from the southern African country is worth 40 U.S. cents.

Experts also say they think modern technology renders large bills unnecessary. Credit cards, checks, any form of electronic transfer — these all pretty much fulfill large transactional needs more efficiently than a tangible note could, they say.

“If you didn’t have your credit card, you didn’t have your debit card, or there’s a massive meltdown of the world in telecommunication systems and computers … then you can imagine high-denomination bills would be very useful,” Ohanian said. “Assuming the other person wants to accept it.”

Yes, concerns about counterfeiting could be an issue. Even the use of current large denominations — $50 and $100 bills — can raise questions about their authenticity at the cash register.

If you’re lucky enough to come across a $1,000 bill, you could technically take it to the bank for $1,000 in credit, but the bank would then send it to the Federal Reserve, which would prevent it from recirculating, Wittmann said.

And plus, many $1,000 bills are worth far more than the noted amount, Wittmann added.

Read the original article on Marketplace.org. Copyright 2017.

https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-we-stopped-using-1000-bills-2017-8

Samson:  Trump in favor of our relations with Iraq long and good

9/24/2019 23:26 

President Barham Salih and his US counterpart Donald Trump discussed bilateral relations between Iraq and the United States.

"Iraq has achieved great victories over terrorism and we are in the process of reconstruction," Saleh said during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

"Iraq is responsible for protecting its territory and sovereignty," the president added.

For his part, Trump told the president that "the elimination of ISIS is a great achievement." "Our relations with Iraq are long and good," he said.   LINK

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Samson:  Abdul Mahdi to visit Saudi Arabia tomorrow (today) to meet King Salman and Crown Prince

2019/24/09 20:36 

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi is to visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for several hours during which he will meet with King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

A statement issued by his office received by the Euphrates News Agency that the visit "to discuss relations between the two brotherly countries, regional situations and truce efforts, and Iraq's consistent position to play its positive role in ensuring the danger of tensions and conflicts and to establish the best relations with all neighboring countries and brotherly and friendly."  LINK

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Samson: Iraq and Armenia will soon sign a memorandum of understanding and security cooperation

2019/25/09 15:21

Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari on Wednesday discussed with Armenian Ambassador in Baghdad Harmatia Buladian the development of military relations between Iraq and Armenia through a memorandum of understanding and security cooperation to be signed soon between the two countries.

The Armenian ambassador said, according to a defense statement, that "his country has the potential to provide support in the field of training in military medicine and to receive students to study in Armenia."

The Armenian Ambassador extended an official invitation to the Minister of Defense to visit the Republic of Armenia.   LINK