Euro bank notes to embed RFID chips

Here's an interesting development.

Kind of surprised me; I was sure that the cashless
society was coming down the pike but seems this setup
would work pretty good too.
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Euro bank notes to embed RFID chips by 2005
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011219S0016
By Junko Yoshida
EE Times (12/19/01)

SAN MATEO, Calif. — The European Central Bank is
working with technology partners on a hush-hush project
to embed radio frequency identification tags into the
very fibers of euro bank notes by 2005, EE Times has
learned. Intended to foil counterfeiters, the project
is developing as Europe prepares for a massive
changeover to the euro, and would create an instant
mass market for RFID chips, which have long sought
profitable application.

-[snip]-

In theory, an RFID tag's ability to read and write
information to a bank note could make it very
difficult, for example, for kidnappers to ask for
"unmarked" bills. Further, a tag would give governments
and law enforcement agencies a means to literally
"follow the money" in illegal transactions.

"The RFID allows money to carry its own history," by
recording information about where it has been, said
Paul Saffo, director of Institute for the Future (Menlo
Park, Calif.).

-[snip]-

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Dollar still dominates despite euro
http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2001-12-26-euro.htm
By Rick Hampson USA TODAY (12/26/2001)

...But the dollar's popularity overseas is a great deal
for America, because governments make money by making
money. It costs the U.S. Treasury about a nickel to
print a bill, which it sells for face value. That's a
profit of 95 cents for a $1 bill, $99.95 for a $100,
and so forth.

Accordingly, the many foreigners and foreign
governments [and Americans] holding onto dollars in
essence are giving the U.S. Treasury a long-term,
interest-free loan of almost $400 billion.

-[snip]-