Individuals in the most remote and poorest regions of the world are becoming increasingly connected thanks to basic mobile phones. And it won’t be long before smartphones become available to larger numbers of people, even those of very low income, bringing with them the power of the Internet along with other capabilities hard to imagine even just a few years ago.
Huge demand for cash was generated in the West for its reconstruction and insurance payments, at a time when the United States had no central bank system.1 Market participants then tried to address this urgent situation by transmitting money to the West from New York City, but ironically, their action resulted in a significant shortage of liquidity in the nation’s financial center.