However, to ensure financial inclusion for all New Zealanders, not just those with online bank accounts, there is a trade-off. It would be very efficient – cheaper, easier and even more climate friendly – to become a totally cashless society. But many people rely on cash to buy their groceries or other goods and services they need.
At the global level, greater efficiency of production raises the return to capital. At the national level, trade in capital-intensive commodities tends to equalize the domestic and global return to capital. Both effects stimulate investment, which is an extremely powerful engine of economic growth.