RE:RE:RE:RE:Cashless bird watchersRespectfully, I disagree. The more controls there are on how people receive and spend fiat money, the more will the underground economy accelerates in growth. It will be like Prohibition from 1920-1933 in the US where more people consumed more alcohol simply because it was against the law.
China is another matter. There you have people who are culturally and socially indoctrinated to accept authority. However, they are also culturally and historically great horders of gold and silver. I can't see that ending. The government want as much gold held internally as possible. Letting people hold it is cheaper than the central bank buying it to bolster reserves. Besides, what the peope hold keeps it away from other countries while also being a national asset of sorts. ...but not everyone is allowed to buy gold legally anyway. I think one has to be a member of the Communist Party, and disclose purchases. But there is the black market there too, of course - a big one, supported by the Tongs and probably the Army too.
Now there is another interesting subject regarding their economy, and who owes allegiance to whom. Did you know that their Army is an entity unto itself? They support themselves by operating their own busnesses without government supervision. This is the deal Mao made to get support from soldiers and warlords in his war against Nationalist China going into WWII. The government would leave the Army alone if the Army would leave the government alone. Here is how it is claimed that "The Chinese Army is the friend of the people", presumably because it does not answer to the government.
The point is, if the China's army wants to be a broker to the gold market in China, it will be a broker to the gold market in China, Politburo be damned.