Federal Reserve Releases Paper on Digital Dollar, Seeks Public Comment

The Federal Reserve has released a 40-page paper [PDF] on its study of a digital dollar. It seeks public comment as it takes no position at this time.

Instead, it provides an exhaustive look at benefits such as speeding up the electronic payments system at a time when financial transactions around the world already are highly digitized. Some of the downside issues the report discusses are financial stability risks and privacy protection while guarding against fraud and other illegal issues.

Did You Know the IRS Offers Free Tax Filing?

Private tax companies don’t want you to know this, but if your income is below US$66,000 the IRS offers free tax filing software. If your income is above US$66,000 you can still file for free, but you’ll have to do it manually with fillable forms. However, thanks to the long government shutdown this year, tax returns will end up being late.

Apple Services are Where the Growth is Now

After some rough financial news, Tim Cook is reassuring investors that Apple isn’t done growing by highlighting Apple services.

Step back from the gyrations of the moment, and there’s an emerging strategy for Apple: Sell fewer iPhones and assorted devices such as Macs and iWatches at a higher price than mass-market rivals, and then flood those millions of users–who have more than average disposable income because they were able to afford those devices in the first place–with apps and content that they will pay for.

I expect big improvements in Apple services in the future. Better iCloud storage, an Apple News content subscription (which I will happily pay for if it means no longer needing to visit ad tracking-riddled websites), an Apple video subscription, and more.