[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-322709-105":59,"doc-detail-322709-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","resisting-electronic-payment-systems-burning-down-the-house-economic-commentary","Resisting Electronic Payment Systems: Burning Down the House? - Economic Commentary","","Resisting Electronic Payment Systems: Burning Down the House? examines how path dependence and hysteresis explain slow shifts in payment methods when economies move from paper-based systems to electronic alternatives. Using J. M. W. Turner’s 1834 depiction of Parliament’s tally-stick fire, it traces how historical record-keeping decisions shaped later outcomes. It details how tally sticks functioned as tax records, how resistance to switching delayed full adoption of paper, and how accumulated foils were ultimately burned, illustrating network effects and policy implications.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/resisting-electronic-payment-systems-burning-down-the-house-economic-commentary/322709/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/resisting-electronic-payment-systems-burning-down-the-house-economic-commentary/322709.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Theodore","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-12","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":44},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does path dependence mean in the commentary?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Path dependence means historical decisions made in the past often determine choices made today. Once an economy follows a path, changing it becomes difficult even when alternatives look more desirable.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does hysteresis relate to the payment-system problem?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Hysteresis refers to a system’s failure to return to its original value after the source of change is removed. The commentary uses this concept to explain how past pressures can keep systems locked in even after circumstances evolve.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why was Turner’s Parliament fire used as an example?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The burning of Parliament buildings is presented as an event that illustrates network economies creating path dependence in payment conventions. The fire’s cause—tally sticks used as tax records—connects historical record-keeping to later difficulties in changing payment systems.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},322709,1791046637,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":44,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},7971461740886,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","by Ben Craig  \nIntheCevclan MuscmofAn hunsa famous painting.The Burning of theHouses of Purliamem.byJ.M.W.TurnerThe painting depicts an event that pro-vdes a fascinating case study of the diffi-culty of changing payments systems inthe faceof new technology.This diffi-culty is surfacing again as moderneconomies face the switch from paper-hased payments systems to a variety ofelectronic systems.The Rivlin Commit-tee called attention to the phenomenon inits 1998 report when it observed that...the reliance on paper-based retail pay-ment methods is striking in an clectronicage.”The report estimates that the per-centage of paper makes up 78 percent ofall noncash transactions in the UnitedStates and only 37 percent in Europe.Why has the United States been so slowto change?Much insight into the reasoncan be gained by examining the eventssurrounding the original adoption ofpaper as a means of public record keep-ing—events which led to the disastrousire depicted in Turner's masterpiece.  \nThis Economic Comnentaryexplorespath dependence as a reason for thechoice in payment systems,as well asfor other economic phenomena.Pathdependence means that historical dcci-sions made in the remote past will oftendetermine the decisions made today.It isrelated to the physical concept of lys-teresis.Hysteresis refers to the failure ofa system to retum to its original valuconce the source of a change has beenremoved.Thus,when you put pressureon a bar beyond a certain point,it willbend,and hysteresis will keep the barbent when you remove the pressure.Thebar's shape reflects the historical pres-sures that made it bend and willthere-fore show its path dependence.This  \n# Resisting Electronic Payment Systems:Burning Down the House?\n\nEcononie Commentary will show howpath dependence and hysteresis work todetermine economic events.particularlywhen network economies are in effect,and will suggest that policy interventionmay be justified where hysteresis isclearly at work.The Biuning of theHouses ofParliament represents anevent that illustrates the ability of net-work economies to create a path depen-dence in payment conventions.  \nTurner's painting portrays an 1834 firewhich destroyed Britain's historic Parlia-ment buildings.Subsequent investigationrevealed the cause of the fire to be thebuming of a stockpile of old tally sticks.Tallies were hazelwood sticks usedinBritain from the twelfth to the nineteenthcenturies to maintain tax accounts.Stickswere notched to show the anount paidand then split lengthwise so that both thetaxpayer and the Exchequer would havea record of the payment.The largerpiece,called the stock,belonged to thepayer,and the smaller.the foil,was keptby the government.When foils were nolonger nceded,they were used for fueland burned in the fireplace of the tallyroom at frequent intervals.  \nAlthoughit was certainly clear by theseventeenth century that paper was acheaper and far more efficient means ofrecord keeping.the tally system remainedin effect as the means o tax recordinguntil 1826.when it was formally abol-ished.However,reluctance to accept thenew medium delayed the complete trans-fer to paper for nearly a decade andsowed the seeds of the fire;during thetransition to paper,tally sticks were usedas a backup,and old foils were allowedto pile up.  \nElectronic innovations such as smartcards can significantly reduce thecost of payment transactions and in-crease their accuracy and efficiency—but only if people use them.ThisEconomic Commentary explores pathdependence as a cause of the difficultyin adopting new payment systemtechnologies,even when their advan-tages are apparent.  \nWhen Parliament finally decided to dis-pose of the eight-year accumulation offoils,the clerk assigned to the taskdecided to burn them in the furnace ofthe House of Lords.The fire burned in-tensely and eventually grew out of con-trol.(There is some evidence that theworkmen also enjoyed the “astonishingblaze\"created by the sticks and may nothave been as careful as they s","cbCaiveTeLB0ZTmw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiveTeLB0ZTmw","pdf",1328058,"English","# Resisting Electronic Payment Systems: Burning Down the House?\n## Path Dependence","[{\"question\":\"What does path dependence mean in the commentary?\",\"answer\":\"Path dependence means historical decisions made in the past often determine choices made today. Once an economy follows a path, changing it becomes difficult even when alternatives look more desirable.\"},{\"question\":\"How does hysteresis relate to the payment-system problem?\",\"answer\":\"Hysteresis refers to a system’s failure to return to its original value after the source of change is removed. The commentary uses this concept to explain how past pressures can keep systems locked in even after circumstances evolve.\"},{\"question\":\"Why was Turner’s Parliament fire used as an example?\",\"answer\":\"The burning of Parliament buildings is presented as an event that illustrates network economies creating path dependence in payment conventions. The fire’s cause—tally sticks used as tax records—connects historical record-keeping to later difficulties in changing payment systems.\"}]","Resisting Electronic Payment Systems: Burning Down the House? - Economic Commentary | PDF",1789963373,13]