The article I got this from is here.
In this article it is explained that we have printed a new one hundred dollar bill. It has the highest security measures, including a 3-D blue strip, a hard to copy bell and inkwell, along with original counterfeit deterrents, such as watermarks. This has been decades in the working, and the highest security measures are being applied.
What I am questioning is why? Why do we need better one hundred dollar bills? Is counterfeiting really that big of an issue? I tend to believe that it is not. I am not saying that counterfeiting is good in any way, but I am not sure that our research is best spent in pursuit of a better one hundred dollar bill. Was the money spent on the new bill worth what it will "save" us from forging money? According the the Secret Service, the amount of forged money in circulation in the United States economy is . . . 0.01%. Is this really where we should be spending our money? We are trillions of dollars in debt, and we are worried about a hundredth of a percent of forged money? I think that one of the biggest issues with out government spending is money priority management. If we don't spend money on just the essentials first, and use what is left over for wants, then we will fail. We should not be spending our money researching and developing for such a minor statistic.
The link sent me to a 404'd page.
ReplyDeleteNow, I am unaware of the costs of this research but, if your parameter is right, the total amount of money in circulation that is forged is about 120 million. Assuming a significant portion of it is in hundreds, I think it is good policy to make our money harder to counter-fit. In the end it will save us money.
Though our government has been overly cautious on things that aren't really much of an issue now, like voter fraud, I do think that it is a good thing that we are making our money harder to counterfeit. Counterfeited money isn't going to do us any good, it's best that we prevent its circulation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that money should be protected, and measures should be taken to make sure that money is not counterfeited. I agree, Ethan, that 120 million is a lot of money. I don't know the exact cost of the research and actual production cost of these bills, but I do worry that we spent more trying to protect the 100 dollar bills than necessary. I think one of the most basic money management attitudes is not spending money where it is not absolutely necessary. Is 120 million a problem? Absolutely. I think it should be taken care of. But I think that if we took the millions spent on research for things such as better 100 dollar bills and put them to better use for help in fixing the flaws in the government, our policies and programs, etc. then we would have spent our money more wisely. That is the argument I was trying to make.
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