Paper Money
Categories: Econ
See: Banknote.
While paper money is less and less common with the interwebs, it’s still a thing.
Paper money is a country’s official tendered currency, in the flesh. Pulpy, fiat flesh. It’s common for countries to use their central banks as the kings of currency. In the U.S., the central bank prints paper money to increase the amount of money in the system...part of that whole monetary policy thing.
A problem with paper money is that people try to dupe it. If you’re thinking “that sounds hard and not worth it,” you haven’t seen a good fake. For instance, bleaching a $5 and reprinting it as a $50 might fool you, since it has the watermark (of Lincoln) and all the high-tech, embedded signs that it’s the real deal.
Maybe if U.S. dollars were of different sizes, that’d make this harder. Most other countries have bills that vary in color depending on the amount, and some in size. Some countries use USD-like cotton fiber paper, while others (especially in hot and humid places) use the longer-lasting, more-plastic-y polymer banknotes. If you’re used to USD, polymer banknotes will turn your wallet into a slip-n-slide.
While currencies without paper money are on the rise (how ya doin', Bitcoin?), paper money is still super important. For instance, you can find three different paper currencies in a regular corner store in Cambodia. And you thought being a cashier in the U.S. was difficult.
