This is What $100 Trillion Looks Like!

A few weeks ago, international investment guru and libertarian
activist Doug Casey of Casey Research came by the
Reason HQ in Washington, D.C.

Look for an interview to go live in the next week or so. Casey
is talking up a new documentary he’s put together called
Meltdown America, which warns that the United States
could end up suffering fates similar to Greece, Argentina, and
Zimbabwe if we don’t get our fiscal house in order. Watch that online and look
for a Reason TV interview with Casey to air here within a
week or two.

Doug carries with him a $100 Trillion note from the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe. Check it out above. Very official looking, packed with
anti-counterfeiting technology, signed by a political appointee
(just like U.S. dollars!), and even numbered in the
lower-right-hand corner so that you know it’s like totally legit,
right?

Sadly, the purchasing power of the note above left a lot to be
desired. In 2006, for instance, The New York Times reported that a
roll of toilet paper in Harare would set you back about
$145,000.

As Jimmy Carter (as played by
Dan Aykroyd) once explained on Saturday Night
Live, inflation doesn’t have to be a drag. It can be our
friend with the right attitude:

in the year 2000, if current trends continue, the average
blue-collar annual wage in this country will be $568,000. Think
what this inflated world of the future will mean – most Americans
will be millionaires. Everyone will feel like a bigshot. Wouldn’t
you like to own a $4,000 suit, and smoke a $75 cigar, drive a
$600,000 car? I know I would! But what about
people on fixed incomes? They have always been the true victims of
inflation. That’s why I will present to Congress the “Inflation
Maintenance Program”, whereby the U.S. Treasury will make up any
inflation-caused losses to direct tax rebates to the public in
cash. Then you may say, “Won’t that cost a lot of money? Won’t that
increase the deficit?” Sure it will! But so what? We’ll just print
more money! We have the papers, we have the mints.. I can just call
up the Bureau of Engraving and say, “Hi! This is Jimmy. Roll out
some of them twenties! Print up a couple thousand sheets of those
Century Notes!” Sure, all these dollars will cause
even more inflation, but who cares? Everyone will be a
millionaire! 

In looking at the $100 trillion note from Zimbabwe and picking
it up, never did I feel so good about our country’s own fiat
currency—and the wisdom of pulling bills worth $1000 and more out
of circulation starting
in 1969.