The New $100 Dollar Bill


It all seems a bit too flashy - when considering the actual buying power of the new one hundred dollar bill with Donald J Trump's signature on it.  

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15954263/trump-shares-new-photo-100-bill-signature-truth-social.html

So let's take a little road trip about my city:

Filling the gas tank for my Jeep Patriot:  $40 or a bit more.

Haircut and tip:  $40  (And this is with a Vietnamese woman missing one eye with what looks like a pair of garden shears.  A great haircut in the Dallas market is about $100 dollars if including the tip.)

This leaves me with twenty dollars for a home-cooked dinner for three adults.  There can be no random selections.  It is a simple principle at work here.  No money... no choices.

What does my remaining $20 retain in purchasing power?

Do I want a nice New York Strip?   I can purchase 1/2 pound of steak at Wal-Mart and we can fight over it like feral dogs.  But this allows me to select a pouch of instant mashed potatoes, a couple of cans of green beans, and three cookies from the bakery. We will fight over the cookies too, because who-the-hell is happy with just one cookie?

Or I can go with the logical choice:  A pound of hamburger, we can upgrade to homemade macaroni and cheese and a salad.  We can fight over a pint of ice cream for dessert.

Broccoli Chicken and Rice.  Screw the family.  I will save the change and secretly purchase a Burger King meal for myself the next day.

Raspberries?  Nope.  Avocados?  Who can afford them?  Grapes?  Butter?  Yogurt?  Artisan bread?

Bananas! Bananas are still affordable!

I have begun to quip, "I am going shoplifting.  Do you need anything?"  Because realistically speaking, I am taking note of a lot of shoplifting at the grocery store.  Not the bananas, of course.  But the other day I watched as a man ate a complete clam shell of fresh pineapple slices as he shopped.  People munching on apples.  Empty bags of chips.  And while I did not see anyone stick a foam tray of steaks down their britches... I was tempted.

That signature on the newly designed Uncle Ben - does not count for much - and we are eating a lot more rice.   I voted for MAGA.   But my own dollar and the velocity of the dollar within the market, is beginning to feel a lot more like Mexican pesos.

swoffordwrites@gmail.com



 

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