Recently, the U.S. government introduced a new $20 bill to thwart counterfeiting. That’s cool. With improvements in scanning and printing, it is apparently much easier for people to make the bogus bills nowadays. The paper seems tough, as the real paper is more material-like than it is paper-like, but I understand the need to redesign.
What I don’t get is why the government is spending so much money to explain that new money is on the way. Sure, a few well-timed publications and some information on the web site would certainly be necessary for introducing a new bill. But $32 million?
Don’t they think that people would start figuring it out sooner or later? Is it really necessary to spend such a chunk of money to tell people that they aren’t going to have a choice about their currency? Why is it that the government is so free with other people’s money? Instead of wasteful spending like this (or hundred-dollar toilets), why not just use some common sense?