Money Matters : You Gotta Spend $ome in Order to Get $ome ...
Hindsight is 20/20
Historically economics, or the economy, really only works if you actually buy stuff. But if everyone continues to hold on to their hard earned cash and never spend it – as consumers are doing right now – nobody (consumer or business) benefits: because like they say, 'money makes the world go world.' With this in mind, YumaSun.com, Arizona's online daily newspaper, has devised a fun, local economic stimulus plan which encourages local residents to spend $20 (on July 20th) on local goods or services that they wouldn't have otherwise. Sun Staff writer, Stephanie A Wilken, also takes us through an interesting history of the $20 bill in her column online (http://tinyurl.com/m8ybgf). Some of the facts she digs up include some bazaar details such as 'reports of a $20 bill burning when microwaved, and that the burns are all in the same place: over one of Andrew Jackson's eye.' However, ‘Jackson did not appear on the $20 bill until 1928.’ Also, Wilken writes, 'the first $20 bill didn't appear until 1861 as the United States struggled to raise money to fight the Civil War. The new $20 notes replaced the $20 piece, which, along with all other federal coinage, disappeared from circulation as people hoarded their money during the war.' Apparently, 'the $20 bill has also undergone many changes in security in an attempt to help make it harder to counterfeit.’ And ‘according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the $20 bill was the first to be redesigned in the Series 2004 currency.' Really? Redesigned? Or just patched up ... anyway. In conclusion, Wilken says, 'the $20 bill has had a long journey to the bill used today and will most likely go through more changes in the future.' Interesting (wonder if she's heard about our cause?) ... Some other random '20' facts Wilken discovered include: that 'the number 20 may also be referred to as a score, as in Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address – 20/20 indicates normal vision at 20 feet – 20 is the atomic number of calcium – Interstate 20 runs from Texas to South Carolina – and 10-20 is a radio term used to denote location, as in, what's your 20?' All fun stuff. Regardless the most important aspect of the Sun's campaign is that it 'encourages residents in Yuma County to spend $20 on July 20th to help jump-start the local economy,' something we should all consider. Read more here ... http://tinyurl.com/m8ybgf
