Money Obsession Explained

A recent analysis shows that 90 percent of the banknotes in this country contain traces of cocaine, which means we're all mules in this country.

Actually, this high number might be the result of a number of factors. Not surprisingly, the highest concentrations of the drug were found on bills that were exchanged during deals, or those rolled up so the powder could be snorted. But these aren't $100 or other large bills, as one would expect when talking about cocaine deals. Instead, the highest amounts are found on $5, $10 and $20 blls, which are more commonly exchanged when buying a gram or two.

But don't worry - we're not spending 90 percent of our bills on coke, Keep in mind that even during a recession where debit cards are standard currecy, cash is still king for a lot of people, and ATMs are everywhere. A lot of this contamination may be the result of contaminated bills interacting with non-contaminated bills, which the intracts with other non-contaminated bills, and so on.

So until the dealers and traffickers and Wall Street traders start paying with their Visas, our obsession - nay, addiction - to cash will be a little easier to explain.